Nobile has largely built its reputation upon its proprietary and innovative split-board technology, but also has an impressive offering of kites, snowkite boards and now foils as well. Based out of Poland with in-house manufacturing and quality control, Nobile’s Gosia Rosiak-Brawanska fills us in on the brand’s technical and performance changes for its 2019 lineup of products.
LAST MODEL YEAR, NOBILE INTEGRATED ITS 4TH GENERATION OF THE NSC-NOBILE SPLIT CONNECTION INTO THE TWIN TIP LINEUP, THIS BEING THE MAGIC BEHIND NOBILE’S SPLIT BOARD CONSTRUCTION. HAVE ANY CONSTRUCTION OR MATERIALS CHANGES BEEN MADE TO THE TWIN TIPS AND WHAT ARE THE MAIN HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2019 TWIN TIP LINE?
APS Technology and Pre-Stress Technology have been present in our boards since the very beginning of the Nobile brand. For almost 15 years, we have been focusing on flex engineering trying to utilize all the amazing properties of a wood core combined with different fabrics in order to achieve the best performance and comfort for our riders.
Pre-stressing means the intentional creation of initial tension in a structure for the purpose of improving its strength properties. In kiteboarding, pre-stress allows the board to be loaded with energy during production. Storing the energy inside the board makes it stiffer and much more torsion resistant, which results in astonishing pop. We have several ways in which we implement Pre-Stress Technology into our board construction. Every way is unique and depends on the board’s shape and construction. Pre-Stress technology also allows us to build thinner and lighter boards, yet still more durable.
Other manufacturers can achieve the same 3D shape of the board by milling the wood core on both sides into sometimes complicated 3D shapes. We are achieving this shape by pre-stressing the wood core in the molding process. A good example is how we have been using the elliptical concave shape in our twin tip boards since the very beginning and we have been doing it utilizing pre-stress technology. Some companies use concave which is pre-milled in the wood core, but our approach makes a huge difference in performance.
We believe this technology together with our 4th Generation NSC-Nobile Split Connection technology in our splitboards are our biggest highlights and differentiates Nobile from all the other brands. Our 2019 Cosmic Collection of boards are more lively, reactive, lighter and more dynamic.
NOBILE BROUGHT TO MARKET THE WORLD’S FIRST SPLIT FOILBOARD IN 2018. WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON IN THE FOIL DEPARTMENT FOR THE NEW MODEL YEAR?
Our Infinity Split Foil has been popular thanks to both its uncompromising performance and ease of transport. The Nobile Infinity Split Foil board with Zen Hydrofoil set up is light and comfortable, which makes it easy to learn and progress. You can choose from different mast lengths and different wings which all work with the same system. You can always improve it by adding different parts. We also offer the Nobile Skim Foil with more advanced performance. Although some kitesurfers with racing ambitions will have to look elsewhere, The Infinity Split Foil is perfect for rest of the kitesurfing community which allows you to foil or just use the surfboard to kitesurf. With the traveling kiter in mind, the equipment conveniently fits into the Nobile Check-In-Bag along with two kites and all other necessities. As the hydrofoils niche keeps rapidly evolving, our R&D department is busy working on new ideas, so stay tuned as we will probably not wait to release any new designs in the 2020 collection.
YOUR FOILBOARDS ARE ALSO SPLIT SURFBOARDS. WITHOUT THE MAST/ WINGS, WHAT KIND OF FIN SYSTEM DO THEY OFFER AND CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE IN PERFORMANCE OFFERED BETWEEN THE 5’2” AND 5’6” INFINITY BOARDS? DO THEY PERFORM IN WAVES OR BETTER FOR FLAT WATER TRICKS, OR BOTH?
The Nobile Infinity Split Foil 5’2” board is a great board for small and medium waves; the shape is fast and designed for perfect jibes and bottom turns. Thanks to the channels on the tail of the board, it significantly improves the board’s stability during wave riding, just by using only two-sided 4.6 FCS fins.
In our wave line, we also have the Infinity Split 5’6″ and the Infinity Split Carbon 5’6″ surfboards, which are designed for riding in small waves and in light wind conditions. Their shape is slightly wider than the Infinity Split Foil 5’2″ boards, making them more stable during wave riding, a bit slower and more predictable for beginner wave riders. For the Infinity Split 5’6″ and Infinity Split Carbon 5’6″ boards, we use the Tri FCS fins system.
CLICK AND GO, NOBILE’S UNIQUE TOOL-LESS FOOTPAD AND STRAP SYSTEM WAS UPDATED IN 2018. HAVE ANY CHANGES BEEN MADE TO THIS SYSTEM AND DOES THIS SYSTEM ACCOMMODATE ALL SIZES OF FEET FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN? IS THE SYSTEM COMPATIBLE WITH OTHER BOARDS OR PROPRIETARY TO NOBILE BOARDS ONLY?
Nobile Kiteboarding for the 2018/2019 season offers two models of tool-less accessories, the IFS PRO and IFS GEN2. The IFS PRO is a refined and reinforced version from the previous season, which we offer in two sizes S/M and L/XL. The straps in the IFS PRO have three Velcro straps for perfect fitting for any size foot. Our second model, the IFS GEN2, offers more comfortable pads based on a memory foam system which perfectly fits to the rider’s foot shape and straps with a fast closing ratchet system for a custom, snug fit. We also offer the IFS GEN2 in two sizes S/M and L/XL. Both footpad systems work with boards that have the standard 155mm mounting spacing.
HAVE ANY CHANGES BEEN MADE TO NOBILE KITES OR YOUR CONTROL BAR FOR 2019? IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT NOBILE 2019?
For the 2019 season, Nobile Kiteboarding will continue the production and sales of our 2018 Nobile Comforty control bars along with our great 2018 kites models, the T5 kites, used for Freeride/Wave riding, and our 50/ Fifty C-Hybrid kites, used for Freestyle/Wakestyle riding.
Nobile loves winter as much as the summer! We have a snowkiting division, and have been producing snowboards since 1995 and offer two special snowboards for snowkiting: The NHP with 20 meter sidecut for freeride/freestyle and the RC 2000 with 80 meter sidecut for long distance racing. Both are designed together with our team riders to meet their unique requirements. The RC 2000 is almost always on the podium at snowkiting competitions around the world, thanks to its great performance and huge talent of our riders course!
