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Rider: Weight,Level (advanced, only by years on the water
Style: Freeriding, Surf
Weather: at VX 10m limit, 25 to 30? knots
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10 for intended purpose
weight 77kg
Okay folks been out a number of times on my new Shinn Monk, 132/41. I have a 4m gap between my 10m VX and 6m VX, hence I needed a board that I could take the 10m to its limit, so I'm not sitting there wondering what kite to take out between 23 and 28 knots. And you guys know in winter you need that margin for gusts.
So I needed a board that had some flex, for the west coast chop but could hold a tight rail and take a serious load and not break ( my CB wave can't do that, planes to easily), and yet enough pop to seriously go big which the VX in built race characteristic are known for.
And as we all know there is a cost benefit between flex (and chop handling) and rigidity (release and vertical pop as well the ability to load).
So after you guys answered my post looking for the right board, I had narrowed down the the north x ride and the shinn monk. The north board ( which I as able to borrow a friends) would have been an excellent choice given I wanted a board more on the freeride spectrum, but my CB wave I consider to be the ultimate for that, considering the waves I am in all the time.
So following my true and trusted technique of net research, posting here then contacting individuals about their board choice, it was the monk...
And I wasnt disappointed. Firstly the pads and straps are amazingly comfortable, the memory foam by now has really set in. You feel very connected and the ride is super smooth. Read from many sources the comfortable ride that allows you more than usual water time without fatigue. This is a function of the straps, pads as well as the biaxial flex(snowboard influence) but get to that later. football in my teens and twenties plus 13 years of kiting have taken their toll on my ankles so this was a god send. So the ride is very smooth, and their is no spray at all. I can't emphasizes this more, not a little bit of spray, but none, nilch, zero, nada...was damn weird to start with.
So it's blowin 22 to 30, those damn gusty westerlies, black clouds a building on the horizon, I'm on my 10m VX and thought farq it let's see what this baby can do. Got into some flattish water and loaded that bitch up. Those who know the VX it is a bloody race car, it moves fast and demands you ride it fast or you would wonder what the hell you have bought. It asks a lot of the rider and gives a lot If you tap into its function, but would seem a strange kite for someone not up to the task. It's all or nothing. So I cranked that canopy into the rapidly increasing gusts, dropped it through the window as fast as I could crank it ( the damn thing flies so fast forward it generates immense speed), the pulled with every ounce of strength I had, rushed forward so damn fast it made my eyes water, then dug the heels as far in as I could go, straighten the legs and jammed that farqin rail as deep as it would go, expecting any minute to break contact and send me to hell. Well stuff me, the deeper I dug, the firmer it held. I could feel the flex not flopping about at the ends, but through the whole board from one end to another. It twisted and bucked through the whole axis, which creates incredible control. I was kind of pissed off I couldn't break the rail actually, went even harder the second time, but nah it wouldn't budge.
So here you have a board that loads as much power as you want and yet has enough biaxial flex to keep it all smooth and in control. Mate the wake and spray coming off the board could have propelled one of those wake boarder waarnkers(spelling to keep words impact with none of those stupid asterixes).
So time to test its pop. Flex is great for smoothness but sh1t if ya can't pop vertical and transfer all that edging ability into height whats the point Now I'm still a relative virgin on the VX and to be very honest with you folks, it still scares me a little. It flies so bloody fast I keep redirecting it to early. The kite is not a plug and play style kite, even in the air you have to fly it correctly or you will bring it to fast back though window and it will leave you coming down with no canopy above you. To compound this it asks you to fling it from the horizontal at 9 quickly over ya shoulder past 12 all the way to 3, hence your flight control once in the air is paramount. It also has some incredible loop potential built into it and almost asks you to pull this trigger as well, which I've only done in lighter winds so far...yeh I'm chicken Sh1t.
So with that concise description, lol, I cranked and dug in the rail and aimed for a good head high wave, thinking I'd loose my edge as I went up the face. Well I did a little, but with a slight dig of the heel at the last minute, slung it from 9 through the 3 ...and for the first time in a long time, scared the living crap out of myself. Vertical lift that hurt my ribs, incredible height and float, lots of float, made sure this to crank it back at last minute and landed as soft as butter.
One last dimension to mention was its ability in the waves. Yeh it's a TT, but it does have a lot of grip, although this can easily be released when needed. Good balance there. One aspect of the board that shocked me in the waves was one, it's ability to hold a line when you needed, two it performed really well on its toes. Again an edging characteristic, it rides on the toes really well to the point I was starting to trim the wave like on my CB wave. Not as good, but bloody close. You can really dig the toe edge I spill the kites power ( again helped by the race characteristic of the VX which allows you to fly it so far forward) a good combination, this kite and board.
So in summary, ha ha ha, it serves the purpose I needed it for perfectly. Suites the kites characteristics as well. Highly recommend this board and it wouldn't make a bad all round board for those who only use the one. But for those who need some flex in the chop but the ability to hold a big edge and take their kite to its upper limit for some insane boosting, this is something worth considering. Also surprisingly good in the surf.
Thanks to puppet for for the help.
Eppo
Ps for the record I sourced this board for 100 dollars cheaper oversees but supported a local retailer. This by no means means I'm a nice guy, ask my mother I'm not. But when I can, i buy local.
