Posted in: Kite News

Well, after being struck by a lightning bolt about a month ago, we didn't have a reliable beach sensor to check.  The guys at iKitesurf sent out their technician last week, and were able to get us back up and running.  If you don't have a subscription to iKitesurf yet, it's not a bad investment.  You'll get access to all of their own sensors, that give much better readings than the normal public sensors that they tap into.  You will surely save money in gas, by knowing what it's blowing on the beach.  Also, you can check all of their detailed forecasts, which are pretty accurate.

Posted in: Local News

A couple weeks ago when the Naish RV rolled through Panama City Beach, we were one of the first shops to see the new Naish Ride kite.  The Naish Ride is unique in that it uses a 2 strut design.  Now most kites are using 5 struts, some have 7, some have 4 and there is even a 1 strut kite (the Airush One), so the basic theory is that less struts reduces the kites overall weight, and allows the kite glide or hover in lighter winds.

We were able to test out the 12m Ride in some pretty light winds, about 10-13mph, and it flew great.  Fairly light bar pressure, fast turning, and easy relaunch will make this kite a big hit, and it comes priced lower than most of their other kites, which is a huge plus.  By eliminating the other struts, I'm sure these kite companies are saving some money on manufacturing, therefore passing down these savings to the end user.  The bar is almost the same as the stock bar that comes with the Park or Bolt, main difference that we saw was just a cheaper swivel used, but overall, a super nice bar coming from Naish.  Check out the video below to see more on the Naish Ride.

Posted in: Kite News

"I want to get into kiteboarding, can't i just use my wakeboard?"  Well, we get this question pretty often, so figured it would be a good blog post.  Technicallly, you can use a wakeboard to kiteboard on, but we usually don't recommend it for a few reasons.  Event though they look similar, and are sometimes built using the same process, you will want to use a regular kiteboard, especially when you are first learning.  Pretty much every wakeboard is setup with full boot bindings, which can be really difficult learning with, you will see a lot of kiters in the magazines using boots to kite with, but they most likely learned with a regular twin tip with pads & straps.  A board with straps is much easier getting on and off, and that is crucial for those first sessions, trying to fly the kite and get your feet in some boots is almost impossible, especially with older boots that require some lube or soap to slip into.  Also the rocker line and fin setup on a wakeboard is not ideal for kiting, it might work fine behind a boat, where you don't have to worry about getting back upwind, but with a kite you want a board that is efficient in lighter winds, and can help you get back to where you started.  Wakeboard fins are usually small, 1 or 2 cm, molded into the board, and often centered, where kiteboard fins are usually 4-5cm, and placed on your outside edges to allow you to really dig in and get upwind.

You can see the original wakeboard, the Skurfer, would actually be a better option to kite on, but with its directional design, a twintip board is definitely the way to go as your first board.  Those old sandal bindings were used on some of the first Liquid Force twin tips, and people really enjoyed the ease of getting their feet in and out of their boards.  Once you get proficient on a twin tip, adding a direction surfboard is a great option, especially if you like to get out in the surf.

So overall, wakeboards aren't the best board to use in kiteboarding.  Save yourself some time and grief and get a regular twintip board to use, you'll progress much quicker.

To check out the boards that we sell, click here!

Posted in: FAQ