Let’s talk a little about the new Vegas 09 and Mallory Pro 09!!! It’s been about 2 month I’ve been riding with the new material and I wanted to let you know what you can expect from it as it will be available in the shops soon.

I’ll start with the nicest board ever!!! )) For the ones that don’t know, North kiteboardin (NKB) is producing for the second year my own Pro Model… We’ve been working together to get the best from it and I’m definitely happy with the results.

This year NKB has a really big range of boards, you can find the Newschool range in which my board takes part… New school has been the last tendency in kiteboarding, approaching to wakeboarding style, we’re doing most of the time powered and technical tricks with some really hard landings… And it’s of course what I’m doing all the time during competitions and free sessions because it’s what I like the most, and I love blowing up my knees!!!

According to that the board needs the best Pop possible to pull me out of the water and make me go as high as I can without a use of my kite, a great control, good upwind, speed and sticky landings… so this would be the bullet points. The mission this year was to make the Mallory Pro with as good pop and controlled landings as last year and at the same time nicer to ride in choppy conditions, which are the most usual. 

Thanks to the new 3D Carbon wood core construction the board has a softer flex than last year which makes it really nice to ride in these kind of conditions… Plus the new pads are softer than last year and they make your riding even more comfortable! Finally the new outline and new size (132×41) improved the speed and upwind performance from it, perfect for the competitions.

Now concerning the new Vegas:

As you all know the Vegas is the kite designated to a freestyle/newschool riding with a conventional C feeling and at the same time it keeps its freeride capabilities.             

This year,  thanks to  2 different settings for the Vegas, it cover a wider range of conditions and riding styles opening doors to the riders:

1) High depower setting, offering the classic Vegas feel that we are used to:  round and quick kiteloops, easy to pop, reactive, soft bar feeling and an even better depower making it easier for not so experiencied riders that really want to use the finest kite of NKB.

2) Low depower, a new setting for most experienced riders which like a really constant pull with less depower, a more stable kite and little less reactive… 

According to your preferences you’ll like more a setting or the other, it depends of your decision… so I recommend you to give a try and then choose the one you like the most.                                                      In general the Vegas is a good compromise between stability and reactiveness!!! The kite is really nice to handle and reactive, making you feel a great contact between you and your kite but at the same time it’s stable enough while doing your tricks… because we don’t want a kite that goes straight into the water whenever you let one of your hands of the bar (specially in small sizes), I’m not talking only about handle passes, even while doing a backloop transition… 

This year the loops are improved, the kite does a round and quick loop and then comes back to the zenith really fast and catches you back up for a safe and smooth landing!! that’s what I love the most. As well thanks to a little of delta profile, the low end (capacity to start in low wind conditions) is improved,  the backstall doesn’t happen anymore, and your kite is still reactive enough even if your back lines are not completely in tension.

And to finish, the guys who are nostalgic for the 4 line kites, they have the option to use the Vegas 09 on this setting!!!

That’s pretty much everything, the kite will come out soon… so enjoy it!!

Cheers.