anyone had a whizz on the firebird 140?? undergrounds latest?? or for that matter North/slingshots/naish boards with da fins in da back for the bigger boosts.....as a bi-directional rider (kiteboarding only) i definately favour riding the left foot in front reach......sooo if these boards still go upwind without stimulaing the muscle memory all over again to have to change feet can one of you fullas (or fulles's) let us know your thoughts or experience with any of this phenomonon....... :?:

In my search for a better wave riding setup on a TT board I tried a set of these on the tail on my Saber 147





This has proved to be one SWEET wave riding setup - giving awesome drive off a bottom turn with no skipping out.

The huge plus is the board is still a TT and rides fakie with a 4" fins well clear of the water - in fact fakie it rides just like the standard Saber.

No switching feet required, and only a couple of minutes to change back to TT mode for that flat water session.

Dave Kay

I've had a "whizz" on a Firebird 140 two, maybe three times now. I think the best time was Friday two weeks ago when there was the smoothest strong wind I've ever had, a good honest wind, a fulsome 35 knots directly side shore. A wind which whipped the golden sands into a stinging waist high veil. A wind which made me damn near give up pumping because the drag of the tortured fabric would scarcely allow the leading edge to realize its full tumescent potential. The beach was deserted. It was about 8:30am and the wind was new so the sea was yet to scuff up, leaving beautiful clean waves to slash and boost off. Perhaps it was the pure drive and power of the firebird and not the very sharp and virile new Rhino above which had me gazing down at the beach clean over the Brighton pier, had my lines singing as I found a new level of speed and control I never before thought possible, smashing lip after lip, bloody well sending waves back out to sea...
More seriously, yeah it's an ok board. I've long been a staunch twintipper (even spent an anguished year or two watching the likes of Shaan persist with pointy planks sporting 3 or 4 15cm skeggs). My primary reasoning for eschewing the directional was vulnerability. Whether it be switching feet or negotiating a course out through big surf tail first, you are vulnerable. Now I could gybe as well as the next man, but try that with double overhead of whitewater bearing down and there's that V word popping in my head. The Wavetray got rid of all that with easy handling every which way. But we lost something - the drive and bite of a good wholesome set of surf fins. The Wavetray deals to a wave in a pleasant and efficient way, kinda like a Libtech will deal to three foot of fresh windlip... but the Firebird RIDES waves. I think a set of normal asymmetric wide straps and I'd almost never switch stance. I prefer no centre fins for a less drag quieter ride; maybe whack a 50 mil in the heel side for light wind. And it rips fakey, the 100mm rear fins don't really hang up enough to give you the flick, and actually sit in the water if you weight forward helping upwind. Ahh yes, finally a directional with fakey performance upon which you can rely to load and boost that big white muncher, so you can touch down and dip the fin for a lightning fast switch to be set for that massive heelside hit on the next clean feathering wall and then whip the kite back for a screamer bottom turn pulling more G's than F1, rocketing you straight up into the meaty greenness of the next section which has an evil curl already and flicks you out into the flats then pummels the living shite out of your puny humanness as your kite stalls and the waves tumble you up in the lines like a kitten with a ball of wool... then it goes still and quiet and you fight your way upwards just to gulp half the urgent breath you need as the full hydro dynamic force of the wave meets your kite and you feel the irresistible grip of the lines around your ankle, then waist... and neck

and, and ............ i was there all the way, am i waiting for my head to be ripped off or the seething tension of lines cutting to the bone of my limbs.......but wait the swiss army knife will get me out of this mess! if only i can unlock the blade and get it out of the pouch in time.....

Next installment eh

You ever whipped out your trusty hook-knife, like from the back pocket of a Dakine harness and tried to use it in anger? Lines don't cut easy when you want them to, we practised, it's a have.

ahh the dakine bonus knife.....never tried one no. but.....there are some good little dive knives that come in a good little sheaf and have serrated edges, if one was to carry a knife these would be the go i reckon.....often a handy thang to have to help other no so fortunate sometimes KBrds with....like all those who have invented there own hook in saftey systems with quick releases that sometimes dont release at all!

Actually it was 9 days ago. I know I missed it by driving to Vegas. The glamorous life of kite design strikes again. I spent an afternoon on a firebord at Clearwater this weekend. It really does ride very well backwards. Unlike Knae I never bother to learn howe to gybe properly back in the day so directionals have never really appealed. However after riding with them again, I'd almost consider it as the do give a nice locked in feel if you're powered and feel like making a bit of upwind.

Chris

C'mon lazydigits, get Fi to check your posts first eh, and quit calling me knae

Well Check the time on the post. It was a bit late after a long weekend. anyway Knae has a nice ring to it

Chris

okay so i get the turn at the bottom of the wave before the feathering green mass and the fins doing there bit with all that......but does the board and fins help you to hold your edge b4 the boost or are you still predominatly using the rail to hold before the big babbuskaa air......and while i'm at it...how about da length 140....if your use to the smaller pocket rocket boards in the 110- 130 range how do u's fullas find the longer length?

the naish mutant being the only thang similar that i've a play on and Ron (the germans) little european made thang a few years ago in the estuary, the right place and time they're choice, but soft rails and they sure dont fakie well....and you say the fins are out of the water when you go back the other way?so you can bring your wieght forward and use them to track up wind???? that be like "over steer".....are any of you sponsored by UG?

isnt everyone on underground 'sponsored ' by UG

Whoops. Yes I am, I had intended to put some sort of disclaimer on there but forgot, sorry.

Chris

The fins do the holding, can push on the tail really hard and it has a much more solid feel than a common bi-directional style. I guess it would boost better for some people, but I find I jump the same size on any board, and actually I usually ride a WT150x36 or a mondo soft rail WT142 and still get as much air as the next man. These boards for freeride/waves, 120-130 for freestyle of course but haven't really been into that for a while. There is a Firebird 130 now too, tried that on the special Friday also, but personally I like the 140. Just starting with the 150 and that should be a good lightwind/wave board.
The 140 fakies well, even toeside or blind. Toeside fakie upwind no problem. When I mentioned the rear fins helping fakie upwind, I mean that if underpowered and not going so fast then you can weight forward a bit and use the extra fin area as lateral resistance which helps - yeah over steer if you're ripping along, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I dipped 'em in the drink at full noise a fair bit and pretty much they just cut straight through. Main issue is that sometimes if you're lax about it they can put you into a funky unexpected rotation when launching fakie up a smaller wave with a sharp curve in the pit, which isn't often anyhow. Tried big fins on the "tail" of my 142 also, good directional like feel as Decay says above.

Me UG rider too...does that negate all my tripe?

With all this talk about directionals and wave riding I'm thinking the Ch-ch crew needs to take a trip up to Ashworths.

Su and I rode a few days they last summer.

The NE seems to CRANK in up there, a lot stronger than a city. Looking back I think I used my 8m more than 12m riding there.

The NE is also very cross shore and the waves peel down the beach.

Yep its been too long since I had an 8m kite, cross shore wind, head high wave session.

Should get Neil's camera up there too - I'd love to see more wave riding in the next Ch-ch video.

DK

all good tripe and thanx for adding the onions.....just what i wanted to know. thanx knae

I've seen that word before! It's kn and in Danish it means knee. But this is not where it ends. There once lived a terrible Danish warrior, with bad arthritis (this is what made him terrible). And so he was called kn. Below is the link to the traditional story of kn, in which I suspect we might find striking similarities to our rather more Ashburtonian version, right down the appreciation of good mead.

Pukkel, incidently, is Danish for knobbly. No reason.

www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/vinland/campaign/parable.html

Nothing wrong with my pukkel knaes, more the arthritic bum. Still managed to have a mighty fine afternoon of freestyle today; makes a pleasant change. Adrian sorta got some toeside backrolls happening and a few good kiteloopings too.

the glistening ocean off the coast of Mt Maunganui was for the first time touched by a firebird today with steady 15 knots and 18 x3 to guide it across the surface and above.....and hey pretty impressed so far, i thought i would have the fins on my strong/favourite side to boost (right foot backstrap with the fins) but with a NW and running with the waves really need to change that around so when coming on the inward leg of the journey back to shore my fins are in the wave......back to the wind....

nonethelessthe firebirds pilot flew higher and hung longer than ever before....the board is like a feather compared to the 127 stubbie i've been having fun with....right at home in the waves and yeah cranking up wind......

back with more some day soon

I ride a naish 4'7 mutant and love the ability to go up wind and plane throught the gusty conditions. haven't touched a TT in years, it only takes a half dozen sessions and gybing becomes easier. The only issue is transistions are more of a challange. But the preformance in the waves and chop is worth it. Love to try the underground saw bid noses and thought it looked sharp.

...you mean "big nose", heard he was kitelooping all over and around Shaan lately.

say what?

Willis?

whatchootalk'n about willis?

Yeah that Willis. BN was loopin a 20m and gave you a bit of the who's ya daddy, that right?

can't say about that one - insufficient information...(i usually give myself plenty of who's your daddy without BN's help) and i've heard he is no shrinking violet when it comes to punishing himself also - he was last seen lying face down in a foot of water at muriwai, severely winded and slowly filling up with salt water and black sand?!