Matt Elsasser, a mainstay in the Big Winds kite department for the last four years,gets his strapless game on in Maui this winter.

Just flew the 2012 8m Rebel for the first time today. It was cold and gusty, so it seemed appropriate to put one of the more trust-worthy kites to the test. Just as predicted, the 2012 Rebel stands out as a rock solid, high performance kite. With tremendous pull and a bit less bar pressure than in years past, the 2012 Rebel will be my “go-to” kite when the conditions become unpredictable and gnarly! What do I look for in a kite when it’s not ideal conditions? Stability, re-launchability, and range to get through the gusts and lulls. The 2012 Rebel has all of these qualities, along with one more solid peace of mind. . .5-line safety! When you need to get total, complete depower in half a second, nothing works as well as a 5th line.

The kite cranks up-wind, and pulls smoothly downwind. There is absolutely no luffing and fluttering in the side panels when turning aggressively. With the Rebel’s ability to de-power with 30% less throw than the standard 4-line bridled kite, it makes it nice for toe-side riding, ideal for wave/surf riding. People with short arms (ie: kids and women) will like this short throw de-power too! I had the Adaptive Tips set at the stock “A” position (that closest to the rider). It gives me positive feedback, with heavier bar pressure. If racing, or riding in an overpowered situation, I might move the knot up to the “B” position (closest to the kite) for lower bar pressure and easier turning. All in all, the North Rebel iss a fine tuned, polished kite for 2012.

For quite awhile, the Mosier launch was farther underwater than a lot of Bank of America mortgages. Finally, it has been bailed out by the dam operators.

Updated 5/31/2011 with images of Mosier.

The flooded Mosier launch site, looking north under the I-84 bridge

The flooded Mosier launch site, looking north east

The flooded Mosier launch site, looking north west

The West Marina Beach

The staff at Big Winds wants to make all of our friends aware of the unusual conditions we’re experiencing on the Columbia River this spring. The snow pack, cool temperatures and extensive rains have made the Columbia and its tributaries run at levels not seen since 1997. We want to convey a general “heads up” for those taking advantage of this dynamic and exciting situation. Many of the familiar landmarks, wave patterns and river currents have undergone a lot of change. We’re encouraging everyone to be extra-aware of their surroundings, double check the integrity of their gear and ensure that your cold water wetsuits are sufficient to sustain your body heat in case you find yourself in the water for a prolonged period.

The east end of the event site

Currently, the Spit and Mosier launch sites are submerged, as is the west Marina beach. You’ll also find a highly turbid river that can hide logs, deadheads and other debris just below the surface. We’re not saying, “don’t go”. We just want everyone to raise their level of awareness a few notches before ripping it up!

The spit, underwater

These conditions are forecast to last longer than usual, perhaps extending into July. We will provide updates here, on Facebook and on our main website as the conditions change. Also, feel free to call us for more information and advice at 888-509-4210.

Thanks!

The Big Winds Team

Here are four images of what you’ll find at the Event Site in 2011. Click on any one of them to see a larger slideshow.

Way to rock it, Matts!

TJ keeps on truckin’ allowing more chances at the vid monster. Round two.

Well, ya gotta start somewhere.

It’s going to be awesome….You gotta be there!

North Kites will be premiering their new DVD at the Skylight Theatre in Hood River on April 22nd. Tickets are $7 with all proceeds benefiting KB4C. Check out the trailer at North Kites where you can also register for a free copy of the DVD.

But, this guy put in a solid hour long session. The camera isn’t lying. With the wind no more than 5 knots this would certainly be his final run in, but no, he turned and crossed the Columbia again. Call it lawn mowing or lament the lack of waves, but planing is planing — sunny, warm and the place to yourself.

Rider: Dane
Gender: Male
Height: 5’5″
Weight: 135 lbs
Skill Level: Advanced kiteboarder

Board Tested: 2008 North Pacific Round Squash Wave 5’3″
Kite Used: 2008 Cabrinha Switchblade 3 8m
Date: June 4, 2008
Location: White Salmon Bridge, Columbia River Gorge
Conditions: 18-28 mph, huge glassy swell

North Pacific is a local Hood River surfboard company run by Art Colyer, who has been hand-shaping custom polyester boards for over twenty years. For many years he has been working with local and international professional kiteboarders, tirelessly refining his shape for the perfect directional kiteboard.

Yesterday I got a chance to try out my new 5’3″ North Pacific Round Squash Wave, and let me tell you what a fun time that was! This board is incredibly maneuverable, and is designed to slash in the waves and swell. The 5’3″ is a small board, but I’m a small guy. We’re perfect for one another.

When I went out for my session, I soon found myself riding in some of the biggest, glassiest swell I have ever seen at the White Salmon Bridge. I would ramp up to catch a good wave, snap a tight off-the-top, and ride down the face in the complete opposite direction. I’ve never been able to slash turns like that in my life.

The thruster fin placement on the Round Squash Wave is absolutely perfect, giving this board incredible grip despite being so slashy. There were times where I would turn so aggressively that my body would be nearly parallel to the water, and I was sure the board was going to slide out from under me. Before I knew it I was out of my turn and upright again, riding along as if nothing happened.

The Round Squash Wave charges upwind with unbelievable efficiency. If you’re not comfortable jibing the board you can simply ride toeside for an entire reach, and easily keep your place by edging upwind. That’s right, you can edge upwind while riding toeside. Even so, yesterday was my first day with this board, and I’m already feeling confident enough that I’m trying to jibe it. With its huge deckpad the board is easy to ride outside the footstraps, and I’m excited to try taking the straps off completely and riding it strapless.

I was riding the swell hard that day, and even so I could feel that I was barely scratching the surface as to the full potential of the Round Squash Wave. A board like this you will never outgrow, and will own for many, many years if you take good care of it. I guarantee you, the only thing you will ever want to replace it with is another North Pacific.

Rider: Dane
Gender: Male
Height: 5’5″
Weight: 135 lbs
Skill Level: Advanced Kiteboarder

Howdy! My name is Dane, and I’m riding the 2008 Naish Sol 128 this season. Having spent all of last season on the 2007 North Jaime Pro I feel I am fairly qualified to compare these two boards side-by-side, as they ride very different differently. The Sol is designed more for freeride cruising and carving, while the Jaime Pro is built for freestyle moves and jumping.

The Jaime Pro rides incredibly smoothly in chop, while the Naish Sol transfers more of the texture of the water to you, delivering what feels like a rougher ride. The Jaime Pro is a slightly stiffer board, so it offers more pop for jumping than the Sol. That said, the Jaime is a far “stickier” ride than the Sol and does not easily roll from edge to edge, so it lacks that “slashy” feel.

Again, the Jaime Pro is a freestyle board, and it’s not supposed to be slashy like the freeriding Sol. A better comparison would be to setup the Jaime Pro with the Naish Thorn, or the North X-Ride with the Sol. However, I haven’t had a chance to test all these boards side-by-side, so that’s an analysis that will have to wait until a later date. Also, I haven’t been able to demo the 2008 Jaime Pro yet, but I’m hoping to hop on that board soon so I can reflect on the changes made to it since last year.

Hope this helps!

Related Posts:
Dane’s Review of the 2008 Naish Sol 128

With the help of Mac, one of our expert kiteboarding instructors, we just finished giving the royal treatment to the 2008 North Rebel 08. As we did with the Switchblade 3, we extensively detailed and photographed the Rebel and uploaded the results of our investigation to our photo gallery at Flickr.

The Rebel is North’s ultimate freeride kite, designed for all conditions and all riders. It’s forgiving enough for beginners (the Rebel forms the backbone of our kite school) while still offering the high-performance ride that advanced and expert riders demand.

Related Posts:
Dane’s Review of the 2008 North Rebel

Related Pages:
Our Rebel Photo Gallery at Flickr
The Rebel at Big Winds
The Rebel at North’s website

Kiteboard Tested: 2008 Naish Sol 128
Kites Used: 2008 Switchblade 3 6m, 8m and 10m
Dates: Spring 2008
Location: Columbia River Gorge
Conditions: Mellow 10-18 mph, moderate 16-24 mph, and intense 22-34 mph

Rider: Dane
Gender: Male
Height: 5’5″
Weight: 135 lbs
Skill Level: Advanced Kiteboarder

Even though it’s still quite cold out there, I’ve already been riding the 2008 Naish Sol 128 kiteboard quite a bit this season. I’ve hinted at my love of the Sol before, but I haven’t had a chance yet to compile my thoughts into a single review.

Bottom Line: The 2008 Naish Sol is an extremely fun twin tip board that is designed with freeride carving in mind. It edges upwind effortlessly, and it delivers an incredible ride for intermediate to expert riders who love slashing in flatwater and swell.

Mister Slashy McSlasherton

The key to the Sol is its aggressively rounded nose and tail, which give the board its loose, almost buttery feel. The looseness comes into play when you slash back and forth from heelside to toeside, as the shape of the board makes it completely natural to execute this transition. I come from a snowboarding background and I feel right at home on the Sol, linking my turns as though I’m carving down the mountain. This board is about as close as you can get to the feel of a directional kiteboard while still riding a twin tip.

I love all this carving, but it goes without saying that every time you go toeside you’re bound to lose some ground against the wind. Fortunately, even for how loose the board can be handled, it still holds an edge like a dream, and it is one of the most upwind-mobile twin tips I have ridden. In a single reach, you can easily recover all the ground you had lost through multiple reaches of riding and slashing in the swell.

The Sol will jump with the best of them, but it is a medium flex board and isn’t specifically designed for loading up and popping. If air is your thing, and not carving, you’d do well to look at a stiffer freestyle-oriented board, like the Naish Thorn or the North Jaime Pro.

Sizing the Sol

The 2007 Sol boards were fairly narrow, and because of their unique shape they all rode a bit smaller than their lengths suggested. Naish has adjusted the shape for 2008 by reducing the length and adding more width, so now the boards ride more true-to-size. Indeed, last year’s Sol 130 rode more like my North Jaime Pro 128 (in size, not feel, because the boards ride very differently), while this year’s Sol 128 feels pretty spot-on for a board in the 128 cm size.

As far as sizing goes, the Sol 128 is a pretty good size for a rider of my weight and skill level, and I believe it would also work well for a larger rider who enjoys riding powered-up. I spent a lot of time on a 125 cm North Jaime Pro last year, which was fun but always required a lot of power to get up and going. Perhaps a 128 is a bit big for me, but for one it’s the smallest size Sol that Naish makes, and for another I don’t particularly enjoy using a big kite to compensate for a smaller board.

Related Posts:
Unpacking the Naish Sol
Dane’s Comparison: Sol vs. Jaime Pro

Related Sites:
Naish Sol Product Page at Naish’s Website

We just finished putting together a photo gallery of 2008 Naish Sol, so if you’re at all curious about the state of this fine kiteboard, here’s your chance! The Sol is the go anywhere, do anything, all-terrain model from Naish’s 2008 lineup. The aggressively rounded nose and tail are a result of what Naish calls their Infinite Outline shape, which gives the board its incredible maneuverability and surfy feel. The Sol is about as close as you can get to that slashy directional feel while still riding a twin tip board.

For 2008 Naish has increased the width of the boards slightly, so they ride a bit more true-to-size than they did last year. The rounded nose and tail decrease the effective length of the edge, and in 2007 the narrower widths resulted in boards that rode a size smaller than their lengths suggested. The 2007 Sol 136 rode more like a 133 cm board, the Sol 133 more like a 130, and so on and so forth. By increasing the widths for this year, the 2008 Sol 134 feels more like a 134 cm board, the Sol 131 a true 131, etc.

With a single carbon fiber strip running the length of the top of the board, the Sol is stiffer than the Haze (which has no carbon strips at all) and softer than the freestyle-oriented Thorn (which has a bottom strip, and two top strips that cross in an X shape).

• The Sol at Big Winds
• Our Sol Photo Gallery at Flickr
• The Sol at Naish

We’ve just uploaded a new photo gallery that meticulously documents the 2008 Cabrinha Switchblade 3. The Switchblade is Cabrinha’s go-to kite for wakestyle riding, with a smooth powerband and a pulley-less bar system that eliminates all but the slightest trace of bar pressure. The Switchblade offers all the safety and depower you would expect from a bow kite, with the familiar feel of a classic kite.

Even if you’re not a wakestyle rider, you still might want to consider the Switchblade. We here at Big Winds feel that Cabrinha pushes the whole “handle passes and rail slides” thing a bit too hard, as there are many experienced kiters who don’t want to pull wakestyle tricks, but would probably love the Switchblade anyway. The kite has very light bar pressure, and thus you get very little tactile feedback for where your kite is at in the window. This is dangerous for beginners, but advanced kiters have already developed that sense of knowing where their kite is located, even without feedback.

Thus freed from bar pressure and any physical effort thereof, the Switchblade offers an incredibly free and open ride when you’re hooked in. At times you hardly notice the kite at all, which lets you focus your attention on other things. If you’re Cabrinha, those “other things” are wakestyle tricks. If you’re Dane, one of our shop riders, those “other things” are carving, carving and carving.

Dane comes from a snowboarding background, and when kiteboarding he loves to slash in just about any conditions, from flatwater to chop to swell. He does his fair share of jumping, but he really gets his thrills from carving back and forth, going heelside to toeside and back again, and pushing the limits of his edge control. Dane could care less about wakestyle tricks, but he’s riding the Switchblade anyway, because he loves how it opens up his riding and lets him focus on carving.

• The Switchblade at Big Winds
• Our Switchblade Photo Gallery at Flickr
• The Switchblade at Cabrinha