2015 SS Crisis Feedback

ehm · Since 10 Jul 2015 7 Posts Kook

I am considering buying a 2015 SS Crisis and was hoping for some feedback. My wife and I share boards and recently lost a LF Drive, which we thought was a great board. We are beginner/intermediate so we are looking for a board that goes up wind well, handles the chop well and I'm hoping to get my first jumps in on the board. Any thoughts? Any feedback is appreciated.

gnac · Since 05 Sep 2014 66 Posts Husum

I just bought a 146" 2016 Crisis with Dually pads at Windance. Its my first true twin tip. My other boards are a Mako king (165cm) and a Celeritas 5'8". The Mako has straps but not pads, the Celeritas I ride strapless. I'm still a beginner kiteboarder, on my second season, and working on staying upwind consistently.

The first couple of times out I wasn't sure if I had done the right thing with this board, but now that I've got 5 sessions on it its really warming on me. It took me about 3 sessions to get the straps on the pads dialed since I wasn't used to using them.

Its a little rougher on the chop compared to my other boards, the Mako being known for great riding in chop, but I'm learning to accommodate by using the responsiveness of the board to avoid (turn into) the most gnarly of the chop. The Mako is a bit sluggish in that regard as its size makes it slower to turn.

I hadn't gotten good enough to try and jump the Mako, it always felt too big and unwieldy for my comfort level. I ride the Celeritas strapless and while I can jump it wakesurfing, hadn't gotten the timing down to do it while kiting.

After my first couple of sessions I've been able to get little jumps over swell/chops on the Crisis. Nothing to win huckfest with, but enough for me to notice that I was out of the water for a moment or two. It felt great! Its responsiveness compared to the other two boards has made practising transitions more enjoyable as well.

Other boards I considered were (the short list) a 150 Mako and the SS Misfit. It came down to the Misfit or the Crisis, and I ended up with the Crisis largely based on price. I cheaped out because I intend to focus on directionals to relive my glory days of surfing, but I wanted a TT to help me progress. If I had intended to stick with TwinTips, I may have upped the ante and gotten the Misfit. HTH.