North Carve

The Carve is North’s world title-winning wave and strapless freestyle kite designed for maximum drift and stability. This year the kite has been entirely redesigned with a refined profile and generously swept wingtips to enable faster steering and a lighter bar pressure, inspiring confidence to shred harder in the waves whilst still effortlessly boosting strapless freestyle tricks.

The Carve is a low-aspect, swept design with plenty of material in the center of the kite to allow for excellent drift and instant relaunch, whilst maintaining pivotal steering. The attention to detail is obvious and the new segmented curve arc leads to a smoother transition from leading edge to canopy, with a minimum of material implemented to enable optimum efficiency and weight saving. Despite the focus on minimal weight, a dependable construction including Kevlar-reinforced strut connectors ensures the kite will endure a severe beating in the waves.

Once on the water, the immense drift coupled with dependable stability allows for maximum focus on surfing the wave. The lighter weight bladders and two-ply N-HTRS canopy leads to a noticeable improvement in the low end, and the low-aspect ratio provides ample area in the center of the canopy. This meant even when the wind got marginal to the point we struggled to stay upwind, the drift remained reliably consistent, inspiring confidence for those starting to ride down the line. The kite held its own in the relentlessly gusty conditions that often come hand in hand with perfect down-the-line waves, shifting back and forth in the wind window to accommodate gusts whilst the power feedback remained smooth.

Despite a low bar pressure, enough weight remains to intuitively feel the kite’s position without keeping an eye on it. Pulling the bar in leads to a smooth increase in power that stays relatively light on the arms when fully sheeted in, allowing initiation of pivotal turns on the wave. The turning speed has been spiced up in comparison to the previous models, but long-term fans won’t be thrown out with spiky power delivery, and it remains on the controllable and predictable side. This comes into play best in sideshore, down-the-line conditions and when it’s gusty, and provides a buffer forgiving any unintentional user inputs.

The loop is tight when powered and committed, and has a smooth drive to keep you flying down the line in lighter wind, but when trimmed in for less power maintains a wider arc with a sustained drive.

Though the Carve is a specialized surf and strapless kite, it is clear an eye has been kept on designing a well-rounded product that maintains ample freeride ability. The boost and hangtime is respectable for a low-aspect, wave-focused kite, so don’t be afraid it won’t deliver for the occasional flat-water session. Gentle, predictable lift and impressive depower on command lends itself to strapless maneuvers, as proven by the multiple GKA wins and podiums by Camille and Capucine Delannoy.

Overall, the North Carve 2024’s solid and unflappable nature suits all surf conditions, and particularly when the wind swings cross-offshore and the swell is pumping; it is an excellent contender for pure down-the-line style riding whist still performing on the strapless freestyle front.