Hey FlyByKite caught up with Nige on the weekend and got to ride this board.
It's same dimensions as the board in your video so it is smaller than the Duke.
Apparently it's the same materials but is lighter simply due to the size reduction.
Day one conditions were 3ft waves out back and lumpy soup on the inside. It handled faces and popping over waves strapless nicely.
I would imagine for big stuff that you'd want straps as it is very easy to pop out and ride reverse or slide sideways on foam. Much livelier than a regular SB, vader/vanguard or whip etc. You don't get that nice flowy, surf board feel, but maybe that would come with time? It's definitely more a mutant style at first impression but with improved grip due to the surf board fin.It is so light and easy to carry, it would be awesome for strapless rolls, but I'm still only dreaming of those ones...so leave that to you guys to suss that one.
Day two - sun out , dead flat 50cm deep aqua blue water
Only 15 kts max so we put up the 14.5m Flite. We strapped the board up and...
all I can say is , we'll it was a very good time. Anything I can do on a regular TT was easy. In fact I landed my latest move more times than not ( which had not been the case til Sunday). I prefer to ride upwind heel side, so knowing how to jibe was handy. The straps seem fairly soft so they weren't in the way too bad and were fairly easy to negotiate in and out of.
I instruct with OR kites so I can see the angle viewing this as just a pimp post and that's fair enough.
But it's also fair enough to say that there is no other board out there with these dimensions, material, outline and weight (very light)
So whether this board is for you or not, it definitely presents a style of riding different to anything else out there at the moment.
If you're like me and you really like both waves and TT, this could be the way to go.
I'll be ordering one of these so if youre around Byron or the Goldie, after release date, just sing out for a borrow.
