Afraid not, but the 134 is awesome

Puetz,

I can only talk for the 134 at this stage, but it has stiffer tips than last year and i'm not positive but it seems to have a little more rocker in the middle. First session was in 25+, choppy gusty ****ty stuff. Board felt a lot more comfortable than last years and I felt i could wipe off speed a little easier. 2013 I always felt i was trying to slow the board down - you've got to remember this is designed for their PKRA guys to go hard in competitions so that's to be expected.
Second session was nice 9m weather about 20 knots and dropping, on flat water. Felt exactly like what I wanted for that day; big pop, light in the air and soft landings.
Third session was on the 14m Vegas in very little wind. Board gets up and going super early because of it's relatively low rocker (comparing to a freeride board like an XRide) and light weight, didn't feel bogged down and stuck to the water, which is probably what you're after in NT!

Lovely board this year, light and aggressive for freestyle riders yet comfortable in the freeride arena. Epic pop, smooth landings - my choice of freestyle flat water board this summer.

Drew - WA Surf

Puetz said..

ps can you give me your opinions on the 14m Vegas, can I assume it was the 2014 14m you used ???

Yep it was the 2014. I was on 24m lines in sub 15knots. This feels like it has a bit more grunt than last years 14m Vegas but it's not like the Vegas is a grunty kite. On the TeamSeries it was super stable and easy to unhook and pop - no massive bar pressure or anything that some 14m trucks come with.

I then jumped on the 5'2 nugget and that was something else. The only other rider out was on a 17m Zephyr and a twin tip and she was not that powered. By this point it was 10 knots and i was cruising around fine. This was the first session on the 14V, just looking for another 13-15knot day so i can get proper time on the twin tip but i'm pretty happy with it so far.

Puetz said..

... thats great, thanks again Drew.

I suppose you didn't try the different front line connections point yet (wakestyle/freeride), which one did you have yours on?

How was the upwind of the 14m?

Did you ever try the 2012 14m Vegas, can you compare it to the 2014?

cheers again,

Robbie

Haven't tried wakestyle yet on the 2014's.

Upwind seemed okay but it's a C-kite, it's not exactly going to hunt the edge of the window and let you point like crazy. Didn't have any trouble going upwind.

Never tried the 2012 14m, sorry.

Drew

Hey Robbie, if your still looking for a board to put boots on, check to see if North have improved their plastic rail system on the new boards, the previous years was not the best with bindings.

Any kiteboard track system is crap. Look at slingshots asylum. Got two mates that have that board and both boards have suffered from the channels cracking. They just can't handle any edges. Look elsewhere dude, seriously

Yeh piss that track stuff off for sure. Hey robbie I had the 2012 Vegas it was horrible compared to the 2014 I flew not long ago. They said they learnt some lessons from the Neo and incorporated them...well that's marketing but its a much much better kite now. I hated my 2012.

Yeh man try the 2014, sweet as. Let us know how you go and the differences.

It is no secret that the tracks were failing on the north boards last year, but the only track failures they had was when riding boots. They have changed and reinforced the way the boxes are put into the board for 2014, which is why the Gambler has been delayed this year. We've been assured that the new boxes are stronger already and its the best chance to stop failures with boots.
I'm not saying it's perfect, but inserts pull out as well so it's a bit harsh saying the new track is going to suck (in comparison to inserts) before anyone has given it a solid beating to test it out. I've seen plenty of "wakestyle" boards with inserts ripped out, so that's not the be all and end all of the issue.

On the 2010-2012 Vegas vs the 2013-2014: A lot of people have said to us that they prefer the older Vegas because it seems to have a bit more freeride characteristics built into it. They completely redesigned the kite in 2013 and in my opinion, it was a bit more biased towards the freestyle crew.

With the bar, they've made a **load of changes based off the issues from last year: grip peeling, bar end plastic parts failing, centre insert distorting. It feels solid this year, only time will tell.

Drew