CrazyFly Taurin 5’8” 2013 Kitesurfing Review

CrazyFly Taurin 5’8” 2013

Reviews / Surfboards

CrazyFly 41,705

At A Glance

The Taurin from CrazyFly is a short wide board aimed at small to medium sized waves and a more aggressive rider looking to push the board to its limits. As such the CrazyFly is quite a bit heavier than the other boards in the test. It has been built to be pretty indestructible so will also suit riders who kite at locations with rocks and a less forgiving shoreline. It has a bamboo construction with the laminate showing through on the top and bottom. A swallow tail couples with a narrow nose section while the mid point is wide and contains most of the volume. It’s a quad fin set up and comes in the one size featured here.

On The Water

The Taurin is a fun board to ride; although you do notice the weight for freestyle acrobatics it does have some advantages. When the wind is howling the board is solid and dependable, the narrow nose combines to ensure the board doesn’t get blown off course. It also sits a little deeper in the turns ensuring the rails get a good solid bite. Combine this with the swallow tail, which again engages more rail and the board carves exceedingly well. It rides strapped and strapless just fine, but we found it was more fun strapped and popping airs in small waves than unstrapped, it just made the board a little easier to manoeuvre. At 5’8” the Taurin is quite small, so it isn’t a first time surfboard for the novice, but if you have the skills and enjoy punchy small waves and hitting them hard the Taurin will certainly excite you.

Overall

We were torn between the weight amongst the test team. Some riders enjoyed it; others felt it wasn’t suited to their style of riding. It’s not a strapless trickery machine, but it is a very solid and well built board that will take a few knocks. If you ride smaller punchy waves with straps then this board will suit your riding style perfectly.

This review was in Issue 37 of IKSURFMAG.

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By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!

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