After more than 2 years of kitesurfing with the Naish Pivot kite, this review of the kites as I experienced them. I kitesurfed with the Naish Pivot 2019 and the Naish Pivot 2020. With sizes 6 meters, 9 meters and 12 meters. In this Naish Pivot review I explain my experience, where I also give tips and advice to other kite surfers who are interested in the Naish Pivot.
Naish Pivot Award Winning Kite
That the Naish Pivot, as Naish states, is very suitable for 'big air' and 'high performance freeride' is a fact. It is not for nothing that the Naish Pivot has proven its services to kite surfers from the absolute world top several times. The development of the Naish Pivot was inspired by kite surfers who want to use the largest possible size kite with the strongest possible wind. For example, Kevin Langeree has twice the Red Bull King of the Air (KOTA) won with. Also more recently, at the Cold Hawaii Big Air, the Naish Pivot helped our Stig Hoefnagel with a third place. The Pivot is a legendary kite in this area.
Suitable for many kite surfers
Despite the achievements above at the highest level, you do not have to be a professional kitesurfer to kitesurf with a Pivot. The Pivot is suitable for many kite surfers. As far as I'm concerned, it is most suitable for kitesurfers who can already enjoy kitesurfing or are even good at it. For kite surfers who want a strong and robust kite with which they can learn and have fun from 'high performance freeriding'. So jump high ('big air'), stay in the air for a long time ('hang time'), make kite loops and kitesurf quickly with a kite that is direct.
In addition, the Pivot has a fairly large range of the wind. Thus, it remains powerful when the wind is slightly less strong. You don't stop quickly. But on the other hand, it is also easy to disprove in high winds and/or gusts. Check out my choice for the Pivot in this Naish Pivot review. You may have something to do with it.
That's how I started with the Naish Pivot
Background: Step from Torch to Pivot
I kitesurfed for this with the Naish Torch what I still call a Formula 1 type of kite among the kites. A so-called C shape freestyle kite.
However, you should not just drive around with a Formula 1 racing car. This also applies to a Formula 1 kite.
You have to train a lot for it and keep putting in many hours before you get something beautiful out of such a kite. This is not the kite but the kite surfer. And not every kite surfer wants such an extreme kite. If you want to cruise nicely, it is of no use and it even has the opposite effect. My experience was that at a certain point I was kitesurfing too little and therefore the Naish Torch was too challenging for me. With hard crashes and injuries as a result. In the video below you can see kitesurfing with the Naish Torch, a legendary C-shape kite. You can see that he is much less debunked than a Naish Pivot. As far as I'm concerned, this also has its charm, but you can clearly see and hear that it is hard work. 😉
Advice: buy a kite that suits you
My advice is to buy a kite with which you can move forward. The ambition level is different for every kite surfer. If you look at Naish's kites and think of a Pivot, then also look at the Naish triad. The Pivot may well be just perfect for you. You even see novice kite surfers on the water with it. It is also possible that the Triad suits you better and with the Triad you do not quickly reach the limits of its ability. My advice is always to ask for advice from a kitesurf shop and possibly test the kite that suits you.
Naish Pivot fits my level and challenges
The Naish Pivot is a good fit for my level. At the same time, I still think the Naish Pivot is a very direct kite.
With a high jump with forward rotation ('front roll') and / or fast transitions, I have regularly experienced that I did not notice the kite due to its directness, resulting in crashes. This is good for training. The big plus of the Pivot's immediacy is that it is fast and manoeuvrable. Even depowered, it still steers wonderfully. Just use a wave as a ramp, no point. Take a step back, no point. Just a quick turn around because a wave just breaks, no point. I could go on like this for a while. You can see in the video below that you can also go hard with it. In it I tap 64 km/h.
Robust kite boosts confidence
The Naish Pivot has a hybrid delta form with a three strut frame (three standing inflatable tubes). It has wing tips that are tapered but still quite broad. The kite is strong and keeps its shape very well. In over two years I have kitesurfed with it in light winds as well as in the heaviest currents. The latter was possible thanks to the experience with and confidence in the Pivot. I would never have done it without this confidence. I only went off the water once with gusts of 105 km/h. The Pivot still wanted to, that was not the issue… But I myself had something like this, now it has been nice.
Quality Naish Pivot absolute top
The quality of the kite has never let me down. On naish.com you can read which materials the kite is equipped with. I won't go into too much detail in this review. I can tell you that I have experienced quality due to the performance of this on the water. In addition, I have hardly been able to detect any wear. I have not had to rely on warranty and can always sell the kites as new after using it for a year.
For all sailing styles?
If you for it kitefoiling you can do that with the Naish Pivot. However, you go for kite foiling with very little wind. Then the robustness of the kite has the disadvantage that it loses out against the lighter kites that are specially made for low wind conditions. Logical. Furthermore, the Pivot can be used for all sailing styles and disciplines. You won't get bored of it quickly.
Naish Pivot s26 and s27
We have now also used the Naish Pivot s26 for a year. Watch the Naish Pivot s26 (2022) in action during the kite loop tutorial. A lovely kite. Special for me was that a button on the kite can be adjusted, so that the kite actually becomes a size smaller in use. I overpowered this twice with a 9 meter. It worked very well without the kite's performance as I was used to suddenly feeling very different. Also check out the Naish Pivot s27 review.
Conclusion Naish Pivot review
Tricks like 'mega loops', 'kite loops', 'down loops', 'board offs' and whatever else you can think of, you can do and land with a Pivot. I think the latter is a quality of the Pivot. Of course this requires steering skills, but the Pivot catches you well after a jump. I have noticed that it is not the Pivot, but myself. With the Pivot, I have regained the confidence to take on such tricks again and be able to build them step by step.
Do you not go for such tricks but for wonderful freeride kitesurfing sessions? Even then, the Pivot is a kite that you quickly become familiar with and which you will have a lot of fun with. But you could easily opt for the Naish Triad. This also allows you to freeride, but also jump high ('big air'), stay in the air for a long time ('hang time') and make loops. The Triad is just a little more friendly, a little less direct and fast. He is just a bit friendlier than the Naish Pivot. Also check out the Naish triad review.
Hopefully this review has given you a good idea of the Naish Pivot. Of course it is from my experience and I went less deeply into the technical details of the kite. I also hope to have given you some advice on choosing the right kite. A kite that suits what you want to do with it, which you don't get bored of quickly, but which is also not too radical for you.
