Firewire 2010 Board Review

[firewirekite]

Kitesurf community:

Pleased to announce the lineup of the 2010 Firewire boards. They are as follows:

1. 5'11" Taj - Thruster setup with insane power of every bottom turn with an incredible hook off the lip. Perfect for the light weight riders or bigger riders in more powered up conditions.

2. 6'2" Flexifire - Thruster setup for the bigger rider on average. Offers the rail to rail explosion thrusters are known for. Handles well in head high plus surf.

3. *NEW* 5'8" Dominator - One of the most versatile boards on the market. Comes in a 5 fin setup, so you can choose your method of attack in either thruster or quad setup. Perfect for mushy surf, on shore slop or freestyle strapless. You will be surprised on the low end wind this board is capable of riding in due to its volume.

All boards in the lineup come standard with a custom DaKine Pad/strap setup with all hardware/instructions on installation.

These boards are extremely light and have been tested over the past year and a half for durability. We have added higher weight density foam and a special skin combination for the ultimate strength/weight ratio.

If anybody has any questions regarding the product lineup, please PM myself and we will get back to you ASAP or post a public comment. Firewire directly will also answer any question you may have.

Please keep comments on the upbeat and professional. Thanks all for the support and see you on the water.

Firewire Team

[PAFF]

Shape looks nice.
Seen one off your surfboards, realy liked it!

But why don't you get it out to shops, so we can demo them IRL? Don't see them in any shop in Europe!

[djlepper]

I'm super stoked for the 5'8". Can't wait to try it:)

[firewirekite]

Boards should be in Europe and Ireland within 1-2 months...and boards are for sure available to demo. For all those kiters that are outside of the US...check out - http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/kites ... itesurfing

The boards are insane, built stronger. Yes, we had some slight delays over the summer and have made leaps of improvement in durability. We took it upon ourselves to resolve this issue. New boards are stronger to withstand all types of riding.

Please contact us direct or on this forum for ANY questions. The new 5'8" is going to be a winner.

[Uride2]

Firewirekite, can you give us much more detail on how you beefed up the boards for kiting - over your first version of the "kite" board construction. Did you add more layers of glass, different kind of glass, thicker layers of glass, etc? Are you using Carbon glass, or some other super strong glass? Are you using any PVC core, or wood over the foam blank (like in the windsurf industry)? A technical overview would be much appreciated.

Regarding the Dominator, Firewirekite's description is perfect: "Perfect for mushy surf, on shore slop or freestyle strapless. You will be surprised on the low end wind this board is capable of riding in due to its volume."

I have the surfing version of the 5'8" Dominator purchased for the small mushy waves we got on Lake Michigan. Especially set up as a quad (but thruster as well), the board is an low-wind, upwind machine. Super fun to pop strapless airs in mushy waves, the board "pops" great and behaves really well while in the air, and if your doing board grabs the board is super light (as least the surfing version). In the mushy waves I like it best in the thruster setup, lots of fun playing with the waves and doing hits in the small waves. Compared to other production kitesurf boards I've ridden, there really is a special feeling that the Firewire boards have that is difficult for me to describe, the board feels really alive under your feet... Nice board to have in the quiver!

On the downside, I did put a hole in the deck rather quickly doing strapless airs - "surf" board construction, not the "kite" board construction, hence really interested in hearing how the construction has been beefed up.

[Phil]

the lineup of the 2010 Firewire boards. They are as follows:
1. 5'11" Taj
2. 6'2" Flexifire
3. *NEW* 5'8" Dominator

The Quad 6.0 is not in the lineup anymore. I assume that the new 5'8 is replacing it, right?

By the way, the extrem lightness of the older version was sometimes a concern in high winds and when poping or jumping strapless, at least for us "recreational surfers" .
Hope the new construction will add the right amount of weight, providing a better durability and improving stability at the same time.

Let's continue the good work. We are impatient to put the new boards under test, especially the 5'8.

Phil
Have Fun & Ride Safe

[sicknick]

The light weight is what makes these boards rock for strapless airs! I haven't tried any of the kite specific boards, but my 5'6 Flexfire is magic. I've pounded it for a year and it's still holding up fine with no repairs needed yet.

Also, what's truly amazing about these boards is the flex. The board will load up in a turn, and squirt you out with more speed than you started with. Also, compared to a stiffer board, the Firewire gives a much smoother ride through choppy conditions (FYI, I'm not involved with Firewire).



http://straplesskitesurf.blogspot.com/

[firewirekite]

Firewirekite, can you give us much more detail on how you beefed up the boards for kiting - over your first version of the "kite" board construction. Did you add more layers of glass, different kind of glass, thicker layers of glass, etc? Are you using Carbon glass, or some other super strong glass? Are you using any PVC core, or wood over the foam blank (like in the windsurf industry)? A technical overview would be much appreciated.!

On the downside, I did put a hole in the deck rather quickly doing strapless airs - "surf" board construction, not the "kite" board construction, hence really interested in hearing how the construction has been beefed up.

I hope I can answer your questions, if not, please let me know...one at a time

First off, the hole in your surfboard model. The firewire surfboards are not meant by any means to kite on if you are riding a surf specific board. They are light and the foam core is not as dense nor to they have the correct skin for kiting. The kite models are slightly heavier, but still very light according to industry standards.

For those of you asking or wondering if you can surf on these boards...and the answer is YES. Although they may be slightly heavier than the featherweight surf models, these boards can be multipurpose.

Regarding the Firewire line kite construction vs. surfboard construction:

1. Foam density has increased from the surf models which adds a little weight, but also makes the board more 'solid' all around.
2. Balsa beefed rails similar to some surf models - this helps tremendously with bar hits or body hits, after all the rails seem to get the most beating.
3. Typical sandwich construction is the same as the surfboard, we have just added increased strength/layers in materials that has been tested to withstand the hardest beatings. I can't say specifically what we have engineered in the boards, but your above comment is about right on regarding the windsurfing industry.
4. Epoxy/paint mixture is specific to add strength especially at the insert hole areas. This combined with the material layers really adds the durability for kiting, both strapped and strapless.

Obviously, no board is indestructable, although we feel our product is much stronger than the average industry kiteboard. We have been riding the boards nonstop and very hard in some of the most abusive manners (for testing) only with positive results. Check out the FW site or shoot us a PM for any pricing info. Boards will be available for the most part worldwide, so access to purchase one should not be a problem.

Firewire

[firewirekite]

the lineup of the 2010 Firewire boards. They are as follows:
1. 5'11" Taj
2. 6'2" Flexifire
3. *NEW* 5'8" Dominator

The Quad 6.0 is not in the lineup anymore. I assume that the new 5'8 is replacing it, right?

By the way, the extrem lightness of the older version was sometimes a concern in high winds and when poping or jumping strapless, at least for us "recreational surfers" .
Hope the new construction will add the right amount of weight, providing a better durability and improving stability at the same time.

Let's continue the good work. We are impatient to put the new boards under test, especially the 5'8.

Phil
Have Fun & Ride Safe

Phil,

The quad (KQF) will not be in the lineup anymore. We will have a few of the quads available, but in general we are replacing it with the 5'8" Dominator for a few reasons.

1. The quadraflex was meant to be a light wind machine/sloppy surf lip smacker and it did perform well.
2. 5'8" does all the above, plus you have the quad/thruster setup option.
3. 5'8" actually has more volume throughout the board than the quadraflex, thus adding to lightwind potential and sloppy surf fun.
4. 5'8" Dominator as an added bonus is an insane board design for surfing. For those of you who don't think you can surf a 5'8", wait until you take it for a morning surf session.

Lightness was a concern through R&D. There is a fine line between too light and enough strength. You are right about the surf lineup being too light. The added force of going upwind as well as power from the kite or landing a strapless air hard were all considerations in R&D. We have found the perfect recipe. We love the feedback and look forward to improving the product each year.

Firewire

[firewirekite]

The light weight is what makes these boards rock for strapless airs! I haven't tried any of the kite specific boards, but my 5'6 Flexfire is magic. I've pounded it for a year and it's still holding up fine with no repairs needed yet.

Also, what's truly amazing about these boards is the flex. The board will load up in a turn, and squirt you out with more speed than you started with. Also, compared to a stiffer board, the Firewire gives a much smoother ride through choppy conditions (FYI, I'm not involved with Firewire).



http://straplesskitesurf.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the input. Be reminded we will and can add models to the quiver. This is a growing process so feedback on other models is a PLUS+++.

Thanks Nick.

Firewire