Unwrapping the Boxer from new it has all the feel good factor that we’re used to with Naish in terms of visuals, great identity and very neat fittings.
The Naish actively turns into a corner, like a racing driver, and continues to drive, even if the lines go a little loose. So the relationship between kite and rider feels more natural and very intuitive, so you can really focus on your board. The Boxer is pivotal, but crucially it’s pivotal with drive and that’s exactly what you want for freeride foiling in light winds. That feeling is apparent as soon as you put it up. Nice, boxy wing-tips which look responsive.
The canopy is clean, well-behaved and the whole thing looks purposeful. Made with Naish’s Quad-Tex canopy material, it’s certainly well made, but don’t expect a highly reinforced beast that can handle the abuse of beginner or intermediate riders using this as a learning kite in light winds. Single strut kites fly easily in light winds and the bar pressure is effortless, but they are a bit more effort to relaunch if they get water on the canopy. The Boxer is built for efficiency and speed and therefore can’t be overly heavy, but if you’re not dropping your kite a lot and are looking for a kite to progress on and seriously open up your riding window below 14 knots on a twin-tip, surfboard or foil, this is an ideal kite for riders with fairly good handling skills.
As with all single strut kites, the Boxer is more focused on its low end efficiency than top end comfort. Which is why Naish make so many small sizes in the Boxer and it will be a lot of fun to throw around in those smaller sizes as the wind builds. Great potential in surf too. The good forward flight of the Boxer is what makes it so good and easy for foiling with, but that keen-ness to fly forward does mean that you need to keep tuned in to the controls. If you fall in underneath the kite, travelling too far downwind, there is a tendency for the
Boxer to feel like it’s going to get too far into the wind overhead. So just pull on the back lines a bit to stall it and the Boxer will drop back, another illustration of performance mixed with control. In all these winds there’s nothing aggressive about the power delivery of the Boxer and the communication you have with the kite through the bar is a direct one-to-one feeling with very little input needed to get the kite to do what you want. In terms of intermediate light wind twin-tip freeriding with a single strut kite, the LF Solo may be better set up for less experienced riders, or those looking for easy power as it sits back a bit further in the window, whereas the Boxer excels through turning and drive. It’s not all just about turning though as there is still a good balance in the sheeting power and is why the Boxer will probably be fun in light wind waves, as it turns on a sixpence and you can nudge it forward with very little line tension. That sheeting power is especially nice overhead around your tacks for example when you’re looking for that floaty moment and for the kite to carry you, giving you time to switch your feet. That lift also makes for cruisy airs on your twin-tip, too. It’s just very nice to use indeed!
Summary:
The Boxer is back, but it’s been reincarnated. The new Boxer has been to the gym and come out as a super lightweight turning machine. Bobbing and weaving around the window, it’s precise and highly tuned as a freeriding ally. As this 12 metre is so manoeuvrable, light and forward flying, with good steering skills you can get this working in ten knots and keep the enjoyment of tube kite steering without having to commit to the new experience of a foil kite, which is very different and doesn’t have that same connected, fast steering response.
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