Reedin x Brainchild Collab: Performance and Sustainability

Reedin has always done things a little differently, so it's no surprise that they've embraced the emerging technologies offered by Brainchild. This exciting collaboration is going to benefit kiteboarders, wingers, and even the environment.

What Is Brainchild?

Brainchild is a development lab and production facility that has recently launched in North Macedonia, Europe, not far from Greece. Founded by kite designer Ralf Groesel, Brainchild is focused on revolutionizing the water sports industry with better manufacturing methods that are also sustainable.

One of Brainchild's most exciting innovations is Proweld, a patented technique to weld segments of a kite's leading edge together. This lets it perform as if it's a single piece of material, improving bending and rebound performance. As a bonus, Proweld uses much less material than traditional stitching, meaning that you get an extremely light kite without expensive premium materials.

Brainchild has also developed a new canopy material that can be digitally printed, and this brings a ton of advantages. Digital printing allows for much more detail than dyed canopies, and custom designs become an option. It also doesn't weigh down the canopy as much as dyes do, which are absorbed into the material. On the sustainability side, it uses four times less water than traditional dyes need, and only white fabric needs to be stocked, meaning there's less waste with offcuts that can't be used.

Brainchild's commitment to the environment doesn't stop there. They use recycled plastics and sewing thread, their facility is powered completely by the solar panels on the roof, and their location in Europe means that supply chains for raw materials and the path to market are much shorter. Many manufacturers like to offset their carbon footprint, but Brainchild places more focus on reducing that footprint to begin with.

Who Is Ralf Groesel?

It'd be no surprise if the name rings a bell. Ralf's been designing wings since 1994, starting with the paragliders that captured his imagination when he was 14. In 2001 he founded Flysurfer with Armin Harich and designed its entire product line.

In 2003 he moved to Naish and had the chance to experiment with inflatable kites. Then he took a break from kites to innovate parasails into boat sails under the name Istec.

He was back into the kite market in 2005, designing snowkites for North Kiteboarding. In 2008 he designed the Evo, one of North's most popular designs. He took over development of the Vegas and Juice designs and added the Dice and Neo.

Not one to sit still for even a moment, Ralf constantly had other projects going in the background. He designed an inflatable tent for events for North, then founded Gybe to manufacture his tent designs. At the same time, he was developing inflatable snuffers for big boat sailing through his brand Oxley.

From 2015-2018, he got back to his roots and worked to rebrand Icaro, a paragliding brand. He designed a glider that had the performance of a high-level wing with the safety of a mid-range one, helping to grow the community.

In 2018, Duotone emerged with his bestselling Evo, Dice, Juice and Vegas designs and immediately became a market leader. He continues to lead innovation there, even as he pours energy into his new Brainchild production facility.