lisaped wrote:Anyone else can say a word about Venturi? How it compares to North and Airush? How is it comfortable to ride?
tautologies, did you ever get overpowered on 190? How controlable is it when overpowered?
I;ve only been in the north board for a very short while, so I'm not going to attempt any comparison. I like my board though.
The raceboards doesn't really get overpowered...it is just a matter of how much power you legs can hold.
I mean once you do down wind / broad reaches, it'll take some time to come to a speed where my legs regain the strength to turn the board into the wind, but that has less to do with the board I think. The fins are huge, and so as long as they do not break and your board is bouncing you'll be good. The new venturis are much more solid on the water. I am still playing with the footstrap placement a little.
In terms of how comforatble it is..all the venturis are comfortable. I think the big difference between the smaller ones and the large is that the smaller feels wilder going really fast.. I am not sure at the top speeds of the board, as I did not have my GPS on at the time, but the speed feel similar, but the larger feels more stable. Seriously..if you take the boards out in 10 mph you will be flying fast. Take them out in 12 mph, and you have to hold on. Above that is epic speeds. I think my large venturi and the 15 charger have me going in about 8 mph...maybe even a little lower (I find it really hard to estimate acurately as windspeeds on the beach have been measured lower, but I think the wind is different once you get out)...to say it this way...I can ride the board in windspeeds where the kite normally would not even stay in the air. All I need is to keep speed up on the board, and not mess up my tacks...ie keep the kite flying forward.
If I compare it to my foilboard I find it more fun to ride a regular raceboard. The foils are not really very speedy, and once you start doing the back / front rolls etc on the foil it feels like you've reached the limit. On a raceboard, it is really good exercise, you go fast in 10mph, lightening fast in above 12 mph...and it feels like the board can do more in a way. If I compare low end, I think a foil board can use a smaller kite in light winds, but it kind of feels like the low end is similar.
I live at a spot where lightwinds are prevalent, yet a lot of people seems to not get a raceboard...so many times I'll be out alone...I can see people try to launch and fail and drop their kites using surfboard, but still I am riding with good power. My number of ridable days have increased by a lot. Anyways, my personal opinion is that for the venturi...the smallest is good if you just want to do lightwind cruising and have a light board on your feet. The medium is good if you want to do racing but are a light rider, and the large one is good if you want to do super well in competitions and really do racing.
So I weighed the two boards I have. Medium is about 21-22lb (including fins and 4 footstraps) Large is about 23-24lb including large G10 fins, fin covers and 4 footstraps (and a little sand). I do not have the smallest one, but that board is quite a bit skinnier than the other two.
When you carry them they feel a lot lighter than I would assume just looking at them. I do not know the volume, but it seems the trend is more volume.
I saw a north proto on the beach here and I am guessing concepts for 2013 because the tail shape is very different and that board was really thick. I am guessing this is where things are going?