We’ll admit it, we ‘Googled’ your name to see what kiteboarders all over the world thought of your designs. The verdict: Riders love them! But we already knew that; so tell us how you got started in the business of shaping kiteboards?

My “business” shaping Twintips started in 2001. Before that, since 1983 I shaped more than 3000 windsurf boards under the label DYNAMIT. Until 2000 I was an enthusiastic windsurfer. Then in 2001, after watching Mark Shinn my son Michael (who was currently competing in the PKRA), told me that “windsurfing is done only by old people!” He was right, as for a 15 year old guy every adult over 30 is old… So I began shaping kiteboards.

After shaping a lot of kiteboards for family and friends, in 2008 I had the opportunity to work at Atomic (a famous Austrian Ski brand) and to learn a lot about industrialization. There’s a huge difference between shaping boards in a “garage” and managing a project from zero to an industrial produced serial board! At Atomic and later Elan (another Austrian Ski and Snowboard manufacturer) I was able to help realize of a lot of shapes for Best, JN, F-One, Core, Blade, Wainman and Flexifoil. Since 2012, I’ve chosen to work exclusively for Best Kiteboarding, and am responsible for shapes, product management and industrial realization of twintips and accessories there.

Your designs are legendary for being simple, with incredibly efficient and clean lines. Right now, kiteboarding companies are adding all kinds of junk to their boards, like quadro-hexa-channels, dimples on fins and weird cut-outs. Why have you decided to continue making Best Kiteboards with such a minimalist style?

It’s obvious – bottoms with less concaves and channels create less drag. At the moment in kiteboarding we have a lot of influences from other sports – for example, wakeboarding! Younger riders are imitating the style and tricks from wakeboarding, and these guys need a lot of drag and control to bring tension to the lines, or to ride finless on obstacles. But, a kite creates “limited” power. We have to manage the kite and don’t have a 500HP boat at the end of the lines so there is always a compromise between drag and efficiency for kiteboards. Some target groups don’t have the abilities or don’t like to handle an overpowered kite all the time, so for them we make a more efficient board (like the Spark Plug). That’s one of the reasons that some of Best boards have less channels, some more…

All boards are tested and compared as often as possible – we also test them together with boards from other brands! I have the benefit that I have nearly all target groups in my family (8 kiteboarders!) – from freeriders up to PKRA level! We go kiteboarding very often together, all over the world and that means: I get a clear feedback in very short time!

Hypothetical situation, you’re asked to design a brand new board (from scratch) for an intermediate rider. What goes through your mind when you’re shaping the first prototype?

Easy!!! Easy to use. Easy to control. Easy to jump (that’s important) as “flying” is a dream of mankind. Easy to carve and switch. Easy to go upwind and to come back at the starting point. My target is to see a smile in riders face after using a board!!

Most customers are not professionals! They work the whole week to earn money and for sure they don’t want to struggle with gear on the weekend! So when a board is easy to ride, you can concentrate more on harder edging and perfect steering of your kite. That creates more speed, higher jumps, more air, more fun, more chicks!

When it comes to testing new kiteboarding equipment, we feel that there’s a bit of a placebo effect. Tell someone testing a board that it is the ‘new and improved’ version, 9 times out of 10 they’ll agree with us. Even if it’s the exact same! How do you prevent this from happening during testing?

That’s an experience you will find every time, in all target groups and riding levels. For example, when I give prototypes to our competition riders, I always give them the shape from last year hidden beneath new graphics too, but don’t tell them this fact. 80% of the time, the best board is last years model!

It’s my goal to do a lot of improvements, but also to take care, that every version has some real improvements and benefits for the customer! No gimmicks! Sometimes improvements are small, sometimes big, but it’s important that’s it is a true benefit and that it goes in the right direction!

Graphics play a big role in what board a customer chooses, so once you’ve finished a prototype, how do you go about choosing the right graphic for each board?

We have some very experienced graphic guys here at Best and I trust their taste! The problem we find, is that Best is a global brand and there’s different tastes in different countries! A German-guy or an US-guy has a different taste compared to a Spanish or Italian rider (in Italy they wear Speedos! ;-). But I look at every board in terms of a global product! Sometimes my job is not easy…

For the past couple of years, the Best kiteboards have all been unique in their design, but continued to stay true to the ‘heritage’ of their former model. Is it important to you as a designer to keep certain aspects of your designs the same?

When you read an article about Kaizen philosophy you will see, that in many industries often it’s usual to do development in small steps. I try to improve a shape every year, but when you take an Armada you have to feel the roots and after a ride you should be able to say: yes – it’s an Armada. That creates trust and value preservation.

Looking to the future, where do you see kiteboard shapes developing? Are the new materials on the market going to ‘revolutionize’ the industry?

A lot of exciting stuff is in Best pipeline!

Gear should follow what riders want, and the demand is very different all around the world! That brought the idea: let’s do something adaptable. What would give a customer the possibility to adapt his or her gear to their demands, and to suit the conditions on the day!

Boards with less rocker get riding early, with good upwind performance. But they’re not easy to control when riding fast and don’t carve as well. On a high-rockered shape it’s complete opposite! A soft board has a lot of comfort but often less performance than a stiffer shape. Imagine a tool, which gives a rider the possibility to have all these details and criteria’s in one board! This is going to be a game changer.

Best have developed such a tool: the brand new RFA (Rocker Flex Adjuster)! It gives a rider the possibility to change and adapt rocker and flex, the most important board parameter. Best of all, they can do it on the fly during riding! And it’s no gimmick! Everybody can feel it immediately. From cruiser up to PKRA level!

This tool will be released soon – so stay tuned on www.bestkiteboarding.com!

Speaking of new developments in 2015, this year we see the all-new board called ‘Admiral’ to the line-up. What’s it all about and what kind of kiteboarder have you designed it for?

Admiral is a brand new shape I’m very proud of! It was not easy to realize! It took more than 20 prototypes to get right, and a lot of sleepless nights. It’s designed for riders in higher wind and should have a lot of comfort in choppy conditions.

Admiral is shaped like a surfboard or windsurfing board with a V and two concaves from center to almost the tip. The system is similar to an offshore boat: the V softens the chop and makes the board easy to carve! An additional feature on Admiral is the double edge - it’s a concave edge. This rail shape creates insane upwind performance, gives the board a smoother ride and reduces spray significantly.

Also we packed a lot of high tech material into the 2015 Best Admiral. Admiral has a full CBC (Carbon Basalt Compound) layup on both top and bottom! That means: in this board you find no fiberglass!! Carbon delivers the desired strength and pop, Basalt adds damping and insane comfort to Admiral.

For those who haven’t heard of Basalt Fiber, can you explain what it is, and why it’s so nice to use in kiteboards?

Basalt Fiber is made from volcanic rocks! It’s a fully natural material and has some incredible benefits! It was developed by Russian space engineers for their MIR space station program. Yes – these guys built rockets and space stations from this stuff and brought them to orbit! The Basalt in kiteboards helps to dampen vibrations caused by choppy water, which is why we used it in boards like the Admiral and Armada.

If a kiteboarder is looking at the Best range of kiteboards, there’s seven to choose from. How so they all compare to each other?

Allow me to compare the Best range of twintips in terms of cars, but please don’t take it too seriously

Armada is the Audi A4 – classy, sporty and functional.
Spin is like a Mazda MX5 – cheap, but fun!
Spark is the VW Golf – versatile and great value.
Breeze is the Range Rover – Elegant and classy.
Procreator is Porsche 911 – Fast and exciting.
Profanity is BMW X5 – Tough, but secretly a weapon!
Admiral for sure is the Rolls Royce – For the rider who wants nothing but the BEST.

And before we go, what gear do you choose when you’ve got time to ride for yourself?

Always one of the latest prototypes! Why? These prototypes are one year ahead! This is always exciting and that’s why I love my job. For kites, at the moment my favorites are the Best TS and Best GP.

So there you have it! What goes into designing a kiteboard from Best, from one of the most legendary board shapers in the industry.

Thanks to Franz for the insight, and if you have any questions simply post them on the Best Kiteboarding Australia Facebook Page.