Latest News, Blog & Videos
What are Your Favorite North Sonar Foils for Kite and Wing Foiling?
What are Your Favorite North Sonar Foils for Kite and Wing Foiling?with Matt Aiken from North KiteboardingJake: What is your favorite front wing for winging and kiting?Matt: For kiting I ride this big 1500. It's cool; it goes plenty quick, but it's also got a really low stall speed. For fooling around riding waves and stuff, it can be really fun, so I like it a lot for kiting.For winging, with this being my first season, I started on our giant 2200, and that was really great for learning
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30th Mar 2023
Waydoo Gliding Wing and Folding Prop First Impressions
Welcome back to MACkite! This is Jake and Dustin, and today we have some new Waydoo accessories. We're going to give you our first impressions with the new Waydoo Gliding wing and folding prop.Jake: We just got them in and we've been waiting a long time for these, so we were super excited. There's just one issue: it's currently winter here in Michigan, and although the lake is not frozen over, which is epic, it's about half a degree above freezing. We sent Pat and Dustin out to try these
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28th Feb 2023
Choosing Your First Kiteboard
Today we are talking about choosing your first kiteboard. I'm going to go through what I think the best flow is, then I'm going to delve a little bit into the philosophy, and finally we're going to figure out which is the right direction for you.Start with a Basic Board and Upgrade as You ProgressGenerally, I think the best way to get started is to pick a very big and basic board. You don't need a lot of bells and whistles while you're figuring out how to water start, ride, do your fir
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28th Feb 2023
What to Look for When Purchasing Used Gear in 2023
This is Jake from MACkiteboarding, and today we're going to do a topic I discuss every couple years because, as technology progresses, I think it makes sense to revisit it, and that is whether purchasing used gear is a good way to get into the sport of kiteboarding. We probably need to have a discussion on winging as well since that is evolving and changing so much, but here we're focusing on kiteboarding, and the answer to that is yes... and no. It really depends on where the gear is
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21st Feb 2023
The Benefits of Learning to Kiteboard in Lighter vs. Moderate Winds
Welcome back to MACkite. This is Jake, and today we are talking about whether it's better to learn in lighter winds or heavier winds. Of course, this is just my personal experience and, being here in Michigan, we probably experience more light winds than heavy winds, so that's going to impact my answer slightly.My personal thought is that light wind is a better environment for learning to kite. I think it's probably easier to learn in heavier winds, but that doesn't necessarily translate
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21st Feb 2023
2023 North Flex LX Footstraps Overview
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to MACkiteboarding. This is Jake, and today I have the new 2023 North Flex LX footpads.Another footpad review, you might be asking? Yes, but these are super, super cool. It goes without saying that I really like the two strap zonal adjustment footstraps. I'm kind of a simp for the Duotone Entity straps. The issue with those is that the hole spacing leaves them incompatible with most boards on the market. They're sized to have a seven-inch spacing, while mos
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15th Feb 2023
Essential Gear for Kiteboarding in Light Winds
Welcome back to MACkiteboarding. This is Jake, and today I'm going to talk about something we have a lot of experience with here in Michigan, and that is making the most of those light wind days. I'm going to break it down into the three ways to do it: a big kite, a big board, and a hydrofoil. I'll rank them based on my personal preferences, take you through what I like and don't like about each, and hopefully that helps you to decide which direction you want to go when it comes to ex
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15th Feb 2023
Should You Take a Kite Lesson?
Welcome back to MACkite. This is Jake, and today we are answering the question about whether you should take a lesson before getting into kiteboarding. Honestly, I think the answer is "yes", but I'm going to talk a little bit about my personal experience, why I think that answer is yes, and I'll also go over the steps that you should take to have a safe and successful kiteboarding journey if you don't take a lesson.My Experience When Learning to KiteboardTo be honest, when I got starte
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15th Feb 2023
2023 Duotone Entity Ergo Footstraps | Unboxing and Assembly
Welcome back to MACkite. This is Jake, and today I have the 2023 Duotone Entity straps. These have been a favorite of mine, so let's crack them open and see what is new.What's in the BoxLike most straps, they come disassembled, so we have the straps, the footpads, a couple extra heel pad stiffness options, a board handle, a little manual, and individually bagged hardware.Right off the bat, you'll notice a couple different screws. These are the handle screws and they go with your Duoton
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9th Feb 2023
Light Wind Kiteboarding | Should You Choose a 15m or 17m Kite?
Welcome back! This is Jake from MACkiteboarding, and today we are going to talk about whether you should go with a 15 or a 17m for your light wind kite. Don't get too hung up on the numbers; essentially think of it as whether you should go with something smaller in the 14/15m range, or something 17/18m plus, but we're going to say 15 or 17m for the sake of this discussion.Advantages of a 17m KiteThis is a tough one, and honestly, my thoughts on it have changed over time. Early on, I wa
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8th Feb 2023
Which Reedin Bar Is Right for Me?
Dreamstick V2
The Reedin Dreamstick V2 is simplicity supercharged. Everyone here at MACkite gravitates towards this bar for a plethora of reasons. Auto untwist technology for the super loopers, so you never have to spend half of your tack untwisting those pesky center lines. Coming in at 21mm in diameter, the skinny bar feels like you’re cupping a butterfly. Every once in a while you need to untwist the flag line in the auto swivel. The ease of use with this bar is incredible, all the wa
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12th Apr 2022
MACkite x Mystic: Product Collab
We're super excited to kick off the spring season with a brand new product from Mystic, and one that in our opinion comes not a moment too soon.
In response to the recent inflationary challenges that many consumers are experiencing, the new Mystic Travel Bag +1 is the perfect solution to still take that epic spring break trip with your mates while minimizing the impact on your wallet.
Designed to fit all of your favorite kite and foil gear plus one person, this new bag allows
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1st Apr 2022
3 Must Have Safety Accessories for Foiling
Foiling is here, and it is awesome. The feeling, almost indescribable. If one were to try, maybe the feeling of flying over Agrabah on a magic carpet would come close to capturing the magic. And, like anything worth doing, it comes with some risks. Riding several feet above the water, balancing on a board attached to what might as well be a katana… what could go wrong? The good news is with the proper safety gear the chance of bodily harm goes way down, meaning the chances of you living
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28th Mar 2022
Kiteboarding Trends and Random Predictions for 2022
It’s a question we get quite often: what’s new for this model year? Well, color, obviously. Maybe some new canopy material, and there’s probably a bridle tweak somewhere in there. What else? Well, you see… errr…We look forward to 2022 to the trends we expect to see in the kiteboarding industry.
1) Lighter Canopy Materials for Kites and WingsThe biggest innovations in recent years have come in lighter materials – first with the Ocean Rodeo Aluula and then the Duotone SLS. We expect this to conti
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18th Mar 2022
3 Must Have Kiteboarding Harness Accessories
So you’ve purchased your harness and are ready to hit the water, right? Before you do, here are 3 important accessories to make sure you have with you.
Kiteboarding Hook KnifeEvery kiteboarder should have a hook knife with them when riding. For when you get jumped in the parking lot by jealous surfers? No, rather for that one-in-a-million situation that you get tangled in your lines. Most harnesses come with a hook knife provided - verify yours does. If not, make sure to pick one up. Sp
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16th Feb 2022