HB surfkite 5.10 Lafayette – Review // Strapless Kitesurfing

Olivier Sautet testing out the HB Surfkite 5’10 Lafayette

 HB surfkite 5.10 Lafayette – Review

Hb Surfkite 5’10” Lafayette specs :

Size : 5’10”-183/8″-21/4″ weight : 3kg

Swallow tail, parabolic balsa rails, EPS foam core, Bamboo deck and hull, FCS fins, full pad in two parts with kickers at the front and the rear.

No straps inserts.

Olivier Sautet, movie maker and owner of Petole Prod tested out the HB Surfkite Lafayette 5’10” 

Oliver you recently start to ride strapless, what was your gear set up before the test of the 5’10” HB Surfkite?

I started to ride strapless 2 years ago while I was in Maui working for Naish. I was mostly using the 6’0 Naish Global and Naish Park, which is pretty good in wave bigger than overhead.

Tell us what are your size and the sailing conditions of the test.

I’m 187cm (6’2″) 85kg, and I mostly ride in southern France where side on shore wind is blasting most of the time. I use between 6-9m park and the HB-Surfkite 5’10” Lafayette which is perfect for those kind of conditions.

What is your first feeling on the HB?

First time I’ve tried the board it was on the west coast with a clean overhead and side-off wind (I was with my 9 park) and the first thing which impressed me was the responsiveness and the surf ability of the board.

 Now you had a dozen sessions on the HB 5’10, what is the positive and the negative?

After quite some time on it now, I really enjoy how easy is the board to jump, play around and going thru the chop. I like the responsiveness and its lightness. But what I really enjoy the most is how the board sticks to your feet while doing front or back roll! For negative point I would say : the surf ability in wave bigger than overhead. Still pretty decent but that’s where the board can still progress and be better.

What are the ideal sailing conditions to use the HB 5’10 Lafayette?

Best conditions for this board : Side on-shore wind between 20-35knots, 1m (2-3feet) swell! Or side shore wind with a clean overhead… I would really recommend to buy that board, for the guy who wants to get into strapless, because the board is so easy to ride, and I’ve never tried a board going thru the chop as easily.

Would you recommend to buy that board and why?

I would recommend it to the guy who starts to throw some jump, and rotation, because that board is like a plane, and plus it just sticks to your feet perfectly!

Thanks Oliver ! Let’s see what you can do with that toy :

We like :

The bamboo construction added to parabolic balsa rails make the board very nice, responsive and flexible.

The kicker on the front deck pad gives all the control you need to pull out strapless tricks.

The balance of the shape makes the board predictable in jumps, gliding in the air.

Even if the deck caves in quickly under the heels, no aftermath on the durability.

What could be better:

Lafayette is shipped with basics FCS M3 fins, that board needs stiffer fins. The durability of the front pad.

Conclusion

A real good board, light, easy to handle, perfect for small waves and totally dedicated to strapless kitesurfing.

Find more at http://hb-surfkite.com/

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