Kite Designer Pat Goodman leaves North

[alunj]

I think the team riders at the highest levels add a bit ( thinks hadlow , Jacobsen etc ) but they are showcases for the brand
For me the local dealers and the ability to see the kites makes the biggest difference to the local kite population
I doubt anyone would drop 1-2k for a kite without at least seeing someone else use it locally .

[Blackened]

One of the next question will be about the riders. Will some of them follow Pat to Cabrihna ? Because Cabrihna needs riders. The brand has not participatied in KOTA or GKA for the last 3 years. Not even a single rider in the amateur or Pro fleet in the BAKL.

Did their sales drop because of this?
That’s always the big question…how much are pro riders adding to sales?

The day after the Orbit took Winner/Best Trick/Biggest Jump prizes in KOTA 2020, the local North dealer in Capetown sold out of Orbits in almost all sizes. The local dealer here saw the same for the past two years (although, the global shipping crisis probably helped with the '21 availability).

[Toby]

That is good to hear

[victoriasupsnz]

This years release still very disappointing. Looks same as last years and everything but then with pat leaving again it kind of explains it I guess. Wonder if cabrinah will introduce a mega five strut big air kite that manages to loop awesome as well now pat of back designing for them. I am sure they will be eager to key onto the orbit success?

Check the link again. The new website went live 15 September (today). https://www.northkb.com/en/riderstyles/big-air

[windmaker]

Love the fact they pay someone that specialises in new materials yet the orbit 2022 about to be released stil has basic d2 material every one else accept fone who always seem to be the last to move on, moved on from ages ago?

I am not a ripstop expert but as far as I understand it:
Of all the material innovations that is happening the triple, quadruple, quintuple, hextuple etc ripstop is probably the least interesting and pretty much just marketing.
The threads they are adding are all in the same direction and diagonal forces will still stretch the fabric the same amount.
The coatings is where thé biggest quality differences are made but those are not marketable because you cannot see them.

Spot on! As a sailmaker it stil surprises me how naive most people are regarding rip stop.

[BE_Kiter]

What I wonder: Does a kitedesigner own the designs of his work? Or does the designs, knowledge, testings,... stay with North.
If so, I guess the new designer could build further on Pat Goodman's designs...

And then my second question: is this feasible? Or is this practically not doable and is it better to start from a new design?

That said will the North 2023 kites be totally different kites?

[StellaBlu]

What I wonder: Does a kitedesigner own the designs of his work? Or does the designs, knowledge, testings,... stay with North.
If so, I guess the new designer could build further on Pat Goodman's designs...

And then my second question: is this feasible? Or is this practically not doable and is it better to start from a new design?

That said will the North 2023 kites be totally different kites?

Without knowledge of his employment contract, I can say with 99.9% certainty that the designs are all the property of his employer (North). The new designers can definitely just continue to improve on his designs at North. This is probably more a question of R&D cost and marketing than anything. As much as companies like to say they started on something from scratch, I would bet its extremely rare to actually start a design from scratch due to R&D cost. Everything functional is just an evolution and the only thing that starts from scratch is branding.

Given the popularity of the Orbit and Reach (and potentially the other North kites) it seems doubtful that they would want to start from scratch on those designs. As such, I wouldn't expect 2023 kites to be anything more than an evolution of the 2022 kites.

That being said, he could leave North, build a functionally identical kite with very minor differences at Cabrinha and it would be very difficult for North to sue for anything.

[Baptiste_FR]

That being said, he could leave North, build a functionally identical kite with very minor differences at Cabrinha and it would be very difficult for North to sue for anything.

I was thinking about Damien Girardin who left Naish to create Reedin with Kevin.
The Supermodel is not exactly a Pivot, but still it has some similarities.

[Blackened]

That said will the North 2023 kites be totally different kites?

They'll be different. Pat Goodman was a one man show doing everything, whereas now there is a team with more time to tweak and probably more time available for testing/rider feedback.

Unless they completely change the materials, there is no need for a drastic redesign of a winning kite in the current competition format. However, if big air continues to evolve into less technical loops with more airstyle type tricks, you'll definitely see a redesign for more hangtime and less loopability.

[sarc]

The reason I bought North kites last year was:
1. They - just - work. They do what they are supposed to do without bells, whistles, bling etc. For example if you don't need pulleys WTF are you putting pulleys on your kites (looking at you Duotone). Bridles and bar lines that are not made of toilet paper (looking at you Duotone). If Dacron and D2 work, why bling the kite up with expensive stuff that only looks good on the brochure?
2. They don't look like a dyslexic kid barfed all over them (looking at you Duotone). My red Carve looks fabulous in the sky!
3. Hopefully they won't self-destruct after 3 seasons like my last Rebel. Time will tell.

Those of us who were windsurfing back in the day remember North sails: quality - performance - quality - performance and nothing else. The current generation of North kites seems to have the same philosophy.

If the future North kites stick to this philosophy I'll keep buying. If they lose focus and start playing specmanship in the brochures... hello Naish????