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The new kites...
H A P P E N . . .
UNDER THE HOOD W I T H
N O B I L E
K I T E B OA R D I N G
You could be forgiven – if you weren’t in the know – for thinking that Nobile are a relatively small brand. In fact they are one of the biggest in the business and have been making kiteboards (and all other sorts of boards) for many years. They’ve also made boards for some of the biggest brands in kiteboarding, and you may actually now be riding a Nobile produced board without even knowing it… In short: their really know they stuff. For those who are not familiar with the brand, could you give us some background about Nobile? Nobile have been doing everything by ourselves since 1994, so we are fully responsible for our products. Nobile Group is a family-owned company established in 1994, based on passion and experience. We have two main businesses in Nobile: Nobile Sports (the Nobile brands) and NBL Sport (the board factory). Nobile Sports owns a few different brands (in kiteboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding and skiing) and we have been happy to see thousands of winter and summer sports fans using products made by us in Bielsko-Biała (in southern Poland) for 11 years! Aside from building boards, we are experts in sales, and in marketing and communications. And we love what we do! NBL Sport is one of the biggest and best board manufacturers in the world, with all of the latest equipment at our factory. We produce more than 150,000 skis, snowboards, kiteboards and wakeboards for OEM clients every year. We have almost 110 | TheKiteMag
8,000 square metres of production facilities, with 130 experts employed, and we are equipped with high-level machinery using the best materials and patented technologies. We began in 1994 with almost 80,000 pieces in yearly production for the biggest snowboarding brands. Kiteboarding started in 2003 when Dariusz Rosiak, Nobile owner and founder, found his new love. He built his first kiteboard using snowboard construction. Then in 2005, Nobile presented its own original collection of kiteboards. Since then, Nobile has been among the leaders of innovations in the industry. So, life really is better when you are riding Nobile! What have been the main developments in technology and materials since you first started building kiteboards in 2003? Nobile kiteboards were the first ones made with snowboard technology. Owing to this, they are light, durable and have outstanding qualities for kiting. The materials we use are top of the market: light wood, triax glass fabrics, first-class carbon fibers and durable ABS rails. The whole construction is put
together to meet all customer expectations. Our patented APS technology allowed us to improve the boards’ properties and their durability even more. Then we also pioneered and implemented a completely tool-free system of board assembly. For a few years now we have been developing the concept of split boards and extended our range of these. We have also introduced the easy, tool-free assembly system here. Within the construction, we still work on the Human Concept idea – this dictates that all actions are customeroriented, as we believe that our products are for riders, not the other way around. Who is mainly involved in the R&D process of your kiteboards? We have been working as a family for 21 years. Dariusz is the head of the R&D Department. Then there is Grzegorz Staszczuk, R&D engineer and designer – the brains behind many of the constructions, and creator of the hydrofoils and kites. He has a wide knowledge of aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, while being a quiet and peaceful champion at the same time!
The team is complemented by Michał Kamyk, the R&D senior manager, who is responsible for the production process of all Nobile products. He is also a codesigner of wake, snowboard and kite constructions. Of course, our products are tested and reviewed on a daily basis by Pro Team riders, retail partners, as well as some well-known brand ambassadors. You have a very well established range of boards. Can you give us a quick overview of these? With the ultimate kitesurfing technology from Nobile you can ride faster, fly higher and enjoy your passion safer. We have based the new 2017 collection on five words: FREEDOM, TIME, GAIA, NATURE-SPLIT and TITAN. Because FREEDOM is everything we have, TIME is what we are here to pursue, NATURE is where we belong, GAIA is what we admire and TITAN because on snow there is no place for weakness. So the lines translate as follows: Freedom.Essentials: This is an entry level freeride board for enthusiasts
beginning their kiteboarding adventure. Perfect for schools and as a first board after your kite course. Time.Pro: This is for advanced riders looking for a wakestyle, freestyle or newschool board. Specially designed for ripping in boots and straps. Nature.Split: For travelers! Pack your bag onboard with no extra cost. There are many fantastic kiteboards, but only the Nobile Splitboard line lets you enjoy the freedom of travelling with a board wherever you want – whether by car, train or motorcycle. You just collapse the board in two and pack it in to the special Nobile bag. And the board does not lose any of its properties, compared to our usual kiteboard construction. Gaia.Woman: For female riders looking for the best performance designed boards on the market. Titan.Snow: These snowkite boards are completely dedicated for use in the snow with a kite and received awards at ISPO (Munich).
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UNDER THE HOOD
2HD
T5 WMN
Waterflow
NHP Carbon
Snap
50/Fifty
Ocean Cruiser
NHP Split
Infinity Split
A few choice cuts from Nobile’s 2017 Collection... 112 | TheKiteMag
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UNDER THE HOOD
You offer many of your boards in the carbon construction – what benefits does it offer?
Darius, a man happy in his work...
Carbon is a material with supernatural properties and a heavenly look. Our carbon board models are 20% lighter compared with the same models built of traditional materials. They are also stiffer and their torsional rigidity is much higher, which translates into better reaction and traction. You were one of the first brands (if not the first one) to develop split boards – what technologies made this possible and are they popular with customers? Split boards have been known about for some time, but Nobile offered boards produced on a large scale, which are durable and easy to assemble. To create our split boards, we used our in-depth experience in terms of mechanics, plastics, composites and engineering. We have built lots of prototypes in different shapes and constructions, then we tested them in different ways. It was a very laborious and complicated process which is ongoing even now – we continuously improve something, and then take another step, consistently improving our range to make the traveling with a kitesurfing set more comfortable and cheaper. You have also released some new versions of your kites – what can you tell us about these? This season we have been working mainly on improving the stability of the T5 and 50/Fifty in the air, in order to offer the user even better and more stable control over the kite, even in unstable and gusty wind conditions. The upper part of the kite has been reinforced and stabilized, which translated into increased stability in the kite profile. In both kites we used double ripstop material. In the 50/Fifty we have also improved the lower range of the kite and the upwind ability. The way of sewing the kite has also changed, in order to make it last longer. In the new T5 design, each panel made of double ripstop is placed in a solid Dacron frame which makes it much stronger, while keeping the weight low at the same time. And what is next for Nobile – what are your plans for the following months? We want to share our love for the sports we specialize in with as many people as we can. We want to create a Nobile world in which everyone feels like they’re a member of one big family!
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