DECK PERFORMANCE
The Pro Foil Board is a glass and sandwich construction, dedicated foil that’s shaped nicely on the deck and is lightweight. Lots of float in this board with its longer nose and higher volume, the Pro Foil is a great shape for learning and advancing your skills and its light hull has lots of volume to keep you topside if you touch down off the foil. The bevelled rails and bottom shape disperse the water nicely and the overall set up was one of the larger volumed boards in the test that was nice and light for its size. It would be nice to see an inline strap option as the Pro Foil only comes with the three strap option. The deck is nicely concaved and the North’s EVA foam deck pads provide comfortable grip. Overall the Pro Foil Board combined with Speedster Combos is a solid set up to get into foiling and it has a huge range of use that will catapult your skill level quickly.
FOIL PERFORMANCE
North Kiteboarding’s new Speedster Combo Foil delivers well rounded performance that promotes accelerated skill building with its easy cruising comfortable ride. It’s a brand new design from North that combines ease of use and adaptable performance for a broad skill set. The Speedster does have a broader speed range than some of the other kite specific foils in the test and its easy tracking and tight turn radius is aided by the unique winglets that are located on the wingtips of the front and rear foil. Construction is solid with an optimum weight to durability ratio, with composite carbon wings and fuselage on the aluminum mast. There is also a smaller mast size available for shallow water riding or beginner progression. The test team riders found the Speedster very forgiving and easy to correct minor mistakes in foot pressure or turning as the foil reacts nicely to rider input with smooth glide and intuitive control. This is a very straightforward and easy foil to figure out. The Speedster Combo Foil has great stability for both long, drawn out carves or tighter turns at lower speeds. The shape of the foil and the winglets give you some extra time to correct your pitch if the foil comes out of the water as the winglets keep you tracking until you can correct pitch. The rear wing of the Speedster Foil can also be adjusted with shim options situated between the rear wing and the fusealage. Overall the Speedster Combo Foil is a great set up that’s both easy to learn with but won’t be outgrown anytime soon .
