NAISH Kite Performance Freeride
Sizes Available: Front Wing 600cm2, Back Wing 210cm2, Mast 95cm
Sizes Tested: Front Wing 600cm2, Back Wing 210cm2, Mast 95cm
Naish Says:
The 2020 Kite Performance Freeride foil set continues to progress forward from our 2019 system. Not only increasing performance toward the top end but, at the same time, maintaining its user-friendly platform. This foil has no shortage of new design features starting with a new stabilizer has been developed that increases for and aft stability dramatically while keeping the turning ability of our 2019 backwing. The redesigned fuselage introduces a new fixed rear wing connection and increases the strength and stiffness of the wing – fuselage system. Wing weights have decreased all along the range and we have implemented a wet sanded finish on all wings to optimize the surfaces for top speed.
For 2020, the Naish Kite Foil system retains the our advanced front wing design with it’s unique segmented shape that combines the stability of a dihedral shape with exceptionally early take off thanks to the anhedral center section. This wing offers excellent speed, a wide sweet spot for easy gliding and superior control due to a leeway coupling wingtip design. For 2020, an all-new stabilizer design featuring slim, low drag asymmetric sections and upturned wingtips works together with our new fuselage to improve straight-line stability and make the wing even more intuitive and responsive to rider input during turns.
Visit for more info: www.naishkites.com/product/kite-performance-freeride-complete-abracadabra/
Tkb Says:
The Kite 600 is Naish’s new speed foil that offers exhilarating high-end speeds with good stability and relatively user-friendly control from a hydrofoil package that is designed to break the sound barrier. The 600 package comes with carbon wings that attach to an aluminum fuselage with three torque head bolts, a stabilizer with a simplified mounting with two torque head bolts and a tall 95cm aluminum mast. Our 600 kite wing came with the Abracadabra mounting base that allows for easy connect/disconnect from your board. We loved the Abracadabra mounting plate because we were testing a few different boards and this made swapping out the different models effortless with one screw detachment which yielded less fuss and more water time.
The 600 features a super small fighter-style front wing with dihedral lifting surfaces that feels like a speed demon that wants to lock in on a course and accelerate to speed record-setting speeds. The 600 offers up stable controls that allow you to feel confident at high speeds and features a large turning arc that is happy to serve up hard-charging large G-force carves. The 600 has a noticeably higher foil-up speed compared to the Naish Jet 1050 we tested. We estimated the 600 needed about 8-9 knots of board speed before the front wing begins to create lift, and like most wings of this class, it’s best to accelerate well over that speed rather than pony up to it slowly. If you hit the foil-up speed but then back down, you lose lift abruptly with the board crashing down. Because the 600 feels at home at higher speeds, those used to freeride carving foils will need to adjust to the higher takeoff speed and just know that mashing the pedal to the medal is the best way to get these higher aspect wings going and keep them going. Ok, so this isn’t your first rodeo, and you like going fast, you’re confident with carrying a lot of speed, well then this is the rocket that will push yourself to the limit. All the input axis’ seem fairly balanced in an intuitive way ”” at speed, the wing seems super stable and easy to control without being twitchy or unreliable. Inputs are direct but require clear intention and this allows you to set your course and focus on dialing up the kite’s energy into pure speed. It seems like the yaw and the roll are slightly more active than the pitch axis, which seems to really help keep the wing buried in the water during more aggressive riding. Pitch changes don’t happen quite so fast and that seems to be a big part of the confident feel with the 600 that allows you to push your limits. The 95cm mast is perfect for keeping the wing buried in the water at steep angles while edging hard upwind and ensures that the wing stays engaged and doesn’t aerate except for cases of huge pilot error. We had fun with giant high-speed carves that were easy and fun and found that the high-end speed helped us keep up with fast-moving unbroken rollers, but as soon as we tried to slow down and carve waves the 600 falls abruptly off foil. It’s like a shark that has to keep moving. The 600 has a solid feel with a super-efficient fuselage and wings that offer up high-end performance for those kiters that want to push the limits of speed.
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