Includes: kite, bag, and repair kit
4m kites are only available in Rubine Red.
SURF / STRAPLESS FREESTYLE
The Carve is a powerful, reactive and controllable kite, ideal for carving up a wave face, tucking into a barrel or boosting strapless tricks. Engineered with a stable, lower aspect ratio design for fast pivot turns and excellent drift, the Carve has an extremely direct feel in both bar pressure and steering initiation. For 2023, North put the Carve back into its wave riding category. Refined bridling for a longer, more progressive travel means the kite feels smoother and more responsive throughout the full depower range. It is still reactive when you sheet out – to the very end. Improved overall balance also enhances drift, so when you're surfing, it glides down the line, waiting for your bar input. More intuitive control - especially when the kite's not visible on a big bottom turn, cut back, or in a barrel - means you can focus 100% on the surf. The Carve has a slightly reduced leading-edge diameter and thinned-out profiles. This gives the kite smoother power delivery, improves the high-end wind range, and helps you ride deeper in the pocket for longer. The kite won't pull you aggressively off the rail, and you'll have softer landings when doing big jumps. The 2023 Carve will also relaunch faster in critical situations. North introduced lighter bladders in all sizes and a lighter 2-ply canopy reinforcement. This reduces weight and helps improve the turning speed in light wind while maintaining the Carve's surf-tough durability. The Carve now flies faster, generating more power and board speed. It rockets upwind. Experienced riders will benefit from the kite's impressive power and efficiency, while intermediate riders will find it offers a smoother, more user-friendly ride. Freeride and Strapless Freestylers will love the improved hangtime and catch for kite loops and softer landings.
LONGER TRAVEL FOR IMPROVED DRIFT AND SMOOTHER RESPONSE
The Carve is a statically balanced, stable kite that resists nose diving. Its bridling ensures you're able to maintain complete drift while sheeted in or out, riding a down-the-line or onshore wave. For 2023 North refined the bridle to allow for a longer, more progressive depower travel.
The pressure gets higher as you bring the bar closer to your body. This helps the kite feel smoother and perform more responsively throughout the full depower range. Using the full length of travel helps improve the drift and ensures when you sheet out, it will still react. North sacrificed a little on the light bar pressure for better drift and more responsiveness, so you generate less speed in your bottom turns and can ride closer to the pocket of the wave. The Carve provides an extremely direct feel in both bar pressure and steering initiation, with intuitive feedback from the bar in both directions, so you'll always know where your kite is.
NEW DURABLE LIGHTWEIGHT 2-PLY CANOPY REINFORCEMENT
A surf-tough eco-skeletal reinforcement completely surrounds the inner canopy, with extra wide reinforcements at strut ends. For 2023 North updated the reinforcement material to a 2-ply canopy with a wider seam and new stitching method that's both tough and durable. The two layers of canopy material are softer, allowing the kite to twist better and be more responsive.
This re-engineered construction adds strength and elongation control, protects the lighter inner canopy, and allows the kite to be more responsive in the steering and depower. Using a lightweight 2-ply canopy reinforcement improves the Carve’s static balance and light wind performance, without affecting the strength and durability. The lighter weight helps with the drift and behaviour of the kite and reduces any tendency to front stall in lightwind conditions.
IMPROVED WIND RANGE WITH MORE HIGH-END STABILITY AND MORE HANGTIME
The Carve's low aspect ratio design provides excellent stability and wind range. For 2023 North maintained the linear power delivery and improved the high end slightly, ensuring the kite is rock solid when it needs to be, yet still has the control and manageability you need for jumps and tricks.
Strapless freestyle riders will love the improved hangtime and catch, which lets you stay in the air for longer, kiteloop with ease and land softly. Because the Carve has such impressive power and efficiency, North still recommends going a size smaller for wave riding. So, when everyone’s on a 7m, you can pull out a 6m. A smaller kite means even less weight, faster steering and better drift.
LIGHTER BLADDERS IN ALL SIZES
The lighter the kite, the faster the steering and the more lift it creates. For 2023 lighter weight bladders have been adopted into all sizes in the range. This additional weight reduction helps the new Carve to fly more efficiently, so the kite feels even lighter and more responsive in all conditions - and particularly in light wind.
It also improves the overall static balance of the wing by reducing weight in the front of the kite. Bladders make up a bigger weight percentage than any other material used in a kite. The new bladder material is 17% lighter than in previous bladders.
SMOOTHER POWER DELIVERY
The Carve has a high-buoyancy leading edge diameter for a rigid, stable kite frame which requires less inflation pressure. The high volume of air in the leading edge ensures the kite stays on top of the white water and is not easily crushed by waves.
For 2023 North slightly reduced the leading-edge diameter to provide a smoother power delivery. The still-large diameter intentionally produces more drag and helps the rider sit deeper in the pocket. It also allows North to thin out the actual profile in the canopy itself. With less curve through the main body of the canopy and a larger leading-edge design, you end up with less canopy movement or deformation as you ride the kite at lower attack angles or sheeted out. The kite sits a little further back in the window, so that it will run with you as you steer towards it, rather than stop moving or flying forward and front stalling.
TWO-STAGE ARC WITH DIRECT PIVOT STEERING
The Carve's responsive two-stage arc design enables tighter turns without excessive amounts of power. The two-stage arc allows the smooth-curved efficient central region of the kite to produce power, while straighter wing tips provide a more dynamic steering response.
As the arc shape becomes narrower the kite uses less of its projected area, giving it a smaller turning radius for tighter turns, and less pull or power in turns. The Carve, a narrower span kite, is fast in flight, with less power overall.
HIGHEST QUALITY LOW-DRAG, NO-PULLEY BRIDLE LINES
All North bridle lines are pre-loaded and measured before cutting to improve accuracy and consistency. This results in reduced shrinkage, reduced elongation, and improved longevity. Removing ALL pulleys from the bridle improves safety and gives the kite direct and precise handling. The end result is lower drag, more accuracy, and a more direct feeling.
REFINED AERODYNAMIC PROFILE TRANSITION PANELS
The profile transition panels ensure that as the leading edge expands, tension from the elongation doesn't migrate into the canopy and a precise lateral profile shape is maintained as close to the leading edge as possible.
This creates a smooth transition from the segmented leading edge to the curved canopy, so the profiles are more uniform throughout the entire wing. The panels reduce inconsistencies in the profile, resulting in a smoother, more efficient kite, with more aerodynamic airflow, drive and stability.
FAST-LAUNCHING SWEPT LEADING EDGE DESIGN
Allows more area in the center of the kite for efficiency and makes the kite easy to roll off the water during critical relaunch in the surf. The Carve is not swept in the trailing edge like a bow kite, but it has a lot of curvature when viewed from the sideband the wingtips are not particularly wide.
This puts a lot of the usable area in the center of the kite, rather than in the wing tip. So even though the Carve is lower aspect, it is still efficient for its size, and more importantly, the relaunch is super-quick. With less leading edge on the water it doesn't lay flat, so for fast relaunch in most cases you don't have to pull the rear line, simply rotate the bar. This really helps if you're riding waves and need to relaunch your kite quickly when a set’s coming.
DURALITE SEAM PROTECTION
Lightweight reinforcement to protect from chafing and abrasion along the struts to the leading edge. This foam padding is inserted underneath to form a lightweight durable buffer which lifts the kite slightly off rough surfaces and protects the stitching along the struts and leading edge seams.
3x PERSONALIZED PERFORMANCE TUNING OPTIONS
Bar pressure and steering impulse can be adjusted on the wing tip, allowing you to fine tune the kite's characteristics to you personal preference. There are three options.
Use the attachment point closest to the wingtip for a lighter, more forgiving feel. If you prefer a more direct steering and shorter depower travel, you’re able to move the lines forward on the wingtip for more bar pressure.
KEVLAR REINFORCED STRUT SYSTEM WITH BRIDLE DEFLECTORS
For the most accurate and durable connection between the strut and the leading edge. Bridle deflectors on the leading edge prevent the control lines catching on the struts.
HYPERFLOW RAPID SINGLE-POINT INFLATION
Ergonomic high volume single point inflation system with large diameter hose for rapid inflation and deflation. The cap and valve base have been engineered for comfortable opening and closing in colder conditions (when your fingers are freezing). The bayonet style main inflation valve is compatible with most pumps. No adapter needed.
GO GREEN RECYCLED PET KITE BAG
Go Green. Every North kite bag is constructed from a recycled polyester ripstop which meets Global Recycling Standards. Recycled materials are also used to make North's custom webbing.
Generously sized to fit your packed-down kite easily, with corrosion-free zippers, stash pockets and air-vents in the bottom and sides of the bag. The kite bags also have an external Control System pocket, Kite Pump attachment and ergonomic shoulder and chest straps.
N-HTRS HIGH PERFORMANCE HIGH TENACITY RIPSTOP CANOPY
All North kites are manufactured using high tenacity polyester yarn canopy material for lightness, high tear strength, zero porosity, and longevity.
