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Everything seems to be gearing up now and race seasons are starting but...
It seems the availability of the latest race boards is quite hard to come by, here in the uk anyway.
What production boards are out in your countries?
North, underground, royal, airrush

Airush

France :

A friend of mine has just recieved the Royal (direct from HK)
I should recieve some information about North within today
Underground : from the IKA web site, it seems that there is not validity date for the board ..
Airush : same as North

Those boards should be available quiet some time ahead of the racing season, so riders who are not sponsored can get it early enough to practice on to be able to train for comps.

Toby wrote:Those boards should be available quiet some time ahead of the racing season, so riders who are not sponsored can get it early enough to practice on to be able to train for comps.

no chance Toby the pros are using new ones for several months now... and the not sponsored riders have not got any yet...

That's just wrong! And not fair at all, which was the idea of the production boards!

No the point was to look good for the ISAF Olympic selection board.

the 2012 naish venturi has been in stores for a while..

In the UK: http://www.powerkiteshop.com/naish_venturi.htm
tho I see the fin specs are wrong on their page.

Seen other places too. They had them on the maui store, but I do think maybe some are hesitant to take them in since it seems people are a little hesitant buying dunno why..the spot I ride is ideal for raceboards, still not too many has ventured that way yet....it seems they'd rather sit on th beach

http://shop.naishkites.com/products/pro ... .0.0?pp=12&

My new Alex Aguera 2012 arived to Perth Western Australia 5 weeks ago AND - I pay for my own boards - has taken me 5 weeks to get used to the beast & now lovin it , the new 70cm boards are very easy to ride slowly but very tech to ride 100% full speed in every direction, especially down wind fully lit. Bad luck if you are a non sponsored rider and get your board a few weeks beore the racers start - you will get slaughtered by anyone who had had one for a few months. Getting the fins & straps sorted for your weight - if board does not come with fins is a 4 week plus process. The fins that worked on my old 2011 CR 64 did not work as well on my new CR69 2012, the new board in my opinion is 30% more powereful so makes it a real handful. Got if sussed now and ride from 6knots to 25knots no problem & finally enjoying the ride. Had a blissful 2 hour session the other night on open ocean in super glassy 10knots tacked 10km up wind & smashed a 20knot down wind tack at one stage- amazing.

Yeah, I also find a serious lack of info. Take for instance the Naish Venturi that came out last year July or there about. If its like the rest of the gear, it's a 2012 model. But the new one should be in prototype form now, and apparently the "the 2012 naish venturi has been in stores for a while.." but is this the new one about to come out, or the old one of July last year?

When are they guys planning to bring out new models? For the start of race season this year I suppose, which means the pro's already have boards, but are these now 2012 boards (since it is for the 2012 race season), or are they 2013 boards, because it seems they will only be for sale later this year, almost in time for the mid year 2013 kite release cycle?

If we know when boards come out, then maybe we'll be willing to invest $$$ by knowing it is the latest model for the next 6 months or so. But buying now and seeing the new better model come out in 2 months is not cool.