Capita Navigator 2024 Written Review Review by The Good Ride

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Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews and this is our unfiltered opinion. We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

A Breakdown Of How It Rides And Who Its For

How The Capita Navigator Review Happened:

Borrowed this for an extended demo and sent it back.

How it was Tested

Size: 161 & 164
Days: 10+
Conditions: Some powder and some groomers.  Drift Boards & Union Rovers
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-190lbs), Davey (Size 12, 240lbs, 6’4”)
Boots: Burton Kendo, Burton Ion, Ride Fuse, Burton Tourist
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Force
Redunancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Jones Mtn Surf Anorak, Jones Shralpinist Stretch Jacket, Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Tusk Jacket, Volcom Guide Jacket, Burton Gore-Tex 3L Treeline Jacket, Jones Peak Bagger Jacket. Burton AK Helitak Gore-Tex Jacket
Pant: Jones Mountain Surf Bib, Jones Shralpinist Stretch Bib,  Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant, Burton AK Gore-Tex 2L Swash Pant, Burton Gore-Tex Ballast Pant
Helmet: Smith Maze
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove, Drop Tahoma Mitt,

Similar Boards (but not the same): Yes Pick Your Line, YES PYL Uninc, Burton Flight Attendant, Jones Flagship, Rossignol XV, Lib Tech BRD, Weston Backwoods, Season Nexus, Cardiff Bonsai, Prior Spearhead, Burton Cartographer, Burton Instigator, Never Summer Hammer, Cardiff Powgoda, Jones Mind Expander,

James’s Set Up on the 161: 21.5” Wide. Sance Angles +18/-3, +18/+3, in powder and set as far back as I could +18/-9, on groomers and close to reference stance.
Davey’s Set Up: 23” Wide. Sance Angles +21/+3, Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Most days I compared it to the Mega Death and Kazu with the same boots and bindings but also compared to other boards as well.

Approximate Weight

The Capita Navigator felt pretty light for it’s length. (We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores there is no consistency in a boards weight)

Sizing

So the 164 fett pretty good for Davey with his reduced footprint Burton Ion 12’s but he likes his boards to be small.

The 158 I tried in the past fit my boots really well but I felt a little heavy for it. Mainly because it was a light poppy board and they just don’t work well with my boot size to weight ratio. I chose the 161 this year and it worked better but sizing up didn’t totally compensate for its lighter poppy nature. I was surprised that I could turn the 161’s wider width as easy as I could. It wasn’t ideal but it was doable for sure.

Here are some ideal US boot sizes for the Capita Navigator. You can of course go bigger or smaller depending on your riding style and boot’s footprint, but these work best for not turning the board slower than it should be and not having the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag.
147: 6-7
151: 7-8
155: 8-9
158: 9-10
161: 9.5-10.5
164: 10.5-11.5
167: 11-12

Due to the Capita Navigator’s poppy nature I would stay on the lower to middle end of the Brands recommended weight ranges. If it comes down to boot size or weight, I would make sure it fits your boot but you can go a little wider with this ride to better match your weight and still be able to turn it ok.

Shape/Camber/On Snow Feel/Ability Level

The Capita Navigator has a tapered and directional shape but with a more centered stance on board.

Then you throw in the new camber profile that is slightly directional but very similar to what the Mercury and Mega Mercury have. There is a slightly set back camber between the inserts going to rocker after. So you now have a good bit of rocker before the tail as well as the nose. Before it was a lot of rocker before the nose, then camber to well past the back foot and then a little flat to rocker right before the tail.

This shape and camber profile makes the Capita Navigator feel very forgiving and not as tapered as you would think. It isn’t very set back on board either so you don’t get as much a washy feel out of the tail as you do with many similar boards that have 12mm of taper. Just about any ability level can ride this. It tracks well one footing or flat basing and skids a turn easy too.

Flex Personality

The Capita Navigator has a very easy flex to it for a tapered directional ride. It feels more like a mountain freestyle twin than a tapered directional freeride board. The flex personality is a great balance of being flexy and rubbery but still very poppy. Especially for not having a lot of camber. The extra rocker before the nose makes the buttering feel a lot more symmetrical than before when it was much easier on the nose than the tail.

There is a lot of lively pop on an ollie. It’s no Mega Death but about on par with the Mercury and other similar hybrid camber boards in their line.

Uneven Terrain

This rubbery/poppy flex does pretty well on hard micro bumpy snow but it isn’t perfect by any means at absorbing vibrations. In soft thick messy uneven snow I found this a little too bucky for my taste. Even going up from a 158 to a 161 didn’t help much. Thick messy snow seems to be Capita’s Achilles heel these days with most of their boards.

Edge Hold

Even without their death grip bumps in the middle the Capita Navigator the edge hold was competent. I’d give it a 3-3.5 out of 5 and it held well enough in some hard patches I encountered.

Speed/Base Glide

Not a bomber but competent enough for a mellow straight line or two.

It’s not the fastest base in the line but bases of Capita’s line are ever improving and I like how well the Capita Navigator glided. It’s no Megadeath but man it keeps its speed well. I like that it has a little less structure than some boards in their line.

Turning Experience/Carving

Turn initiation is pretty fast and I like how easy it was for me to turn this 161 with size 9 boots. If I had size 10 ish boots this would turn super fast. When I got it on edge the turning experience was a little on the turny side of balanced. This is very good for those that like to make all kinds of radius turns but there wasn’t a ton of spring out of them with the mellower camber. Still, it wasn’t bad but just not as dynamic as many similar boards with full camber.

Powder

Davey and I both got it in a decent amount of powder this time around. It is very far from floating like many of it’s freeride peeers but it floats better than all the other non-Spring Break Capita Boards.

With a 22.75” stance width on you can get 2.875” back from center of board. It’s not bad for an all mountain board but you don’t get the set back on board most Freeride boards have but you do get a good bit of rocker. So this isn’t bad vs. most Capita boards but its still more for those that like a more centered stance ride in powder and want to ride switch more than most on a tapered directional board. Many freeride boards like this from other companies are closer to -3.5” back.

Switch

Very doable switch and I was surprised at how well it rode switch.

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