Naish Pivot

The Pivot is now on to its fourth incarnation and has now developed something of a cult following. With previous versions of the Pivot we have generally found that there really is nothing not to like about it… It’s not a kite for slack line wakestyle moves but if you want to do ANYTHING ELSE then it will do that to a very high standard. With the arrival of the surf-specific Slash into the range, we were also intrigued to see if this would mean that the Pivot had moved more into the ‘freeride’ category.

In terms of construction for 2018, headlines are the presence of Naish’s Quad-Tex canopy material and then the all new Shark Teeth trailing edge where Naish have chosen to double up on the Quad-Tex rather than using Dacron which has saved weight without compromising the strength or the durability of the Pivot. We flew the Pivot on the Torque ATB 55 which arrived last year and was a massive step forward for Naish in the bar department – for us it is now one of the comfiest and easiest to use bars on the market and we are big fans…

On the water and the Pivot immediately sets you at ease with its accessible performance and easy-going attitude. As with previous versions, the Pivot flies so smoothly through the window and generating power is super-easy. You can turn it on at the bar and then if you need some extra oomph you can work the kite and it’s there. Given its name, there are once again no surprises that the Pivot excels when it comes to initiating quick turns with the kite and encourages you to really fly the kite rather than just sitting it in one place. In the surf, performance is smooth and you can really move the kite around as you make a bottom turn to generate more power for a more ferocious lip assault. We found that for cross or slightly cross-on conditions, the Pivot can have more to offer than a boxier three strut kite in terms of nimble and predictable performance and – even in more hectic wave riding environments – you never really lose track of where it is. Away from the surf and the Pivot is a great freeride kite – if you want good upwind performance and want to boost some jumps and slash any bits of surf that you see then it’s such a fun and accessible kite. Then for more juiced up freestyle, well, Kevin Langeree WON THE KING OF THE AIR on it. What else do you need to know?

In a sentence: It’s on to generation four of one of the funnest kites on the market – the Pivot provides predictable performance for all levels of riders, not just KOTA competitors…