Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

underground speed board review

Forum for kitesurfers
kiteingcolin1
Medium Poster
Posts: 184
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:20 am
Local Beach: ainsdale/westkirby/anglesey
Favorite Beaches: rosnigher
Style: old style
Gear: nobile 666,132 and 135, 2008

E.H.RIPPEHR, NEMI HP
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

underground speed board review

Postby kiteingcolin1 » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:46 pm

Image

Image

Image

Image

Being a “do it now you might be gone tomorrow” sort of person I seem to be one of the first normal uk kitesurfers who has all four kite discipline boards, race, wave, speed and of course the twin tip,.The speed board is the most extreme (I think) so I will tell you what I think about it as I have been asked for my thoughts on it before some guys dive in and risk wasting the £600 + gmb it costs for this underground production speed board,

Being an X speed freak on windsurfers for many years I was just waiting for this board to break cover and was the first to get one shipped over through mark at Board Worx in England,
(other very good retail outlets are available throughout the world) he also ordered one for the shop as a demo, so speak to Mark, as it may be the only demo in the UK.
Just to balance things up with the cost of it, it’s a low sales volume specialist kind of board so its not cheap, but a custom one would cost more and a speed windsurfer would cost well over £1k, but yes it is expensive for a small 2 fin half the materials board.

But it looks mint,
What a stunner
The odd shape means that many guys who pick it up play air guitar on it,
It weighs a tiny fraction of a light twin tip,
But is it a “one trip pony”on the water ?

Well surprisingly no it’s not.

I did think it would only go quick on mirror flat water and that would be that,
But after much use, Egypt for use on open rough sea and at the lagoon in dahab, and 2 solid hours today in 30+ knots on the sea and low tide flat water heaven at new brighton, Merseyside, its turned out to be something very special.

Yes its fast, bloody quick, put it along side a TT and its twice as fast on flat water when you are able to bear of wind, deep off the wind, extremely deep in fact rewards you with heart stopping acceleration,
But that’s not all, guess what? It flipping boosts so high its scary, your landings have to be spot on, this pencil thin craft is unforgiving of even slight mistakes, kite loops are done with care, chop is great fun as you can fly at speed off the top of small crests and land in full control many meters further on and at full speed, now that feels so good,
( it felt downright dangerous on the first few sessions on the board, and I did crash heavily until I had the board dialled in, and today I was at one with the board, after many hours of O Shite moments, today was brilliant fun in gusty 30knots and 10 mtr Vegas conditions, the speed is addictive, and know I have been very fast, it was awesome, and today I was able to transfer that speed into height, and it felt extremely high, but landings were hold you breath moments as full control was so important in the shallow water, dipping the front would be rewarded with a sudden and unforgiving nose dive to doom, the front and rear widths are tiny, less the a mono water ski by a long way,
its not a board you can simply jump on and go fast, it takes time to get used to the low volume and narrow front/back, due to the low volume you are better keeping the board moving quickly through the turns, normal TT turns don’t work well as the board sinks very quickly and will dump you forward as the front digs in,
waves are a challenge, but fun, if fact you can have fun on this little missile in most conditions, but you need wind, marginal winds are useless, 20mph is the minimum, 12 mtr kites work well, I have not yet used my 7mtr on it, but the 9 and the 10mtr have had a good work out with the board,
overall, its great fun, and not just for speed strips, my hands hurt after today, that shows how hard I was gripping that bar, yeeharrrrr,
get one for Christmas.

User avatar
Bigdog
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 573
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 6:50 pm
Local Beach: Wolfe Island
Style: Old and grey surfer dude style
Gear: Core xr5 and windego boards
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Wolfe Island Canada
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: underground speed board review

Postby Bigdog » Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:02 pm

Sounds like fun. Get a gps and see what your really going.

What is the rocker on that puppy?

Stan

User avatar
windfreak74
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 566
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:16 am
Kiting since: 2005
Weight: 70 kg
Local Beach: la trinchera
Favorite Beaches: maule region
Style: weird style!
Gear: switch helium3 7m 2018
Crazyfly 115 x 44 Chill 2021
nobile 2hd 134x42 2018
Manta foil 2015/2018
Brand Affiliation: none
Location: Chile/Brasil
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: underground speed board review

Postby windfreak74 » Tue Oct 19, 2010 12:18 am

kiteingcolin,
wow!!!!
that a cool stick!!! :thumb:
Ive just asked where i could buy one here in Chile.
Does it have any kind of concave or center spine?Can you comment on the construction on the board?
Really nice to know you had fun!!
Thanks for the review!
Always nice to share info, its not always easy to find info on specialty weaponds :D !!!
How is the flex compared to you north board?
hope to hear more from you!
Pedro

User avatar
tilmann
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 699
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:02 am
Kiting since: 2000
Local Beach: St.Peter-Ording
Style: highspeedcarving
Gear: highspeedcarving board + 7m Slingshot Machine
Brand Affiliation: www.highspeedcarving.com
Location: St.Peter-Ording, Germany
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 55 times

Re: underground speed board review

Postby tilmann » Tue Oct 19, 2010 8:37 pm


kiteingcolin1
Medium Poster
Posts: 184
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:20 am
Local Beach: ainsdale/westkirby/anglesey
Favorite Beaches: rosnigher
Style: old style
Gear: nobile 666,132 and 135, 2008

E.H.RIPPEHR, NEMI HP
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: underground speed board review

Postby kiteingcolin1 » Wed Oct 20, 2010 6:26 pm

its now leading the speed event at weymouth speed week uk, all others including windsurfers

kitesurfireland
Rare Poster
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2010 12:05 pm
Local Beach: The kingdom brandon bay
Favorite Beaches: Brandon Bay
Style: surf, strapless, big air
Gear: Ozone, AOR kitesurf boards, Oneill
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: underground speed board review

Postby kitesurfireland » Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:28 am

Hi kiteingcolin1,
Good work man. What was your top speed at the event.?
Your hands look like you have been trying to hold onto a raging bull by the rope.
I am the Rep for underground here in Ireland and UK. It is really great (of course) to hear you raving about the Speed board. I Fecking love mine. I am a wave rider at heart but if you constantly looking for waves you get very broken hearten very quick. Any way i did a trip around the UK shops and beaches last march ( i will be doing it again this March April time again) and we where meet with alot of mixed views about the speed board. Every one had to pick it up and handle it but most. thought it was a little bit of a gimmick. It was so hard to express how much fun it was on flat water to go that fast. A lot of people just couldn't see it work. You are right you need 25+ knots to really let rip. But as a entry level speed board most riders will never find top speed on it.
I need to get myself a gps speed unit next.
I have just ordered myself a new one as the winter is coming in and it is going to be windy.
I have a demo Speed board for sale 300 with fins and straps. Pretty good con.
www.kitesurfireland.ie

User avatar
windfreak74
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 566
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:16 am
Kiting since: 2005
Weight: 70 kg
Local Beach: la trinchera
Favorite Beaches: maule region
Style: weird style!
Gear: switch helium3 7m 2018
Crazyfly 115 x 44 Chill 2021
nobile 2hd 134x42 2018
Manta foil 2015/2018
Brand Affiliation: none
Location: Chile/Brasil
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: underground speed board review

Postby windfreak74 » Fri Oct 22, 2010 6:43 pm

hey Tillmann,
Can you post a picture off your helmet setup with the gps?
thanks :thumb: !

red_eye1980
Medium Poster
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:34 am
Local Beach: Ixia, Kremasti, Prasonisi on the island of Rhodes
Favorite Beaches: Have not travelled to kite yet but been in Cabarette Dom Rep and seemed nice.
Style: Free ride
Gear: Rhino 2006 10m, Havoc 2007 12m
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Rhodes Greece
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: underground speed board review

Postby red_eye1980 » Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:02 pm

Looks well sexy that!! Didnt fanatic make something similar called Dr Gonzo or something?

knuthansen
Medium Poster
Posts: 158
Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 12:27 pm
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 0

Re: underground speed board review

Postby knuthansen » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:32 am

Any more reviews on that board?
I weigh 88kg and my small board is 124x37, I am wondering if I need heaps more wind for that speed board in order to realize a speed advantage.

@kitesurfireland: Please pm me if your board is still for sale!

chipmunk
Frequent Poster
Posts: 470
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 10:41 pm
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: ZZ 9 Plural Z Alpha UK
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: underground speed board review

Postby chipmunk » Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:12 am



Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: arjas, Bing [Bot], bshmng, DanielorDani, decay, Google [Bot], i_love_storm, jannik, jyka, mati, mede, Nak, The line smith, Yahoo [Bot] and 137 guests