CrazyFly Strapless 5’8 2016 Kitesurfing Review

CrazyFly Strapless 5’8 2016

Reviews / Surfboards

CrazyFly 41,705

At A Glance

CrazyFly have been making some of the world’s best twin tips for many years now. More recently they started to make surfboards and the results have all been exceedingly impressive! The Strapless follows down that path, the shape is designed for new school freestyle strapless tricks, small waves and light wind conditions. With more and more riders turning towards strapless freestyle and riding surfboards at locations that don’t always get the best swell it makes sense to create a shape designed for these conditions.

CrazyFly have been using some bold colours recently and the strapless is no exception, the gloss finish on the board is stunning and the whole package feels very polished. Something that is rather ironic about the Strapless is that you can screw straps into it…making it strapped. To be fair this is a great option to have, especially if you’re learning. A good way of learning to gybe can be to keep the front strap in, aiding stability, so this option definitely gets the thumbs up from us and makes the board far more versatile in terms of the kind of rider it will suit.

On The Water

Heading out on the water we were impressed with how light this board is considering that it does have extra volume for light wind riding, this makes it perfect for strapless airs. The deck pads have got plenty of grip to keep your feet on the board during tricks.

The volume, flatter rocker and thruster set up get this board up and going really early in light wind conditions. Now it’s not a foil board, but you can definitely have a super fun session in 10 knots with this board and the right kite, making it ideal for maximising your time on the water.

Out in small waves the Strapless is great fun, it is the perfect board for progressing your riding style in marginal conditions. The lightweight construction gives the board some flex allowing it to be playful in the pocket of the wave. You can tell though that it lacks the grunt and turning ability of down the line boards, for this you’d want a different model from CrazyFly’s range such as the Classic.

For

Early to get on the plane and a lightweight board, exactly what you need to make the most of your time on the water.

Against

It could have grab rails for aiding different strapless manoeuvres, the alternative is to add wax to the areas of the board you need to hold in order to stop your hand slipping.

Overall

You’re guaranteed hours of fun in a wide range of conditions with the CrazyFly Strapless. There really is no limit with how inventive you can be doing strapless manoeuvres and the Strapless is the perfect tool to do it.

For more information visit CrazyFly

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By Jack Galloway
Jack is a fanatically keen kiter from the South West of England, he loves riding just about anything with a kite from foil boards to surfboards and everything in between. He's competed in the Red Bull Ragnarok snowkite race on numerous occasions as well as some world class kite racing events. He's our Web Editor for the magazine, as well as one of our testers where his vast knowledge of the sport and different kites and boards comes in handy!

Tried this? What did you think?