So where does that leave Pat Goodman then? Didn’t he just leave north to be reunited with Pete and take is new orbit experience and success back to them?
Switchblade kills the Orbit. People get on the Orbit for one season then leave for other brands. Switchblade is still going strong after 14 years.
I reckon Pat was "pushed" out of North. He set up all the kites and they didnt need him anymore.
Yes, that's why there are so many Switchblades in KOTA and winning it (other than Nick's year when there was no wind)?
Pat burnt out at North. He had full control of all kite/TT/surf/wing/foil designs and had no time to do any of them. Imagine trying to update 4 kites, wing, 7 TTs, 3 surfboards, and various foils - all in various sizes. It was impossible for one person. It's why they replaced him with a large team of designers.
The Kites who will win KOTA are the ones with financial backing and can throw top riders at it like Kevin and Nick. At the moment the company throwing money around is North and Duotone so of course they will get a podium spot.
Goodman made North, they exist because of what he designed. So all the hard work done, he could have rested on his laurels and just cruised on, something happened.
Goodman never designed boards, EVER. Where did you dream up your information? They poached a board designer from Cabrinha but if you watch the videos its a New Zealander who's in charge of twin tip design.
Switchblade kills the Orbit. People get on the Orbit for one season then leave for other brands. Switchblade is still going strong after 14 years.
I reckon Pat was "pushed" out of North. He set up all the kites and they didnt need him anymore.
Yes, that's why there are so many Switchblades in KOTA and winning it (other than Nick's year when there was no wind)?
Pat burnt out at North. He had full control of all kite/TT/surf/wing/foil designs and had no time to do any of them. Imagine trying to update 4 kites, wing, 7 TTs, 3 surfboards, and various foils - all in various sizes. It was impossible for one person. It's why they replaced him with a large team of designers.
The Kites who will win KOTA are the ones with financial backing and can throw top riders at it like Kevin and Nick. At the moment the company throwing money around is North and Duotone so of course they will get a podium spot.
Goodman made North, they exist because of what he designed. So all the hard work done, he could have rested on his laurels and just cruised on, something happened.
Goodman never designed boards, EVER. Where did you dream up your information? They poached a board designer from Cabrinha but if you watch the videos its a New Zealander who's in charge of twin tip design.
Yup, you're right. I had the idea that Pat was doing the TTs it due to an interview he gave before North officially launched. Yes, it's Dave Kay. He worked with Pat at Cabrinha, then moved to Airush and did the initial design work for North. I'm fairly sure he does design work for other brands as well.
However...let's not kid ourselves that the Switchblade is anything like the looping machine the Orbit is. The Orbit is purpose built to win KOTA. There's a reason people used the FX and not the Switchblade for looping (except the KOTA where there was no wind). I forget, did people use the Rebel for KOTA for all those years before they redesigned it? What about the XR before the XR6?
Seems like the big air was mostly vegas and only in last few years changed to Dice. Everyone using Rebel is a pretty new thing. I think same goes for XR, before everyone were using GTS.
I'm not sure if North started the trend with the Orbit and other brands followed by making new or adjusting existing 5 strut "airtime" kites for megaloops, or if it was really all happening at about the same time and just took some brands a bit longer to get there.
As for switchblade, while I haven't had the chance to try it, you can't really compare the older ones, the kite was changed a lot. When Nick was riding for Cabrinha big air was mostly C and Open-C kites.
Seems like the big air was mostly vegas and only in last few years changed to Dice. Everyone using Rebel is a pretty new thing. I think same goes for XR, before everyone were using GTS.
I'm not sure if North started the trend with the Orbit and other brands followed by making new or adjusting existing 5 strut "airtime" kites for megaloops, or if it was really all happening at about the same time and just took some brands a bit longer to get there.
As for switchblade, while I haven't had the chance to try it, you can't really compare the older ones, the kite was changed a lot. When Nick was riding for Cabrinha big air was mostly C and Open-C kites.
It was Kevin Langaree on the Pivot that started the change from C-kites. He noticed that height was better rewarded than anything else and capitalised on a couple of years when the wind wasn't as strong. At the time people like Lewis who was a commited Vegas rider were praying for 40knots to remove the advantage of the Pivot.
Tom Herbert possibly started the 5 strut freeride trend as he competed with the old Evo back in about 2014. The Evo of that time didn't loop as well as the new big air kites.
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Tom Herbert was probably riding Evo because that's the kite he is paid to ride? Plus he didn't do too well unfortunately. So I wouldn't call it a trend starter.
Kevin with the Pivot is another matter, when did he switch from the Torch? In any case it seems like the Pivot "just happened" to loop well and wasn't designed for it, was it? Wasn't it was a wave kite originally, with old links to its page show it as freeride/wave kite? Nowadays the Naish site list it as high performance/big air, I wonder how much it actually changed in practice rather than just the marketing changing. In any case I guess he was probably the first to compete like that, but he was just one guy. Did the actual trend start before 2020, with the release of the North Orbit?
As for the switchblade, I wonder how the 2023 fares in comparison to kites like the 2023 Orbit and Rebel. The older ones seem to have been no match, but the kite was changed since.
Regarding Kevin choosing the Pivot over the Torch, I've read somewhere that it was Damien Girardin who persuaded Kevin to try the Pivot for the KOTA. Kevin was riding the Torch and was happy with it and was not willing to change because he had to adapt and change his riding style. But Damien was convincing enough and Kevin chose the Pivot for the KOTA since 2018.
I hear Pat Goodman and Pete Cabrinha are leaving and starting there own brand.
Going to name it “Cabriman”. Making one kite, the “Excellent Model” flys perfectly on their new bar “Dreamy Rod”.
Should be pretty rad.
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