CrazyFly Chill 115 x 44cm 2020
Reviews / Hydrofoil Boards
41,705
At A Glance
The Chill is a low volume all-round freeride board from CrazyFly. Built using a high-quality twin tip construction it is designed to be a durable platform for all your foiling adventures. It’s a short design available in two sizes, the 115 we have on test and the 130. Both models feature a wide nose with plenty of nose rocker.
There are carbon stringers to add stiffness where it is needed to ensure direct feedback underfoot, and the deck has a concave shape to make it comfortable and to keep the centre of gravity low for added control. A full deck pad ensures you will never slip off.
Rather than a track system or bolt-through design, CrazyFly have opted for 12 inserts to allow a middle, fore and aft position for the foil. This makes putting it together with simple as you don’t need to mess about with lining bolts up. Just screw in the mast plate, and you are good to go. Spacing follows the standard so you should be able to fit a multitude of foils to this design.
On The Water
The low volume boards have a major advantage, when it comes to strapless riding, they sit in the water and allow you to water start with both hands on the bar. The CrazyFly Chill does this too, and if you are learning strapless and still a little tentative with your one-handed kite control, it’s a big advantage.
The downside is there isn’t much volume should you need to swim, but as long as you never crash your kite in marginal conditions, this shouldn’t be an issue. Even if you do have to swim, the board can be placed under your body, and it has just enough volume to stay with you and not sink off under the surface.
The stiffness across the deck is good for a twin tip style design, there is a bit of flex in the nose, but this is negligible, and you don’t notice it when you are riding. The simple bolt insert design makes deciding where to put the foil easy, and we’ve had no issues with the inserts while we have been testing the board.
For the intermediate and more advanced riders, it’s a great platform, beginners will be able to use it too, but might prefer a little volume when learning. In the waves, the small nature is really enjoyable to ride, making it easy to fit into tight carves and aggressive turns.
Overall
Compact, fun to ride and stiff, the CrazyFly Chill offers an excellent solution for the rider looking for a low volume design that is simple to set up. The compact nature makes it great fun to throw around on the water.
Videos
This review was in Issue 81 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit CrazyFlyRelated
By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!
