I have been holding off on posting information about this board, but the shameless pimping of a marketing troll on a Cabrinha board has inspired me to do a genuine review.

As you can see, I have been on this forum for a number of years and have a few hundred posts. I don't claim to be an outstanding kite surfing legend nor am I sponsored by any brand given that my lack of Pro skills. What I do claim to be, is one of the blokes on the water with the biggest smiles on my face irrespective of what kite or board I am riding.

Anyway, I ride Switch kites (initially because I am a tight arse and couldn't justify the big bucks on a major brand). Now I continue to buy Switch kites because I personally like their product. My TT is an Axis Limited and I have a custom built North Nugget take-off.

That all said, I prefer a TT in surf (when I have the chance of getting into the surf) and off the butter flat conditions of my home ground and have been looking around for a TT that handles surf in a riding capacity. By that, I mean a board that is not designed for monster boosts but for its turning and carving ability.

This dilemma has seen me own an Ocean Rodeo Mako King (which I found did not suit me) and research into other styles of boards like that such as the Jimmy Lewis board and the Axis Wave TT resulted in dead-ends. Certainly not knocking these boards, but there was limited reviews on these boards (in particular the Axis) and emails to these companies seeking design clarifications fell on deaf ears.

Further searching eventually led me to the Nomad board. Try finding one for sale (second hand) or any reviews and you will find very limited information. Anyway, I sent Simon at Nomad an email and he immediately responded with design briefs and specifications, and answering many of the questions that I had for him.

Eventually I decided to roll the dice and just go for it. The board was custom built for me, with extra strength in the form of kevlar in and around the foot area (even though Simon guaranteed this was not overly necessary but for my piece of mind...no problem). The board was also built to suit my height (I am 198cm and weigh in at 110kg) and is 145 x 43.5cm.

As it said it was a gamble as all this was done via email as the board is built by him in Germany. I paid via PayPal as just to cover myself in the case that no board appeared. I also kept quite on this build just in case it didn't turn up and my mates gave me a hard time about losing my cash, or the board rocked up and it was a piece of sh!t.

All up, the board cost around $1500. This included postage, board, bag, fins and carbon handle. Big dollars....yeah, but putting this into perspective, most major brands high end boards sell for this or more. So essentially I have a board that is build to perform like the equivalent of a high end European car for the same price, plus it was built to my specs. The other sweet thing is my name and phone number are put into the decals of the board...which I suppose means I can never really sell the board, but then again I don't intend to. Apparently this board is almost bomb proof in strength, so maybe I will have this board for many years.

I am not going to go too much into the performance of this board just yet, as my use has been limited and I haven't really put it through its paces. What I can say though is that the ride is a lot softer than the Axis. This is due to the 11m concave that runs down the centre of the board and by the flex at the ends of the board. I can also say that given the rounded ends of the board, it turns and carves beautifully. If you want a boosting board, then don't go for this board....it is not designed to hold a huge edge and let go at the last minute giving you maximum air. It obviously can boost but that is not its forte nor was I ever looking for that in a board.

I use my Axis in the surf, and pretend to ride waves on it. The edges can catch, and ultimately it is not really designed for this purpose....hence this is why I bought the Nomad. I believe, the Nomad will give me that ability as when you plant your heels or toes it doesn't grab, it rides like a surfboard but without all that volume.

My model of board is not the top end of the Nomad range, in that if you spend more you get a different carbon lay-up which essentially means an even lighter board with a different flew pattern. You can also put carbon ceramic fins on it as well, but at that stage the budget would have been blown.

Anyway, a long story I know but given the lack of reviews out there on this board I may as well post my initial experiences. As I use this board more and in the conditions it was designed for I will post additional information.

Below are some pics of the board:

the board look amazing. Looking forward for the next review. cheers

I have been ogling those boards for years. From a design perspective they are the carbon layup is the shiz!..
I borrowed quite a few design ideas off this board when I made my mutant

Tell me what is the rocker, witdth and length of this board?

As an idea take the toeside front fin on your dominant side off. The when you are riding toeside down the line you wont get the front fin catching during carves on the wave face

Shouldn't you have started with, "nomad a world class kiteboarding manufacturer, with world class engineers who have produced the ultimate twin tip for the waves, that everybody will want and should get"?

Looks unreal man. 11 on the concave, nice. How good is the carbon lay up.

Just being a few KG lighter than you 103kg I find a 138 x 41 works for me even in windless Brisbane. Have you tried a smaller board as like you I'm no pro but have kited many years and kite confidently but my 143 x 43cm wide board I just use for light wind as I find it just too big. I like the boards from what I have seen on the net and would like to replace my old Cardboard that is a single concave and relatively stiff board with something more wave orientated. Do you think after riding it you would consider a smaller board ? looking at the outline a lot of area is lost to the rounded ends I wonder if that comes into play.
Another question is the foot straps are they good and worth keeping on?
Board looks great.

Speaking to Simon at Nomad, his recommendation is for a board that is 5-6 cm longer than you current TT. Given that my Axis is 138cm, I have gone for something slightly over this range. I certainly don't treat this board as my light-wind option, nor as my go-to board, for me that is what my Axis is for. This board it is to suit specific conditions in waves or if I am just in the mood for going out for a carving session on flat water.

I have not found the board too long at all and although early days, am happy with this size.

As for the footstraps, I really like my Axis straps so was concerned about how they would match up with these new ones. That said these straps are sweet. Comfortable, easy to adjust and fit nice an snug over my feet. The toe ridges are there, like the Axis and hold the feet in well. I have found the foam that is used slightly softer than the Axis ones, but again I like them.

I can't remember the specs that Simon gave, but I think he said the board would have about 21% more flex than the Axis Ltd. Which as Plummet mentioned in another post, to get flex in a single concave board is a difficult thing to do. I have ridden the board in reasonable chop and found this to be the case with regards to flex.

The whole construction and delivery process took around 7 weeks and during this time and prior to placing an order with Simon, I tortured him with about 50 emails getting design specs and asking various other questions.

I will post some more pics and details of the footstraps, rocker and concave later.

Here are some more pics of the board showing the sweet carbon lay-up, grab handle and footsteps. Definitely kiting's version of porn.

like it! nomad test ride centre? team wave tt lol.... balsy marketing and design, rip all styles to tha max with best kit

this week awesome wind & waves sth qld, 30kt 2m+ swell today perfect powered tt sess on tronic carving big lines in fast faces, wish was on a nomad more board speed wld b nice those waves move quick! foilboard & quad getting dusty atm, awaiting shi report after maxxed powered bumpy big wave sess pls

That's a sweet looking ride. Looks like it's from the future. Thanks for sharing.

Looks too nice to get wet

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DukeSilver said..
That's a sweet looking ride. Looks like it's from the future. Thanks for sharing.

Simon has had this board for a while, nomad have a good following in Europe,
last I heard he was doing all his r n d in tarifa,
This isn't his sole project
he makes some great performance tts, kiteworld mag gear reviews has some unbiased talk on his boards

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KEAW YED said..
Looks too nice to get wet

Some of best things in life are better when they are wet.

Great review - thanks. As Plums says, have been eyeing these boards for years wondering if I could justify it. I currently have a Mako King and a Mako 150. Great boards in the waves but quite heavy & power hungry. So is the Nomad much different to your Mako? Does it smooth out the chop as well? Is it much lighter than your Mako King? Thanks.

G'day Ricky

Having now owned both boards, I can honestly say there is no comparison. They are both very different boards.

From my experience, the Mako is very stiff and lacks any flex at all in the tips. It is considerably heavier as you would expect compared to the Nomad given that the Nomad is all carbon. I also found the concave ridiculously big at 18mm on the Mako as compared to the Nomad at 11mm. The fins are the other key aspect in that they are closer together on the boards length, this gives you a much better turning circle.

As Simon says... "on the technical side the wave-twintip has a single large concave at about 11mm depending on the width, the concave is the hook type with the largest concave curve at the drive rail. No channels. The board is high flex, very early planning and a very high upwind in lightwinds. Its very easy to control so no problems when it gets windy and choppy."

He has so much confidence that his boards will ride as they are marketed, that he will provide a money back guarantee.

I now sound like I am over-pimping his board and that is not my intention.

If you have other questions, just flick him an email and he will get back in touch with you ASAP.

As Plums mentioned on another post, having offset footstraps and the changes to fin positions might be your requirement and Simon is more than willing to do this. I am not overly technical with designs and the hydrodynamics of boards that I was happy to go with the experts recommendations.

Come on Shi house put away your wave board and bust out your nitro 6 already and let us know how she flies........................

Just need some wind man!!! Tuesday is looking the goods though.

I was also looking for a carvy board, something more modern and flexy than a Mako king for small wave riding. I kite about half the time on onshore small fresh water waves and the other half on trips ( at the time mainly Cuba).

I chose as a gift to myself a Nomad wave TT, the least costly of the 3 options ( prior to the white edition). At 89 kg I chose 143 x 42.5 for use mainly with 12 & 10 m kites. This was a tad larger than the 42 cm wide rrd poison I had that did good but I wanted a bit more surface. I did not regret it, it is splendid. Smooth, efficient, fun, agile, fast to plane and holds speed well. Bingo, grin maker deluxe.

The only thing is that on light days, initially with my 17, that I eventually replaced by a 14 m Enduro, it was sluggish as a bit small for toeside onshore riding. So you guess it i had a larger board custom made (a preretirement gift). As i did not whant to go much larger I whent mostly longer for a 153 x 43 outline. Although this was meant to be a lighter wind machine I discussed with Simon and we kept the standard rocker rather than going to the flatter rocker option to keep all the carving smoothness. That choice ended up better than expected as it covers 13 to 16 knots with my 14 m and overlaps for light 12 m kite conditions. When I use the bigger board my girlfried who is 61 kg uses the smaller model as her light wind board with either 10/12. In 12 to 14 knots she uses the 14 and my big board.

As we have progressed we started trying what i would call a couple of real wave destinations, StMartin ( le galion) and recently Barbados at Talmas home spot. We (initially the boards where just for me untill my girlfriend adopted the pair) remain verry satisfied with Simon's creations. I, like many find the marketting hype overdone not to say abusive, but the product is of good quality and performs to my highests expectations. I think the real craftmanship shows up in the board's feel, and that has to be experienced.

Now that we have ridden substantial size waves in side shore conditions we are expecting more and the sticks deliver, they actually help out by being so smooth. With time I have found that ridding the bigger board with a 10 m kite in lighter wind is a nice combo, so do not hesitate in going longer if you hold back on the width.

Believe it or not I have been discussing with my girlfriend to replace her main board a 138 x 39 poison by a third Nomad wave TT, I guess this speaks loudly to our satisfaction.

I am not the biggest fan of the footstraps but they are OK and light. Personally I changed all the allen screws to conventionnal phillips. Also had two set of inserts placed on each board ( a norrower option) but ended up maily using Simon's standards.

If you are in the market for a wave TT you will not be disapointed by Nomad's boards, discuss your needs, choose the colours, pay the bucks and reap the grins. There are not many options out there, see it as an investment in your happiness.

Cheers,

No sponsors, just an average 60 year old kiter in perpetual need of a wind fix.

Came accros Simon in his workshop in Tarifa (before he loved to Germany) by accident a few years back. Amazing dedication and understanding of what he makes, and makes boards beautifully. Deserves a good word, great to have people like that working in this sport. He will talk, and email, for ages on what you want. I dont ride TTs much but couldnt resist. Only slightly more expensive than an off the shelf brand, for me was worth every extra penny. Will never sell it. Felt like I got a Maclaren rather than a Ford.

Good to see another great reveiw of such a twintip board from nomad equally compaired to the tronic from cabrinha
get into your local dealer and ask them to demo the twintip from nomad you won't be disappointed with a fellow board to the tronic from cabrinha

Oh crap you are back.... and making just as much sense....

Nowind....

Nothing like the Cabrinha Tronic. In fact it is insulting to try and compare a mass produced "Holden" to a hand built "Formula 1".

Two completely different boards in construction, performance, design and materials.

Before you want to go and hijack a thread, do your research. If you have nothing decent to add to this, keep out of it. By the way you won't be able to go into a local dealer to try the Nomad board because they don't exist.

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eppo said..
Oh crap you are back.... and making just as much sense....

As I can see a repeat fan is happy to see the reviewing ledgend return to this great forum I have a new Lease on life the fingers are well rested and SIR NOWIND is as always ready to perform to the extreamly high standards as my fans refugee also as once before I decided to go on a magicle and well deserved rest

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nowindtoday said..

eppo said..
Oh crap you are back.... and making just as much sense....

As I can see a repeat fan is happy to see the reviewing ledgend return to this great forum I have a new Lease on life the fingers are well rested and SIR NOWIND is as always ready to perform to the extreamly high standards as my fans refugee also as once before I decided to go on a magicle and well deserved rest

lol....

That board looks fricken sweet!

Flash would approve

We got our first decent winter westerly yesterday and tried out my Nomad board in the chop @ squids.

First impression: really nice and smooth, excellent turning/carving, nice and grippy.

Did a heap of little jumps/pops on it, nice soft landings.

Really looking forward to taking it in the surf.

Nice going Tone,

Any pics of the new board there buddy?

Couldn't resist the side by side.

Seeing as you have both boards mentioned in this topic, I look forward to hearing a genuine comparison between the two.

Finally had the opportunity to use the Nomad Wave TT in a range of waves between 1 to 2m.

Best TT I have used in waves.... it was an absolute dream carving around on the waves.

No dramas popping over the white wash.

Goes up wind really well, healside and toeside riding are great.

Highly recommend the board for kitesurfers wanting a TT for waves.