Juice Kiteboarding Widebody Kitesurf Board

Every once in a while something comes along that makes you have a serious think about why things are the way they are. Welcome to a new way of looking at traditional Twin Tip design, and a new frontier for mainstream freeride kiteboarding. Welcome to the Juice Widebody!

Short, wide, effortless, balanced, and reactive with unprecedented windrange. The Juice Widebody is a revolution for those who define the true essence of freeride.

It's quite some boast, but then it's a radically different shape. If you are open to new ideas, and enjoy being part of the cutting edge of the sport, then read on. Freeride Twin-tip's just became a lot easier to ride, a great deal more practical and more importantly, fun!

The Widebody Explained:
For the last five years twin tip designs have been pigeon-holed in a certain size category, normally 130-140cm in length. This length means that there is a great deal of board still left behind your back foot; as a result the stance is heavily compromised, else it would not be able to ride symmetrically on either tack.

This is where the Widebody starts to break the rules; alterations in rocker, outline and width have allowed Juice to get very close to a directional stance, on both tacks. The result is a board that feels effortless to ride. Near even foot pressure and effortless riding, mile after mile.

The secondary benefit to even foot loading is that you'll find a great deal more strength and endurance in your legs. From a raw power and endurance perspective, two legs, it seems, are far superior to one.

As the length shortens, the planing area decreases, and so the board width has to rise. This brings a host of other advantages. In comparison to a normal twin, the Widebody feels alive underfoot; such a short length brings a very low swing weight and a highly reactive feel. From a mechanical perspective the depth of rail projection into the water is greatly increased compared to the total surface area in contact with the water. This means more bite, efficiency, upwind ability and power handling capablity. Far from overpowering your ankles the shorter rail enables you to exploit this bite far more effectively than a traditional twin. The shorter length also allows a lower rocker which adds even more efficiency to the hull.

The result is unprecedented levels of range, efficiency, comfort, lively feel and grip. Riding at normal power levels brings a vast wealth of range; if the power drops you keep pointing, if the kite surges you have a huge reservoir of grip and trust. In the lightest of winds early planing is also hugely improved, for the efficiency and resistance of the board to being pulled sideways (or crabbling) is greatly reduced. As a result, the Widebody has the same planing potential as a 44cm wide traditional twin, yet can deal with as much power than as a traditional 40cm wide board when the wind picks up.

If you are a 65-88kg rider and a regular freeride kiteboarder, we think that this board could well mark the turning point for the future of freeride Twin-tip design.

Juice Widebody Advantages:

• More endurance - no back leg burnout
• Less fatigue; ride for longer
• Feels alive and reactive, a real feeling of athletic confidence
• Hugely improved stance transition, heel to toes side switch is so easy
• Devastating upwind, points much higher
• Huge windrange ride effectively in much lighter and stronger conditions
• Versatility; can be ridden with minimal or extraordinary levels of power
• Very Practical as a one only board
• Easy and trusting to carve  

The Juice Widebody Philosophy:

Over the years Juice have seen production boards of 120, 155 and even 90cm in length. They worked well, gaining a great deal of critical acclaim in an era when 140 was radically short. Yet the advance in flex technology put pay to their advantage, as their superior range and comfort were replicated in traditional sizes by flex. So what has changed? The real reason that the Widebody works so well in the current kiteboarding world is threefold.

Firstly, on the whole, kiteboarding is a much calmer sport than it was five years ago. As riders, the majority of us are happier with our standard and enjoy the sport for what we interprete it as. The upper echelons are kiteboard performance are so far ahead of what we could warrant exploring that there is no way we would be able to turn up for work every monday morning. As a result there are far more of us searching for equipment that lets us enjoy and master the core of the sport. Without doubt, there are more recreational kiteboarders in the industry than there were 5 years ago, and the Juice Widebody offers a silver bullet to this style of riding. Hugely practical, comfortable and effortless to use for the mainstream freeride rider.

Secondly, the rise of the depower kite. We all live at very accessible point in the history of kiteboarding. Those who grew with the two line kites will remember a very different introduction to the sport as those today. It's now rare to see people underpowered, and it's rare to see people overpowered. You can choose your power simply and easily. The need for high level athletes and abilities to deal with the idiosyncracies of the early equipment has evaporated. Many who could not master this violent and tricky watersport have made a home for themselves now the equipment is more welcoming; kiteboarding is truly all encompassing. The Widebody is hugely applicable to the current mainstream rider; suiting them perfectly. Upwind, downwind, carving, bite, stability, from early intermediate to expert the widestyle short board is even more relevant now than it was when it was first pioneered in the mid naughties.

Thirdly, flex. The technology of flex has never been applied to the shorter wider boards; as such the evolution is a huge step forward from the moulded, solid boards of old. Not only longitudinally but the greater width brings far more lateral twist than a traditional board, the core of the board remains very stiff and the rails highly flexible. It's a more relevant technology in this shorter, wider application.

Balance Concept:
If you talk to any high end athletes they will all have something to say about being centered. Through virtually all athletic sports there is a universal consensus that you can’t effectively move forwards until you have a stable, trusted and comfortable core. Unless you have consistent balance, every move away from your core stability will be destined to be off balance before you even start.

Your kiteboard is the singular tool with which you apply power to the environment around you. Without the controllable ability to wield this power you will struggle to progress.

Juice’s balance concept is a partnership between engineering and core balance. Every aspect of the separate design elements are designed to bring you as much balance as possible. A far greater sense of stability and trust to inspire you, not only push your riding standard further, but also to bring confidence to difficult conditions. Equipment designed to take care of the details so you can concentrate on your session, not on your board.

Asymmetric Tune:
Is it better to have power or control? It’s a traditional kiteboarding dilemma, but what’s wrong with having both?

It’s natural that our toeside stance is weaker than our heelside. Sure footed, a heelside stance is powerful, with toeside being a contorted control stance for most, needing stability when your stance is twisted. To solve this Juice use a different outline on the toeside to the heelside. It does not look radical to the eye, but makes a significant improvement to the stance you use.

The Widebody has gone beyond the compromise; asymmetric tune offers a perfect match to each stance; different outlines on toe and heel side edges to make the most of our asymmetric stance. It’s essentially two boards in one and what’s even better is that neither characteristic has any effect on the other.

Core Construction:

The Widebody is built with a proven construction finely honed and tested in the kiteboarding industry. A derivative of snowboard construction; the wood core, ABS sidewall and deck laminates not only allow for precise control of flex, but also give huge strength and impact resistance.

There have been kiteboards built from many different core constructions. Fashions come and go but one fact endures throughout, not only the kiteboard industry, but also in the snowboarding industry. Wood cores have the highest strength to weight ratio you can get. Juice boards are made with a wood core for this very reason. There have been many synthetic materials engineered to surpass certain functions of wood; whether it be weight, reflex response or stiffness, yet nature has spent a long time balancing strength, weight and longevity. Wood is still the most effective material currently available.

Outer Skin:
The outer skins of the Widebody are an ABS sheeting. Incredibly strong as well as flexible by nature, this skin is capable of taking a huge amount of abuse. The graphics are not painted on the top; they are impregnated into the plastic and as such are impossible to scratch off, even through deep gouges. Through flexion and abrasion the structural and graphical integrity is industry leading. The deck of the board uses a weaved top sheet, giving a signature deck finish with added adhesion for bare feet. The base of the board is a matt hydrophilic finish, which gives, hydrodynamically speaking, the most efficient glide through the water. It attracts a boundary layer of water, which noticeably decreases the board's physical resistance when riding.

Stress Reinforcement:
All fin sections are lined with ABS, making it a completely sealed and strengthened load bearing area. Protecting against damage as well as providing more support to the fin areas under heavy load, it is a proven technology that has seen countless seasons of testing. All inserts are stainless euro fixings that are heavily reinforced. All 3D mouldings are carefully engineered to avoid straight lines along critical areas of possible hyperfexion. We have an almost zero warranty rate.

Stance Levelling:
The Widebody has a specific stance levelling mechanism built into the overall flex pattern of the board. In lightwinds and low loads the overall rocker of the board starts relatively flat, this offers drive, bite and efficiency in a balanced stance. When you push more power into the board the stance levelling geometry causes the rocker-line to shift with less force than traditional control flex would allow.

The effect is to maintain the same feel between lower and higher power usage. The advantage is two fold; the board has far more range (powering up much earlier and enjoying the same high power handling ability as any high rockered board), whilst your stance stays constant throughout.

There is a second tier of flex underneath the Stance Levelling that deals with load spikes; this is the flex technology common to all high end kiteboards and deals with a multitude of the higher power flex interactions, like chop and landing impacts. The Widebody contains a lot of this flex laterally in the tip, as opposed to longitudinally in the Evolution.

Lockdown Outline:

Have you ever ridden a board that seemed uncomfortable, unsettled and nervous underfoot? A board that never quite tells you how it wants to be ridden, just seems to have a mind of it’s own? These kinds of boards eventually end up being ridden by force; that is, you lock into a stance and demand that it follows your instructions. It's an uncomfortable and demanding way to ride.

The Juice Widebody is very different; within the outline is a section of rail that is flattened to help the board track straight. This section works with all broad stance positions and brings a latent stability to it's track when you loose concentration. As such it's a relaxing board to ride, freeing your concentration to deal with where you are going, not how you are going to get there! Far from being glued in place like a large surf fin this outline still encourages some essential freedom of movement underfoot, a characteristic needed to aid stance changes immediately proceeding aggressive and complex manoeuvres. It's more of a stable balance. The Lockdown Outline will bring you the ability to trust your board to drive in a straight line while your concentration is free to be monopolised elsewhere.

Fin Technology:
Fins are incredibly important to how a board rides. They not only control aspects of the boards stance in the water but they offer different levels of grip and carving potential. As such Juice developed the Widebody with a specific style of fin called JD5, suited not only to it's rockerline, flex and shape but also it's intended multidisipline use. All Juice boards are supplied with the JD5 fin as standard.

All fins are milled from the highest quality solid G10 composite that offers superior strength and accurate finishing. The foils are thin and exact, ensuring that they have as little drag as possible. In order to achieve this thin profile, Juice only use the most expensive materials and construction methods available, for these fins represent the cutting edge of design and construction.

The JD5 gives the board a higher stance in the water, lifting flatter rockerlines, whilst still retaining a very efficient profile. The swept leading edge and hooked trailing edge makes for a very grippy fin, resistant to spinning out as well as making it highly manoeuverable. Fantastic in the carve, it is also extremely stable in high load situations and rough chop. Made with a thin foil in high density G10, it uses a metric (euro) thread of a 5mm diameter (M5).

3D Deck Moulding:
All Juice boards use 3D deck and hull moulds. The first part of the 3D design is the hull, or shape of the underside of the kiteboard. All Juice boards are shaped not only with curvature from tip to tip but also rail to rail. This single concave is an essential tool in increasing the windrange and central core stiffness of the board. Without it the board would have far too much core flex, leading to buckling as the tips of the boards are forced away from the rider under high load. This leads to total failure in rocker flex, making the board stick and refuse to carve cave whilst exponentially increasing drag. To offset the increased core flex in a 2D board - extra laminates and core thickness is needed, which takes away feel and increases weight. The Concave also changes the rocker of the board between centreline and rail giving a flatter rocker when the board is upright and increased rocker when canted onto it's rail. This is a fundamental principal of controlling and harnessing snowboard technology in freeride kiteboards.

The second advantage to a 3D mould is seen on the deck profile in the form of flex control. It allows precise and correct placement of flex at the tips, which provides the control to allow you to channel more drive into the stiffer central core. Continuous moulds do not have the radical steps needed to control the flexion of the tips required to fully utilise the snowboard technology's radical flex capability. All steps in the deck mould are continaully curved in every plane ensuring that there are no inherent weak spots or points of stress in the moulding. This flex brings a great deal of stability, comfort and balance to the board that is central to the feel and performance of modern kiteboards.

Ergo or Pro Binding System?:
The Juice Ergo Pad and strap set are designed for a variety of different uses from mainstream freeride through to freestyle. It retains the same philosphy as the pro pad in terms of comfort, ease of use and versatility to bring a more price focused pad to the Juice range.

Secure, comfortable, fully adjustable, designed to lock you in whilst still giving you the ability to shed the board when you need to.

The Juice Pro Pad is aimed at the more demanding kiteboarder. A footplate that will give you additional bite, customisation and feel.

Designed to excel in more aggressive freeride applications on all boards, it will give greater confidence, more support, feel and grip. It is rare to find a concensus on the perfect pad, but with a high level of customisation we like to think that the Pro Pad is as close as you can get!

Who is the board designed for:
The Juice Widebody has the same planing potential as a 44cm wide traditional twin, yet can deal with as much power than as a traditional 40cm wide board when the wind picks up.

This kiteboard is perfect for nearly every type of condition yet is small and nimble enough for freestyling and even riding in the lightest of winds!