Thursday, February 27, 2014

Nice video from Torsten with the Nitro V3

Switch - HOW TO - Bladder Replacement

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Switch Kites Nitro 3 2014 Kite Review

SWITCH KITES NITRO 3 2014 KITE REVIEWSIZES: 6M 8M 10M 12M 14M 16M

KITE TYPE: SLE

BEST FOR: FREERIDE
BRAND: SWITCH KITES
WEBSITE: HTTP://GOO.GL/3WBG9

The new Nitro 3 introduced by Switch for the 2014 season is a powerful and reliable freeride, airstyle and race machine. The Nitro 3 borrows the power speed and direct handling of the previous models, but it is fine tweaked to deliver enhanced stability, response, relaunch and depower. If you like to ride fast and boost big airs, this is the kite for you. It is able to cover a huge wind range and can be used by advanced as well as by intermediate riders.

Power and huge hangtime are the signature marks of the Nitro 3. This is a kite designed for dynamic riders that love fast drives and big airs. It is in fact a versatile freeride, race and air style machine, able to deliver crisp energy. It is not a kite designed for unhooked new school moves, but rather a fast kite developed for boosting. The Nitro 3 has no pulley or sliders. It uses a compact fixed 4 line bridle that makes control extremely precise and direct.

A five strut configuration keeps it extremely stable and makes the canopy crisp to prevent flutter. The open C design plus the high aspect ratio assure a consistent power generation and allow the rider boost big airs and enjoy increased hang time. These features also provide superior speed and excellent low end. As a matter of fact, the largest Nitro 3 model (16m) is

a powerful and efficient light wind machine.

The guys at Switch have also implemented instant re-launch including reverse launch and full depower within the bar throw. The wingtips are fine tuned to provide fast turning and keep the kite powered through the turn. The small diameter, constant curve leading edge assures an excellent drive upwind and a wide range of angle of attacks. The bar pressure on the Nitro 3 can be adjusted from light to medium, depending on the rider’s preference.

Monday, February 24, 2014

NitroV3 review from Wavehogger

NitroV3 review from Wavehogger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0eXRQBfbTc&feature=youtu.be

Current Kites:
Core GTS 9m
Best Waroo 11m (2008-old)
Board:
Underground FLX

Ordered the 12m Nitro and Controller 2...arrived earlier this week. Pumped up the kite...love the quick inflation and that there are no pulleys so the front bridle should last quite a few years. Great finish and looks really well put together. Must admit though that the kite looked huge on my front lawn…seemed 1,5 times the size of my 11Waroo…struts go waaaay up!

Kite bag looks great, has all the right compartments and big enough for the kite but what’s up with the small front opening to try and squeeze the kite back into the bag..looked like a hatched sea-turtle today trying to get it bag into the bag!? Really miss the old Naish bags that extended like a sock…no zippers!

Unrolled the Controller 2 – would be great if it had the same auto unwind under the bar like my Core ESP instead of a manual front line unwind…but having said that, the ESP depower strap started slipping after only 10 or so sessions…great bar but with faulty depower…not good in 30 knot winds. Also, a bit difficult to grab the depower ball thingy of the Controller 2 when powered up…needs a small strap for easy grab and pull….but all in all a very nice bar…nice long throw, release works great, looks durable and worked well with the kite.

Wind was blowing 18-23 knots today, and although the site states up to 27 knots with the 12 I was a bit sceptic since the kite really looks huge!
Wifey helped me with the launch, depowered the kite and honestly almost no pull, smooth, soft…and me thinking, ok….no issue with this huge looking kite…well, powered the sucker up immediately and 2 hours later came in with a huge smile on my face!

Carving: The site states that it carves upwind like no other and I have to agree…the angle seemed weird at first since I am not used with this on my Core or Best…nobody could keep my line tacking upwind. How well the kite can carve upwind is not that important to me but I was impressed.

Pop: Not the same pop as my Core but better than my Best. 100 times smoother however than my Core and more floaty (vertical) than my Best…great for rotations. Not for newschool I reckon.

Jumping: Awesome, amazed over the smooth lift, same action as the Core but just soo much smoother….and you stay in the air forever! My Waroo jumps high with a better glide than the Nitro but again not as smooth or as high as the Nitro.

Kiteloops: Loops ok for a 12 and have to watch out for that bottom end when the kite comes around but nice steady power throughout the turn.
Flying Angle: Kite sits nicely at 45 degrees and reckon that’s its sweet-spot.

Stability: Very stable in the air…no flapping and also experienced no back-stalling during a botched jump.

Verdict – very happy customer, stoked with the kite and what makes it even better is that I bought a really nice kite and bar at a fraction of some of the other boys on the market. For my style of riding – rotations, loops(not megaloops), jumping, etc. – perfect match!

Next step: Pawning my other 2 kites and getting a 9m Nitro.

Marc Jacobs in PKRA Panama

MJ riding in a swiming pool in Panama City

Don't try to do it at home !!!

Post by Marc Jacobs.

Double Elimination Highlights - PKRA 2014 PANAMA - Kiteboarding World Tour

Felix Pivec / Blog

He's an aquatic human, the King of unhooked
who packs in more water time than most ocean mammals.

Felix Pivec / Blog

Sebastien Queney living the dream on SwitchKites / Blog

Friday, February 14, 2014

MJ in australia 2013

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Jay in San Juan Puerto Rico with NitroV3 - Video

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

NZKN14 Final Recap

Open

1st - Marc Pierre Jacobs

2nd - Geoffrey Waterson

3rd - Jackson Mills

Junior

1st - Lukas Walton-Keim

2nd - Alessandro Del Moro

3rd - Adam Cookson

Legends

1st - Olly Brunton

2nd - Bradley Rossi

3rd - Blair Cooke

Womens

1st - Danielle Durrant

2nd - Su Kay

3rd - Tici Fettermann

Audio Review of the Control Bar V2 by Tantrum

A Review Of the Switch Control Bar V2...in short we like!!!

https://soundcloud.com/tantrumkitesurf/review-switch-control-bar-v2

Pictures of Switch Team Riders enjoying their Kites

Monday, February 10, 2014

Punch Buggy Switch

http://switchkites.com/blogs/punch-buggy-switch/

Punch Buggy Switch

This entry was posted on February 7, 2014 by Switch Team.

'Punch buggy what' I hear you ask.

Well, let’s see what Wikipedia has to say on the subject.

Slug bug (also called punch bug, punch dub, piggy punch, punch buggy, or beetle bug) is a car game generally played by children in which participants punch each other in the arm upon first sight of a Volkswagen Beetle while calling out "Slug bug!" or "Punch buggy!" in reference to the Beetle's nickname, the Bug.

The colour of the Beetle is also stated.

Why do I feel this piece of information might be of some importance to the context of this article? Well we are kiters, and we have an inbuilt ability to sit on a beach, look at kites and real off model names, numbers and years of the kites we see on the water. We don’t even realise we do if sometimes, and it is only when talking to a non-kiter does this become clear.

I was sitting on the beach yesterday evening watching a session of about 50 kiters here in Zanzibar, next to me was non-kiter friend of a friend, desperately trying to locate his companion amongst array of coloured kites adorning the evening skyline, ..finally he asked me if I could see his friend, …like The Terminator scanning a crowd for targets I immediately picked him out and pointed as I replied “There on the 2012 Park” …this confused him, greatly, I could see it in his eyes, so I added “the red and black one”. "Aaah I see” he replied pointing to and following a red and black 2013 Best GP with a pro-rider hanging off the end of it.

At this point I wanted to say nothing and let him think his friend was in possession of some seriously understated talent, and perhaps in retrospect it would have been the more fun thing to do, …but on the pursuit of truth I had to re-point him a little further into the distance where said friend was standing in waist-deep water trying relentlessly to re-launch his stricken kite.

So we can spot a kite then if we need to. …and if we do so with the same fluid efficiency of a 10 year old in the back of his parents car turning to triumphantly punch his brother or sister in the arm at the sudden spotting of a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.

Ok, maybe he didn’t know the year, the history of the car or any other knowledge I may have acquired with age, but I will certainly be calling a non-valid veto should my children dare cite a horrifically ugly modern beetle as cause for a punch. Not in my car.

I digress. What I want to focus on is the emotion, the moment of non-sensical joy felt by the child at this point. Of course we don’t feel this every time we know the name, model or year of a kite on the beach, …but something has changed for me recently that gives me that same childish uncontrollable joy ….and that is if the kite I spot is a Switch.

I didn’t think too much about it at first, I am quite a friendly person and I talk to many people on the beach, but I started to notice it a few months ago in Brazil, I spotted her, one lady off in the distance on a Nitro2, …off I went on a little upwind walk and it just so happens that as she came into land, there I was, smiling, …ready to attack her with polite conversation and mutual admiration at her choice of kite. I relayed this to my girlfriend who told me I must have seemed a bit strange, …the admiration wasn’t mutual, I didn’t have a kite with me! I did think her husband looked at me a bit strange as he arrived and I casually departed smiling to myself.

I have done this a few times since arriving in Zanzibar last month, each time a polite conversation follows and I think I have managed to seem a bit less ‘strange’ in the opening of said conversation. I have met some interesting people such as the man who was the first person in The Netherlands to own a Switch kite (I add that in just in case he is reading this - yes my good man, I was paying attention. - No, I don’t remember your name. - Element2 13m).

A few days ago I reached my pinnacle. I didn’t see it myself, well not from the outside, for this I rely on my lovely girlfriend to tell me how amusing I looked. there I was enjoying a nice free-style session in the lagoons of Zanzibar when I look over my shoulder and spot it. It was about 1km up wind of me, and yes, it was a Switch kite. Now at this point the story is much more amusing with my girlfriends hand actions, sound effects and French accent, but to summarise, I suddenly started hacking it upwind …it took me about 3 tacks and I was there, at which point I then proceeded to follow the poor man attached to the Switch kite for a good few tacks trying to make as much eye contact as possible, and smiling and sending over a little wave/thumbs up combination at the same time. I have been told that I looked how a synchronised swimmer would appear if they took up stalking.

Unfortunately my ‘victim’ wasn’t interested, he was concentrating so hard on his first jumps that after 5 minutes I had to give up for fear of scaring him completely, …dejected I rode back downwind.

So now to the point of this story (other than perhaps a subtle apology to this poor man). We are a special bunch us Switch riders and also very proud of our brand choice. This is something I have confirmed through my stalking of you, and I don’t just mean the team riders, ..everyone from the middle aged German woman with the jealous husband to the French army officer who rode a 15m Combat2 …whatever speed the wind was.

So let’s show each other and the other people on the beach this. If you see a person riding a Switch kite, ..go up to him/her, say hi, ride together for a session, or at the very least smile and return the obligatory thumbs up you just received on the water.

This is a sentiment I see slowly getting lost in kiting, and they do say that if you want to change something then you should first start at home.