January sale in store

Board-worx wish you a merry Christmas and a windy new year.

If you are local to our whitstable shop you maybe interested that we have 20% off all clothing and footwear starting this Saturday, so pop down and grab a bargain!

Have a very merry Christmas for everyone at board-worx.

Bandit DOS

We now have in stock the new 2009 F-one bandit DOS, this is the second generation of the bandit kite and it looks amazing. We can't wait to get out on them and give them a try.

F-one say about the kite:
The F-One Bandit Dos 2 (II) leads in all specialties, freestyle, unhooked, hang time, speed, wave riding and free ride.
Featuring the Life Line and the Auto re-launch, it brings superb comfort and safety to the rider.
An innovative C-shape kite with 4 line simplicity for no compromise performance, safety and control.

You can see more on the Bandit DOS here.

Check out this super cool video that the f-one team have made, its one of the best we have seen:

A kiteboarder's story

Beginner on C-Kites
Having graduated from landboarding using Flysurfer foil kites I must have given Boardworx the wrong impression as to my true lack of ability as my brief excursions on the North Rhino 06 and Vegas served only to convince me that a frontal lobotomy was necessary to willingly go out on one of these kites.

Bow Kites
Trading these kites in for a quiver of Cabrinha Crossbow 2’s improved my confidence greatly about going out onto the water. The re-launch was simple and the power was easily controlled in my novice hands. When these kites were coupled with a Nobile 555 board along with a fair amount of edging practice on the cable tow I found I was able to reduce the amount of time spent walking back upwind on the beach.
As my time spent swimming became less and riding became the main occupation on the water my arms suffered due to the heavy bar pressure. A swop to Switchblade 2’s reduced the bar pressure greatly and still gave me enough air-time for my beginner needs. The huge wind-range with instant power kill covered me against any sudden squalls and storms. My only problems occurred due to my neglect over keeping the pulleys free of sand.
The few attempts I had at unhooking resulted in the kite folding ( I now realize that I was not trimming the kite to suit the wind conditions), and I exchanged the Switchblades for Flexifoil Ion2’s

Hybrid Kites
With it’s greater power and sensitivity the Ion’s also required me to learn how to deep water re-launch properly ( something the Cabrinha’s had done automatically). The greater time spent in the air allowed me to attempt more complicated tricks and when coupled to a 666 board with it’s increased pop over the 555, a fair amount of safe unhooking attempts.
My main concern was with Flexifoil lines attempt to get me to join the beach knitting club at every opportunity, so I changed these to Ozone lines.

C Kites back to Hybrids
Convinced that I was now able to unhook properly I switched to C kites Slingshot 07 Fuels only to find the bar far too cluttered with the depower close to the chicken loop release. Using the Core bar instead greatly improved things but a test fly on the Nobile NHP convinced me that this much more mild mannered kite was better suited to my current needs rather than the full on turbo power of the Fuels.
The NHP kites were small for their size and I generally needed to be a size up from the other C or hybrid kites. The Nobiles had virtually no bottom end and needed to be at the top of their wind range to perform like a Fuel. These factors were ideal for me as I could go out and practice moves without getting punished too severely.
By switching from 666 boards to Shinn Pros I also had the equipment which would do a reasonable job in waves.

Delta Kites
With winter underway my mistakes were costing me precious body heat in the cold water between re-launches, so I switched to Delta’s Core GT’s and was now able to endure 5 or 6 mistakes with shorter ice baths compared to the one or two longer ones with the Nobile kites. As a consequence my confidence and willingness to try new things continued to improve.
The main problem came during unhooked moves, by keeping the kite on the virtual 5th line ie the safety position the kite tended to invert or loop upon bar release. This was solved by moving the kite leash above the chicken loop - the “suicide” position for general riding and only using the safety for launching and landing.
Overall the low end grunt on the Delta’s is excellent and they have a huge wind range for both hooked and unhooked riding. I chose the Core’s purely for their single pump as it was now winter. The ‘virtual’ 5th line has become tangled with bar but I think this was due to not using the suicide leash.

Wooden Core Kiteboards
The problem was that I was getting very little feedback from the Pro boards when loading up for unhooked moves so I didn’t know if I had enough pop for a more complicated move until I was already air-borne, and then it was too late.
A Slingshot Lunacy board solved that and gave me excellent feel and the ability to predict when I was going to get good height, it’s wide tips also allowed me to get away with some very sketchy landings.
However, it was not too good in waves and floated on top instead of cutting in. Overall it was excellent for light wind use but felt like a skateboard on a ramp in heavy swell. By using the Lunacy on flatter water and switching to an Underground FLX in chop and waves I had a board quiver that gave good pop and also performed well in waves.

By
Hunny Ichangemykitalot

North Voodoo's and Ice's 34% off

We have the 2008 north voodoo's and ice's at up to 34% off at the moment. Grab a bargain on one of these amazing sails, check them out here.

Win Progression kitesurfing DVD's

Enter our competition to win free copies of Fat Sand's Progression DVD's all you have to do is click here and submit your email. All terms and conditions are on the board-worx website. Good luck!

Dakine Tabu offer

For a limited time we are offering Dakine Tabu's with a free bar and bar pad for only £59, delivery is only £1 as well! Streamline and flexible, the Dakine Tabu is a low profile harness with maximum support. The 8-point load dispersion system keeps the spreader bar down, and evenly disperses power from the kite to the harness.

Surfing this morning

Had a good surf early this morning on the Thanet coast. Here are some pics:

Slingshot Fuel 2009 review by Lance

Staff member and Slingshot team ride Lance Nunn has been out riding on the 09 Fuels this week, here are his first thoughts on the new 09 models.

The first thing you notice when you pull this sexy looking kite out the bag is that there is no 5^th line pigtail and no 5^th line on the bar, once you pump the kite up you can just see and feel just how solid the hole frame and canopy lay out is,

Once flying the kite is as solid as a rock in the sky with out the help of its usual 5^th line the fuel has had for the last 3 years.

The first impression was how responsive the kite was for a 13m, you really get a good feel for what the kite is doing and where it’s going in the sky.

For the wind today I would have normally taken a 15m but for 2009 the 13m is the biggest size they make, the reason for this is for the extra power they have. There was plenty of power for today’s wind speed, it really does get going earlier with out having to create to much apparent wind, you get that great low down grunt of which you expect from a big free style kite.

The first kiteloop really shocked me for the light winds we had today, it really does throw you up and then power spike’s into a nice solid kiteloop, after a few attempts I was really imprested

with just how much power you can generate through the loops, after today’s session I cannot wait to get the 9m out in some 30knots plus winds.

Overall it’s a great solid bomb proof kite with loads of balls.

Any one looking for a true free style kite with simple rigging and some thing that looks aggressive and sexy on the water this is the kite for them.

£1 Delivery for Christmas

A credit crunch buster just for Christmas we are offering 24hr delivery on everything for just £1. You can fill your cart up and we will deliver it all for just £1. For more information and terms and conditions check out the website.

Christmas gift ideas

We know what a nightmare it can be buy gifts at Christmas, that's why we have come up with a selection of great gift ideas for the kitesuring, snowboarding or windsurfing member of your family. With next day delivery as standard on all our products you can be sure you will get it in time even if you leave your shopping till the last minuet! Check them out here.

North Rebel 2009

What a little power house the new rebel 09 is, I recently used it is some very gusty winds in Portugal, somewhere around 20mph gusting 40mph ,talk about getting yanked out of the water, they were more like good jumps, The kite is a fair bit more powerful than the 07 or the 08, it feels lighter in the hands and speed of turning was super quick. With the bar fully away there still was power in the kite, but it was still Ok with my 10m coping with the 40 mph gusts, and there was still reasonable turning speed, so many kites I fly you push the bar away and the turning goes completely. The 09 bar feels very much like the 08, it is a sweet bar, with so many of the annoying bits that wore out on the 07 and 06 well and truly binned, one complaint by Daryl from www.holiday-active.co.uk thought the quick release was a little to easy to use, talking about Daryl, if you want a cheap place to stay he has some cracking little chalets for £50 a week, it doesn't get better than that, plus he is a qualified instructor, if you want to go and ride and leave him to teach the Mrs, or a mate. Anyway the jumping of the rebel could be, I am not going to fully go there, as I love my Vegas, but it just might be a better jumping kite than my Vegas, the height and hang time, is amazing, I don't think it is as good for unhooked stuff, but just ripping up and down and just sending the kite back was awesome. The third day and it was light winds maybe 12 knots and not enough for a fat lump like me ,but I blew the rebel up for my son, he is 6'3 but can only weighs 65kg, and just getting up, Daryl and I were both impressed with the rebel here, you could when the wind really dropped pull the 5th line, and pull the kite on to it's back, or you could just hold an out side line and the kite would just roll over and launch, it really does not get a lot easier than this. He also pulled the quick release and the kite came straight out of the sky on the 5th line, so so safe, I was really impressed with the new rebel, I think the big thing North got wrong is they should not of called it a Rebel, as it is not really like the 07 or 08 rebel, a much more al round beast. Ps it now has a one pump system and not there own clever crap system, they have borrowed the same idea as slingshot and it worked a treat.

First thoughts on the 2009 Nobile 666

We have had these in stock for about a week now and thought you might like a closer look at whats new for 2009. Again for this year they look amazing, they have again taken on the designs of kiteboards, making them fully asymmetric, getting rid of the foam so giving even more pop, can this be possible? A straighter heel edge for even more bite, slightly curvier toe edge for easier toe side riding. Overall a very interesting shape and it will be nice to see how they perform out on the water.

Here are Mark Shinn's thoughts on the board:

NHP stands for Nobile High Performance. If freestyle or high performance twin riding is your aim then the NHP is sure to please. We started with the 2008 666 in mind and set out to achieve 2 major improvements... Significantly reduce the spray produced in certain water conditions and so increase rider comfort and increase versatility without compromising the top end performance of the range.

To reduce unwanted spray we re designed our unique Hydrodynamic Rocker Line to increase the tip lift. Then, we tweaked the heel side outline and moved the foot strap inserts inboard a fraction to ensure minimal interference with the water release on the rail- a major cause of spray.

Versatility was enhanced by utilizing our new Dynamic Asymmetrical Outline, this was focussed mainly on the toe side edge which means that the test winning rail grip, early planning and upwind ability of the 666 have all remained. There here on our site.

Images copyright Boardworx

BooM! Winds back...

About time to. There is a good breeze out there today even if it is a little nippy, couple of people out allready. Check out the action live on our upgraded live webcam. You can see the wind stats updating live every 4seconds aswell. Here is a pic from about 5 minuets ago...

Ride and 32 Snowboarding

We have just taken delivery of the 32 boots and Ride snowboards for 2009 along with masses of Dakine accessories. The new Ride boards look sweet and have some of the latest technology in them such as pop rods, slimwalls and ultra thin top sheets, which you can find out more about on our site. We can't wait to get out to the snow now. Soon to come will be some mega package deals so keep an eye out for that! In the mean time if you buy any snowboard we will throw in a Dakine Dulux kite worth £39! We are very impressed with the new 32 boots which are just rediculusly light. They feature thermal inners which have a wide range of attachment options to ge the boot super comfy. The new boots have the STI Evolution Foam™ which is unique to 32 boots and makes the ultra cusioning and up to 40% lighter than last seasons. So check out all the new gear here on board-worx.com

North Vegas 2009

Well, where to start, I have now riden the 14m 2009 North Vegas in about 12-14 knots, not bad for a 100kg rider on my 42 wide Shinn. I could just stay up wind, but due to me wanting to pop little jumps all over the place, a down winder was called for. The 09 Vegas even in these very light airs is a little more direct on the bar, and maybe a tad lighter on the bar than the 08, it still even in these light airs gave great glide, and was fast to redirect. The 12m was used a few days ago ion 35 mph of wind, with gusts of 40 coming through, Yes I was maxed out, but the jumps were as you can imagine Huge!!! The 09 Vegas I think is a little more powerful than the 08, still has that wonderful direct feel, and still magic hang time. The 09 bar feels the same as the o8, and it still needs a little tweak on the 5th lin as there is a little slack swinging about. The Vegas for 09 will just be a good tweaked kite to the 08 Vegas, you again wont be disappointing, and I am told the unhooked stuff on the 09 is insane, I just haven't had the chance to try that yet. Take a look at the new vegas here.

Wainman Kites

TNT dropped of the New Wainman kites from Hawaii in the week and Mark took one straight out for a play - The Boss, is a great name for this kite, you get a shed full of low end grunt, for a 3 strut kite it really shouldn't be as stable as it is. I did have to adjust the back lines to make them shorter at the bar end and also at the kite end, as I found the kite had the feeling it was going to frontal tuck without a little pressure on the back of the kite, the kite is silly fast and looping a kite that feels like it has the power of a 15m is just silly. The bar is simple, maybe even basic, the safety is so basic, just a ring up on a center flying line, this is quite a way up above you, so the leash is a bit in the way, maybe better to just clip on to deep power loop and ride it as a suicide setup. The Boss has a fat leading edge and I guess gives the kite great lift, from the difference high low pressure as the wind tracks around it, the long centre strut gives the canopy mega hang time in the jumps. This kite is not for the feint hearted, as it gives a shed full of pull, and feels a little on/ off in its power delivery, I cant wait to try the small ones for wave riding. Check them out here on our site!

Welcome

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