New 2013 North LTD race board

[cglazier]

I had my first day on my new North LTD today and it seems really nice. I made almost all my tacks today which is rare for me.

But I can't understand the 6 footstrap arrangement. The extra two rear footstraps hit your back foot toes constantly.. I just can't ride with the two extra straps. The promotional videos show most of the team riders riding with only four straps and that is certainly the way I will try next. Too bad they didn't put inserts in the rear center area for a fifth strap like most race boards do.

On the plus side the straps are very nice.. comfy but firm enough so they hold their shape.

On the negative side I was disappointed that the fin boxes were all too large and very crude. I have spent several hours with epoxy and sandpaper building up the inside of the Tuttle fin boxes so the North fins fit properly.

On the plus side the stock North fins feel great. I have two 42cm and one 40 cm. I have no idea how they compare to my Rista fins in performance.

Chris Glazier

[Kyle]

Sucks that they don't fit properly.
The cause is likely less about the factory used, and more about the level of quality control that the brand pays for with the factory.
It could also very likely be the fins which are incorrect. have you tried fitting the ristafins in the boxes?
Otherwise talk to Sabi about how Rob fixed his finbox. you could do something similar to get a better fit.

re: back straps. They likely have two offsets instead of one so that when you are in the chicken strap downwind you can still pressure the back fin, which is hard to do with just a centre strap.
Try riding upwind with your feet further outboard, with basically only just your toes in the straps. Your toes might not hit the extra straps, and you will be a much better position anyways.

but in squamish we don't really have big chop so you could get away with just using 4 straps (make them very lose if you want easier downwind riding, so you can jam your foot way inboard).

[Slappy]

I'm curious, do you even sink this board?

It's rated at 90L and probably weighs 10 kg so it should be able to float 80 kg of weight.

I'm not saying it will be stable, I'm sure you'd end up falling but only in the last few years it seems that race boards have gone up to the volume required to float a medium sized man. Does it change any aspects of light wind and gybes or anything?

[Kyle]

it should probably actually weight <6kg, and yes some people can stand on them without a kite.

They haven't actually changed that much in the past few years. In fact the board I am riding was designed in early 2011, and won the 2011 and 2012 world champs, and is still being raced by top riders; no changes to its design at all.

[Slappy]

It seems like only in the last few years the boards made the jump from 70 or so litres up to 90L. Just wondering if the fact that you can stand on it changes what you can get away with doing light wind gybes and what not. Also most of the racers I see are more like 80+ kg guys but Chris is probably only 70 kg.