John lives on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii with his wife and two sons, age 13 and 15. John has 22 years of board designing experience, and at this point his designing expertise includes kiteboards, surfboards, tow in surfboards, foil boards, and stand up paddle surfboards. John not only designs but is a professional kiteboarder for North Kiteboarding and is a top tow in surfer on the North Shore. This helps john better understand his designs and constantly refine his board design.

John shaped the following North Kiteboards:

• Rocketfish
• Converter
• Dragon
• Defender
• Sumo

At 133- 138 cm. long, the Dragon boards are a little longer than our other popular twin-tip, the Jaime Pro. Why did you choose this length, and how does length influence the riding characteristics?
JA: These lengths seem to be a very good length for ease of ride and high performance. In my experience, boards in this size range have enough tip (nose) to land jumps or tricks without burying the nose and are still small enough to do every trick in the book. If a board is too small for any given rider it is much easier to catch or bury the nose when landing. If a board is too long it may take away from the performance by creating excess swing weight and performing with less spark.

The boards have very thin flexible tips, with stiff middle sections. Why?
JA: This is something we have worked with and developed for several years now. The stiffer mid section gives the rider optimal speed characteristics. The tips have more flex and, under normal wind conditions, will keep more of the natural rocker curve. Under load when wind conditions get stronger or gustier, the tips flex and create more rocker which will slow the rider down and allow them to, essentially, put the brakes on. Instead of falling down wind and the kite getting stronger, the rider can brake and drive the kite to the edge of the window with this flex system.

How does rocker effect a boards performance?
JA: I consider the rocker to be one of the most important points in board design. One may think that they all look the same but the slightest shifts in bottom curve make huge performance differences. In short this is how I see it; a design with a rocker on the higher side may point up wind very well but may be unstable and have other unfavorable characteristics. A design with a rocker on the lower side may be very stable but not have the curve to point up wind very well. The goal is to find the rocker within those two sides of rocker designs, high and low. By designing boards all year long for customers all over the world in a huge variety of conditions, rider size, and rider ability, as well as the extensive prototyping process with North, I have developed rockers to meet all the performance needs for our customers.

You have spent quite a bit of time touring the beaches of the mainland USA on the North Kite demo tours. What did you learn or what surprised you?
JA: I would have to say that I always learn a lot on these tours, I think too much to mention everything. All the feedback I get, not only with the boards but all of our equipment, goes directly into the development of future products. I think that meeting our dealers and the people who ride the equipment is one of the most important things we can do to keep our standards up and to keep delivering the best kiteboarding gear available.

What projects are you working on now that look promising?
We are working on some light wind designs and surf designs that will set new standards.

For someone who might not be sure about what equipment to use, who should they talk to and what sources could they use to get info?
JA: I would say a great source of info would be the shop person who you buy your gear from. They will have all the info we give them as well as first hand experience with all their other customers. The North Kiteboarding web site has a great information base as well. On line forums can be a good place for info but be cautious of the source, check into the user name and their history. The same goes for magazine information. In the past I have seen articles about design from writers who had very limited experience in design. In the past, strong personal opinions have driven the sport in directions that may not have been the best for most riders.

Any last thoughts?
JA: I am proud to be working with North Kiteboarding! Every product we make is designed by a professional designer and tested extensively by the whole team and, in most cases, the average user before it is delivered to the public. This assures that we are delivering the highest quality and performance available.

Thanks John. We have enjoyed riding your boards as they evolved over the past few years, and look forward to seeing what's next!