Kite Demos

We’ve expanded our kiteboard demo lineup. You’re allowed unlimited exchanges all day increasing your odds of finding that perfect fit. Here’s the latest list of what’s available. Just call us and ask for the rental department. They’ll get you hooked up in no time.

• Naish Sol 134
• Naish Thorn 132
• Naish Haze 136
• Naish Fish 5’2″
• North Jaime Pro 132
• North XRide 135
• North Kontact 5’7″
• North Freestyle Fish 5’0″
• North Pacific Tuna Fish 5’4″
• North Pacific Squash Quad 5’7

There are still some high flying deals in our kite closeout section.

Only Big Winds and one other unspeakable outfit has a special limited edition of the Naish 2009 Helix kite. 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of the Naish brand. To commemorate this great achievement, Naish is releasing a Limited Edition Helix with the famous Skull logo that was hand drawn by Robby Naish himself back in the 80’s. They’re available only in 9m and 12m.

2008 Windsurf Board Prices

Over on the windsurfing front, the deals on new 2008 boards got a little sweeter yesterday. These boards got their stickers shaved $100 to $200. Crazy.

• Starboard
  • Evo XTV 70, 75, 80 Technora -$200 to $999
  • Evo XTV 62, 75, 80, 90 Wood -$200 to $1199
  • Futura 93, 101 Technora -$200 to $999
  • Futura 93, 101 Wood -$200 to $1199
  • Pure Acid 74 Technora -$200 to $999
  • Pure Acid 68 Wood -$200 to $1199
• Naish
  • Pro Wave US 1111 65, 75, 80, 85 -$100 to $1199
  • Global Wave 83, 87 -$100 to $999
  • All Terrain 95, 115 -$200 to $999
• Mistral
  • Syncro Move 104 -$100 to $799
  • Syncro Move 104 RD -$100 to $999
  • Screamer 104 RD -$100 to $999
  • Syncro Style 84 -$100 to $799
  • Syncro Style 84, 94 RD -$100 to $999
  • Wave 69, 86 RD -$200 to $999

Ladies SUPper Club

The ladies are spanking it pretty hard on Tuesday nights. We’ve posted a couple of slide shows, here and here on Flickr to prove it. Due to the overwhelming response, availability is limited so call Daryl as soon as you can to reserve a board. Or, if you have your own, roll it on down and join in the fun. It’s all free! Scope out the details.

New Virtual Shop Tours

Dr. Pete came in and shot up the store. Where we used to have three tours we now have eight. They’re bigger too. You can drop in virtually and check out all the new stuff for 2009.

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

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

Right now, our entire selection of 2007 windsurf boards, windsurf sails, kites and kiteboards are on closeout at some amazing prices! We just finished updating our website to reflect these new numbers, and hopefully you can find something on our table that satisfies your discriminating palate.

• Up to $450 off new windsurf boards
• Up to $200 off new windsurf sails
• Up to $400 off new kites
• Up to $100 off new kiteboards

Enjoy, and let us know if you have any questions!

Over here at Big Winds, we talk to a lot of people who are just starting to get into kiteboarding, and who are completely baffled by the huge selection of kites and kiteboards available these days. Sifting through the near-limitless array of gear can be a daunting task, so we took the time to put together some great entry-level kiteboarding packages for ya’ll.

These packages will be a great match if you’ve taken a few hours of private kiteboarding instruction, and are now looking to get your own gear for the first time. That said, none of these packages consist of purely “beginner” gear. Everything that we carry here at the shop is high-performance gear that we ourselves (experienced kiteboarders and windsurfers alike) enjoy riding, day in and day out. Bea loves her Naish kites, Dane is stoked on his Cabrinha quiver, and Craig is all North, all the time.

While this gear is certainly forgiving and durable enough for beginner kiteboarders, these packages also have what it takes to satisfy the intermediate and advanced kiteboarder in your life. What’s more, if you are indeed a beginner, this is gear that you won’t outgrow any time soon, and will last you through your entire progression in kiting. There are no slouches in the Big Winds catalog.

Oh yes, and the best part is that these packages are discounted from our original price! Coupled with our free shipping offer on all kiteboarding packages, as well as the fact that there’s no sales tax in Oregon, you can get yourself a mighty fine collection of kite gear at a very nice price.

Also, our generosity isn’t limited merely to these packages! If you’ve been perusing our catalog and have written up your own gear wish list, beginner or expert or otherwise, feel free to give us a call. One of our friendly kite experts will be happy to put a package together for you, with your own special pricing. It’s just our little way of rewarding our customers for taking the time to speak with us!

Free shipping on all 2007 windsurf sails

Free shipping on all 2007 kiteboards

Free shipping on all 2007 kites

Free shipping on all O’Neill product orders over $100

Free shipping on all Dakine product orders over $100

In addition, we also offer discounts for windsurfing/kiteboarding packages, and multiple sail/kite purchases. If you’re interested, give us a call and we can put together a quote for you!

* Now for all the gritty details. “Free Shipping” applies only to orders within the contiguous United States (also known as the Lower 48). All items will be shipped via UPS Ground, which takes from 2-6 business days depending on your distance from Hood River. Expedited service (including UPS 3-Day, 2-Day and Next Day Air) is available for an additional charge. Very large items (including Dakine’s 60/40 Split Convertible Luggage, and Dakine’s Single-Wall Windsurf Bag) are considered “oversized” by UPS and cost significantly more to ship, and thus are not included in our free shipping promotion.

As always, please visit our company website for the most current and accurate information regarding our promotions.

Our current stock includes a couple of Tuna Fish 5’3″ boards, the Squash Tail 5’8″, and the Round Squash 5’6″. Check ‘em out, these boards are gorgeous!

Tuna Fish 5’3″

Squash Tail 5’8″

Round Squash 5’6″

What fun, eh? Makes us wish the Columbia River would get a bit warmer than 49 degrees. Soon though, soon!

The second board we now have is the Jimmy Lewis Flight Deck, which is a large 147 cm twin tip board designed especially for light wind conditions.

Anywho, figured we’d let ya’ll know!