CrazyFly Raptor LTD 136 x 41cm 2017
Reviews / Twin Tips
41,705
At A Glance
CrazyFly have been making boards long before they started on their kites and the results speak for themselves, now entirely made in Europe, CrazyFly pride themselves on their attention to detail and the eco-friendliness of their products.
The Raptor LTD is an impressive intermediate to advanced board packed with tech and looks to rival anything out there. A wood core is sandwiched between two beautiful layers of Carbon, with a foil top sheet for protection on both sides. The Gullwing Double Concave is designed for chop munching, powerful upwind tracking and lending you a helping hand in sticking those tricky landings.
Supplied with the CrazyFly’s new Hexa bindings which are so adjustable no one should have an issue finding their perfect foot angle, with or without booties.
On The Water
Any carbon board is going to be pretty special, and the Raptor Ltd is exactly that! It is light as a feather and to be honest, so beautiful we didn't want to put it on the sand for risk of scratching the shiny Carbon!
The new Hexa bindings are super comfy, and incredibly adjustable which is great if you favour pressure on a certain point of your foot for example as pretty much anything can be catered for. A handy toe grip is on the pads too which many people enjoy for gripping onto the board.
The Raptor LTD is packed with performance
We had the Raptor LTD out in butter flat water, waves and chop, and it dealt with them all superbly. In flat water, the board has incredible grip and drove us upwind with great speed. Jumping in perfect water states is, of course, a pleasure, but the Raptor Ltd adds to it with a silky smooth release. Throwing the board around in the air is excellent, low swing weight and easy for board offs. On that note, the handle has been designed primarily for carrying the board it seems as is a little small to grab hold of while in the air, but that just means you will get handy at grabbing other places of the board for your tricks!
Choppy water can make or break a board, and the Raptor Ltd just flew through it with ease. The triple concave certainly does what it is designed to do with minimal bounce but also soaking up dodgy landings. There can often be a bit of elitism with what you ride in waves, with many stating it must be on a surfboard, truth is you can ride whatever you fancy, and the Raptor Ltd is an excellent option, which can be slashed around to your heart's content, really gripping onto those faces.
Unhooking is really good, and with binding inserts can, of course, be used as such, but it is more a high-end freeride and freestyle board than wakestyle. That said, it will fling you up in the air with quite some force and provide the steadiest of landings on your return
Overall
With a board which looks as good as this you would believe there to be a compromise somewhere, but there isn't. Simply an outstanding high-end board, with well thought out components and performance in all conditions we could throw at it.
Videos
This review was in Issue 59 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit CrazyFlyRelated
By Robin and Sukie
With years of kite sport experience combined, you can be sure you’ll be receiving the highest quality of knowledge on the best equipment the industry has to offer.
