As we enter a new decade, Naish Kiteboarding also has a new direction with a fresh new team of engineers, world champions and pro athletes. Redefining their designs to be lighter and more efficient, yet still built to last, Naish’s S25 (season 25) lineup continues to help progress the sport like it has for the past 21 years, led by industry icon and all around waterman, Robby Naish.
WHAT IS NEW AT THE ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL OF YOUR COMPANY FOR 2021?
Brian Dennis and Alex King are our top-level, experienced engineers who hold a deep passion for kiteboarding and watersports. Scott Trudon, our brand manager, brings a wealth of experience regarding all things watersports, and has been consistently pushing Naish forward in all of our endeavors. Audrey and Jada drive our marketing department. They’re young, fresh, organized, and passionate about everything from kitesurfing to wingsurfing. As far as our team riders go, we’ve got a crop of hot young riders who live and breathe kiteboarding: Stig Hoefnagel, Cohan Van Dijk, Tom Seager, Vetea Boersma, Tim Walsh, Antoine Mermet, and Luca Payne, as well as some tried-and-true seasoned pros like Ewan Jaspan, Christophe Tack, Helena Brochocka, Ross-Dillon Player, Stuart Downey, Louka Pitot and Nico Gambier. Our US riders, Philipp Schonger, Nemo Taylor, Nadja Blanchet, Reed Bauer, and Cory are killing it. Not to mention our rad surf team riders Peri Roberts and Gustavo Arrojo and a new grom””Robby Naish.
IS THERE A SINGLE INNOVATION THAT YOU WOULD FIRST LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT?
We’re stoked on the bridle adjustment on our Pivot kite. It’s made for riders who like to charge in extreme conditions and for those who like to ride strapless.
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE KITE MODELS IN YOUR 2021 LINEUP IN A NUTSHELL? FOR EACH KITE, WHAT IS THE INTENDED TYPE OF RIDING AND TARGET USER AND KEY CHANGES FOR 2021?
The Pivot is our high performance, freeride/big air kite. It’s versatile, and works great for everything. We’ve made improvements to the construction and adjusted the bridle as mentioned above. The Slash is our pure wave/strapless kite. Made for waves, strapless surf, and foiling””it’s an easy and forgiving kite when conditions are maxing. We’ve made some construction improvements to this kite as well for the 2021 season. The Torch is our pro-performance freestyle kite. Designed for epic unhooked freestyling and kiteloops, this kite is for riders who want to ride hard and push their limits. The Triad is our all-around freeride kite. It excels in all types of riding””it’s easy, forgiving, and reliable for fast progression, making it great for any rider just looking for a fun time on the water. This kite has received some construction improvements as well. The Boxer is our all-around freeride/foiling kite. Perfect for those light wind days and a great kite to break out for all types of riding. Do some wave riding with the Boxer, foil with it, and see equal results in powered or underpowered riding. We’ve also made some construction improvements here. The Dash is our freestyle/big air kite. Fast flying and quick turning””riders who like to ride powered up, send kiteloops or mess around with some unhooked moves will love the Dash because of its two bridle settings. This is another kite that we’ve made construction improvements on.
NAISH WAS ONE OF THE FIRST BRANDS INTO THE WINGSURFING MARKET, WHAT ARE THE KEY FUNCTIONAL AND PERFORMANCE FEATURES INTRODUCED THIS YEAR TO YOUR S25 WING?
From high performance riding in the surf to speed runs, our S25 wing does it all. The Wing-Surfer is an amazingly simple, pump-and-go design, offering more sizes, power and performance allowing you to take this sport wherever you want to go.
WHAT ARE THE NEW AND/OR THE MOST POPULAR MODELS IN YOUR TWIN TIP LINEUP? HOW HAS THAT CHANGED FOR 2021?
The Hero and Motion remain our most loved and popular boards. We’re stoked on the new concept and feel we’ve developed for our twin tips this year, and the Traverse and Traverse Ewan Jaspan Pro show the new spin””longer and narrower, these are super fun all-around boards that double for fun in the park and when freestyling.
WHAT ARE THE NEW AND/OR THE MOST POPULAR MODELS IN YOUR SURFBOARD LINEUP? HOW HAS THAT CHANGED FOR 2021?
The surfboard lineup has been revamped with new shapes and new constructions. This year a lot of energy, effort and attention was put into the new surfboards and we are really stoked to share what we have produced. The Carbon Mesh Global and Gecko are the answer for those demanding the highest performance, and the GS Strapless Wonder will satisfy those looking for the best value in a board. For 2021, we will be introducing surfboards with new graphics featuring less color giving them an overall technical look and feel.
