Nobile Kiteboarding NHP 10m 2010
Reviews / Kites
39,091
At a Glance
We were keen to see the new range of Nobile kites, they always offer a little bit of glamour to the proceedings with superb finishing and some innovative touches. In previous years the NHP has always been the top end kite of the range in terms of performance. NHP of course stands for Nobile High Performance. This year sees a dramatic change to the kite though, the 5th line set up of the last two years has been taken away and Nobile headed back to the drawing board and came up with a brand new bridle design especially for the NHP. They wanted to keep the same high performance, but increase the wind range, depower and relaunch capabilities and they did this with the new bridle.
The Bar
The bar remains pretty much unchanged for the new NHP, aside from the missing 5th line of course! The one positive change they have made is some nice finger groves added to the top of the bar in the grip, making it easy to keep a good tight grip when unhooked. The bar still has a double chickenloop line with an on the fly moveable stopper to adjust the depower during riding. A mini 5th line system enables you to release the bar which flies all the way up one line permitting the kite to lay flat, flagging on one wingtip apposed to releasing on to the two front lines on some bar systems making the kite as safe as possible. The bar has kept hold of its very handy O’Shit grab handles for self-landing and emergencies.
One excellent feature they have maintained is the Fulcrum molded quick release chickenloop.
In the Air
The NHP has always been an exciting kite to fly and that is still true this year, the kite loses nothing by doing away with the 5th line and gains a lot. It is still super responsive to input on the bar and the steering is very direct allowing the rider to put the kite exactly where they want to in the window with awesome precision. Kiteloops are still a meaty affair and the kite delivers a smooth solid pull. It isn’t as crazy as a Fuel for instance but it is still sure to get the heart racing. Upwind is impressive too the low profile leading edge allowing the kite to fly really far into the front of the wind window. This means that after busting out a ton of moves you can easily get back up wind. Hangtime and jumping are still excellent on the NHP and it is sure to put a smile on most riders’ faces. What has really improved is the relaunch, which is now almost automatic. The bar pressure is on the light side, but not so light that you lose rider feedback. Next to some 10m’s on the market the NHP looks small, in the past this has often been the case with Nobile kites. But it still has plenty of grunt and low down power to get you going early.
For
Top end performance in a well built well thought out package
Against
If you can look past the 5th line going missing and embrace the excellent new bridle then you’ll be impressed.
Overall
Nobile never fail to deliver with their equipment and the new 2010 NHP is no different. Top performance and a top product.
This review was in Issue 21 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit Nobile KiteboardingRelated
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!
