Naish 2025 Team Test Day Review | Poole Harbour Watersports

At the start of last week, on Monday 16^th December, Chris and I popped down to Portland for a test day with Alex about his brands Naish, STX and Prolimit for 2025. Getting out on the water and personally testing out the new products is so helpful for us for recommending customers the right equipment and highlighting the differences and suitability of the changes to products each year.

 

New Natureprene Prolimit Wetsuits:

As the temperatures in and out of the water are dropping quickly this winter, we started off the day with a quick de-brief on the complete new Prolimit range that is 100% neoprene free, FSC certified and sustainable. The quality and feel of these suits were even softer than expected, with the stretch and comfort unmatched to the previous neoprene range. It is great to see the developments of this brand moving further towards being environmentally friendly and using sustainable resources, and it something in-store we will definitely be supporting. Chris and I both tried and used the 6mm wetsuit, Chris the Prolimit Predator X zip, and I the female version, the Flare.

I was really impressed with the Flare 6mm zip, for a 6mm it didn’t feel thick or restrictive and particularly around the ankles and wrists I noticed it was super comfortable when suiting it up with my boots and gloves. Another aspect that was enlightening for me is that my eczema did not flare up after being on the water in this Natureprene suit. I suffer with pretty bad eczema and generally get a wetsuit rash and irritation on my body and neck whenever I wore my previous neoprene wetsuit in the water – not ideal when I love going in the water. Just before we got the 6mm wetsuits, I put my standard neoprene suit on and straight away my legs were tingling, however as I switched out into the Natureprene Prolimit suit, my skin was calm and remained unaffected the whole session! No red rashes or stinging the whole 1hr 45mins we were out on the water, so I really recommend the new neoprene free wetsuits to anyone with any skin sensitivity or possible neoprene allergies!

 

On The Water:

As we got down to the water with our Prolimit wetsuits on, the wind was a westerly gusting 16-18 knots, perfect for trying out these new hybrid Chimera boards. Chris started out on the 5M Naish ADX 2025 wing (his personal favourite to ride), Chimera 88L and HA 1240 foil with carbon HM mast, while I went out and tried their new complete 2025 package that we will be offering of the Hover Ascend 102, 5M Naish Wing surfer, and 1840 HA foil with alu mast.

Chris then switched down to the even smaller 70L Chimera with the ADX, whilst I tried the 88L Chimera and sized down to the 4.5 ADX and Ultra Jet 1450.

Lastly, Chris then went back onto the 2025 package set-up (102L, 5.0 wing surfer and 1840 foil) and I tried the smallest set up of the Chimera 70L, Ultra jet 1450 and the new 4m wing yet to be released which I can’t quite mention yet!

 

Our Thoughts and Feedback from the session:

2025 Naish ADX Wings 4.5-5.0:

A powerful, strong yet lightweight wing in your hands with a stiffer canopy layout compared to last year. The diameter and grip on the handles was comfortable and thinner than other brands, suitable for longer sessions and smaller riders (like India). The new longer front handle was also great for depowering one-handed with the wing and for more variety in hand placements. The wing handled lighter winds really well and always felt powered up. Super responsive through the handles and great upwind and pumping ability.

 

Naish Chimera 88L Board:

New board addition for 2025, the ‘mid-length’ wing board. Longer in length, much narrower in width but packed with volume. On the Chimera range you can size around 10L lower than your usual riding size. The board has excellent tracking through the water, super responsive to get going and easy to get up onto the foil and upwind. Picks up speed efficiently and super smooth touch down on the water without losing glide. Light under the feet, easy to control and manoeuvre. As more of a novice to foiling, I (India) found this Chimera was easier to use than the Ascend (compact shape) as it reinforces a good foiling position of your feet and a tucked in bum!

Naish Chimera 70L Board:

A real eye-opener for both Chris and India. Not as difficult as one would have thought as it didn’t feel that unstable or difficult to stand up on even though 19.25” wide. It was super responsive to foot pressure so nice and easy to control. Gets going so quickly you just need to hold the wing handles, and you are moving through the water and up onto the foil effortlessly.  Nice easy lift, the speed through the water off the foil was super-efficient and when it touches down, it is not abrupt, but smooth and you don’t lose any speed so easy to get back up and go. Both Chris and India didn’t notice the jump from 88L to 70L too much so we would recommend going smaller than you think. We hope to have this Chimera range on demo next year so get in touch if want to try at info@pooleharbour.co.uk or call 01202 700503.

 

Naish Ascend 102L Board:

A super stable board with great water release due to the new flatter tail shape on the underside of the board. Perfect for those first few flights and learning how to gybe and progress. Nice longer foil tracks this year for a better pairing with many different foil brands.

 

1240 HA foil:

Fast, good for experts who can gybe. Smooth ride and lift. Stable when riding, doesn’t shake and continues gliding even if momentum of wind or swell isn’t consistent.

1840 HA foil:

Slower but easy to gybe, can take manoeuvres slower and with more thought so great for learning. No rushing as can continue up on the foil even though speed slows down as has more lift. Perfect for beginner/ intermediate.

1250 Ultra Jet foil:

Same speed as HA but easier to gybe on than high aspect. Still smooth and decent glide.

1450 Ultra Jet foil:

Great glide and stability under the board. Easy to lift onto foil and remains fast and comfortable when gybing. Great for those progressing and intermediate riders.

Carbon masts compared to Alu:

Less torsion (movement along the mast from foil plan to board), more connected feel to the whole foil in the water and manoeuvres crisper and more responsive.

 

The new wings coming out by Naish for 2025 are yet to be released, but we can tell you already they are very exciting products and going to be a great hit – we can’t wait for you all to try these new products!

 

If interested in a demo, please get in touch as we will be happy to sort!