2022
Litewave Wing and carbonWING....Why the strange shape?
In a word, because it works like a snowboard. Litewave kiteboard designer, Litewave Dave, has been influenced not only by 23 years of kiteboarding, but also by snowboarding, wakeboarding, water ski design, and over 50 years of composites experience. This cross-over experience has proved very valuable in making innovative kiteboards.
The first thing most people notice about the Wing is it's non-traditional parabolic side cut. As you can see in the photos above, kiteboarders and snowboarders have similar body positions and weight distributions in a deep carve or when a kiteboarder is just cutting upwind. The rider's body weight is approximately 60% on the back foot when edging.
The sidecut on the Wing benefits fun riding in several ways. Firstly early planing. If you think about your board position, it is on the edge and your weight is shifted slightly back. This puts the vector of force/weight to the back corner of the board as visible in above photos. Where a regular shape board is tapered, the Wing "flares out". This added "triangle of planing area" is right where you need it to get upwind and keep going in marginal conditions. As in snowboarding, "torsional rigidity" also is desirable in a kiteboard tip. You don't want that corner with all the weight on it to "twist off". This results in side slipping and not as great an angle upwind. To increase "torsional rigidity" Litewave has engineered in "torsion bars" that let the Wing flex end-to-end in the tips, but side-to-side flex is greatly reduced making for a stiff "keel" to really dig in.
Having the early planing corner allows Litewave Dave to design the Wing with more rocker than other lightwind kiteboards. This is what makes the board more playful and manageable in choppy conditions. Rocker lets the rider get over a wave much easier and also makes jumping and freestyle much more enjoyable.
The third design attribute of the Wing that really helps is the deeply concaved hull. The rider will feel a sense of smoother carving and less knee-bang in the chop from the added bottom concave that the Wing has.
Regarding materials, the Wing is available in a traditional fiberglas construction or a full carbon composite construction. The carbonWING is 2-pounds lighter and has more spring/reflex to it. When bent, carbon fiber returns back to its original position more quickly than fiberglas giving the board more "pop". It is comparable to a carbon bicycle frame versus an aluminum frame. It just feels more "lively".
If you don't know first hand, give the Wing-155x44 or the Wing-165x46 a test. We think you will be pleasantly surprise by this strange shape.
