INTRODUCING THE AIRUSH 20-21 COLLECTION
BY INNOVATORS FOR INNOVATORS
As kiteboarding evolves, we have increasingly focused on longer development cycles to allow us to make bigger leaps forward, with an increased level of refinement at each turn. In an industry traditionally dominated by model churn, we wanted to make sure that there are clear refinements each time we introduce a new product, and an experience of real innovation. This has been possible by building from a legacy of great products.
From the beginning, we wanted to create something different; to create a riding experience that surpasses anything you have ever had. To achieve this, we have maintained a really strong connection between the best designers, leading athletes, and you.
Within the big air and freestyle space, we introduce our first Airush twintips designed by Product Engineer, Dave Kay (DK). DK has spent a lifetime crafting boards. His shapes have won World Freestyle, and King of the Air titles for a generation. Airush has crafted a legacy of its own, with multiple World Championships built on a platform of in-house prototyping, and a commitment to real R&D, allowing us to religiously refine individual prototypes with our test team. Working collectively, we have defined the ultimate level of refinement with the new Apex, Apex Team, and Diamond. On that note, we could write an essay on how much DK loves basalt, combined with our love for carbon, so take note of the product tech summaries.
We introduce the new Lift to the big air kite scene. The Lift is all about boosting, hangtime, and taking performance freeride to new heights. Designed for the rider looking for stability in the wildest conditions, exceptional hangtime, and explosive power. Although it’s a high-performance kite with incredible boosting, the intuitive feel of the Lift ensures this is attainable to the everyday rider.
This versatility and ease of use results in a kite that is ideal for a diverse range of riding and conditions. The original Lift was the kite that put Airush on the map in terms of kite design. The ideology behind the new Lift was to revisit those original values and translate these through 15 years of design knowledge and refinement.
One of the key riders showing the strength of the Lift, beyond its pure big air potential has been strapless newcomer, Kiko Roig Torres. Kiko has also worked closely with Airush to develop the Cypher to suit his new school strapless game. This is the first of our completely new surf lineup.
Merging the space between surf and strapless, Reider Decker introduces the new AMP as the ultimate one board surf quiver for everything, from down the line to onshore slop – which he loves as much as a cold brew on the porch.
Moving into pure down the line, we introduce a completely fresh Comp. Designed and developed in conjunction with the hard-charging, lip slapping South African, Oswald Smith, with the support of the new kid on the block, Charlie Wise. Although, Charlie was also smitten by the new Mini Monster as the best board ever, for shitty wave days.
With a new quiver of surfboards (offered in two constructions), we then worked on the replacement of our legendary Wave kite. Over the years, the wave space has been evolving to a point where riders expect a kite to do more than just ride waves, without sacrificing any wave riding performance. So, we made a kite that wave rides as well as ever, but is much more versatile. The new Session plays right into the hands of those who want to ride everything.
Speaking of riding everything, the Mini Monster Convert takes you into the higher volume surf and foil convertible space, featuring our smart foil inserts with minimal drag and maximum versatility. For the rider looking for a true blend between a low volume surf directional like the Foil Skate, and the smooth flex of a twintip, we reintroduce an all new Slayer. Another fresh take on a classic concept by DK.
While we are foiling around, or looking for a lightweight travel setup, we move to the legendary Ultra. This class-leading kite has seen some key changes in the smaller sizes. The new Ultra v4 has a slightly lower wingtip chord to center chord ratio than the v3. That is, the center strut is slightly longer than the chord at the wingtips. The canopy curve has also been upgraded to add a bit more tension in the canopy, resulting in a more powerful and responsive kite that sits a bit further forward in the window.
The Union also features slight changes to the wingtips. A stiffer wingtip configuration improves the looping of the Union, along with the overall stability. This is exactly what Union riders are chasing.
The Lithium has been concentrated into a single model for this year (Previously Lithium and Lithium Progression), and as the model has evolved, we continue to chase that absolute freeride nirvana. With a benchmark construction and legendary Airush build quality, the Lithium is the one kite to do everything. Yes, everything.
Again, we have partnered with AK Durable Supply Co. The dedicated hardgoods and components team have been grinding away and nit-picking on every little detail, ensuring that the components and accessories on Airush products are industry-leading.
We are a brand that loves to focus on innovation, an admittingly overused word in the industry, but we couldn’t think of a better one (Funovation? Nah). Simply, what we focus on is bringing something new to the customer, or solving a problem, where it truly contributes to your experience. No bullshit and overhype.
Making products that last as long as possible without sacrificing performance is another one of the things that makes us tick. We celebrate the idea of buying something that you really want, knowing it works exceptionally well, and being able to use it for a long time.
We are also aware that people are keeping their gear for longer, for various reasons, which is a positive step towards reducing waste. This contributes to some of the incredible sustainability projects we have been involved in, from material choices, to CO2 offsetting. Our ethos regarding sustainability drives us to do what we love, and do it incredibly well, so we can keep on doing it.
Introducing the 20-21 Collection, we hope you have as much fun exploring our new range, as we had developing it.
Mark Pattison, Clinton Filen, Alex Pastor, Graham Wiles, Bas Koole, Sam Medysky, Oswald Smith, Victor Hays, Anthar Racca, Alvaro Onieva, Reider Decker, Dave Stubbs, Jonas Ouahmid, Elias Ouahmid, Stuart Groenemeyer, Su Kay, Chereé Thomson, Charlie Wise, Dave Kay, Kyle Cabano, Gijs Wassenaar, Quinton Misplon, Kiko Roig Torres, Jack Rieder, Colin Oudot, Alexia Fancelli, Jordan Heurto, Alexandra Torres, Craig Tompkins, Eric Braojos, Mitchell Doyle Markgraaff.