The Capita Aeronaut is a directional, cambered, slightly tapered board – which is all the things I like in a snowboard. This is a new board for the 23/24 season, and it is designed to be the only board you would need for riding everywhere in the resort.
How the Aeronaut Rides
Board size: 157cm
Boots: Vans Infuse 9.5
Bindings: Burton Cartel X and Bent Metal Logic
I am 6 foot tall and weigh 155lbs – or 183cm tall and 70kg.
Camber Profile
The Alpine V3 profile is basically a traditional camber profile. There are tiny flat sections at the contact points, but it has the feel of a full camber board. The three main parts benefits you get from a cambered board are stability, good edge hold and pop.
Flex and Pop
Although it isn’t super easy to press or flex the board, it isn’t an overly stiff board. Capita rate this as having a 6/10 flex, which seems pretty accurate to me. It has a directional flex, which means that the nose flexes differently to the tail. A small amount of effort to ollie the board gives a good result, and if you try for a big ollie, even off a small bump, you can get quite a lot of air.
Edge Hold
The camber profile, and medium to medium stiff flex give the Capita Aeronaut the predictable and strong edge hold that you would expect from a traditional cambered board.
Normally, the tradeoff for strong edge hold is a less forgiving ride, but for some reason the board never felt overly catchy. I was able to ride with a fairly messy style and it didn’t feel like it was going to surprise me.
Turns
It isn’t super narrow, but overall the board does have narrower waist width. The 157cm model that I was riding had a waist width of 253mm. The waist width, combined with the progressive sidecut (a sidecut that gets tighter/smaller towards the tail of the board) and 5mm of taper mean that turns feel very quick.
They are smooth and easy to start a turn, and feel strong the whole way through.
Float
I wasn’t able to ride the Aeronaut in any proper deep snow, so I can’t comment on how it would ride – though the directional shape, setback and taper are definitely things you would want in powder.
Speed
It is hard to keep track of the names that Capita put on their boards, but in general as the price of the board goes up, the base gets faster. The Aeronaut I was riding had been freshly waxed, and it was very fast.
It wasn’t just quick in one particular set of conditions, I rode it in the rain, in fresh heavy snow, icy mornings and slush and sugar.
It felt like it was constantly trying to accelerate – the second you stop making quick turns it was almost like it is pulling you quickly down the hill. Flat sections of cat tracks meant that I had to concentrate avoiding other people, just because I was moving quickly compared to everyone else.
Switch
Although a directional tapered board is never going to be great riding switch, this wasn’t terrible. You aren’t going to spend ages riding a board like this switch anyway, but it is good enough to get by.
Overall
The Capita Aeronaut is a fun board, and it could easily be a one board quiver. It rides just like it is described – it is very fast, quick to turn and poppy.
If you are looking for a board with a more classic set of features, camber, taper, directional but with a light weight, this is. a good choice.
Features of the Capita Aeronaut 2024
Directional Shape
A longer nose than tail, with a little bit of taper as well. There is a 0.8″ of setback on the stance.
Progressive Sidecut
A mix of at least two different radii that are mixed together to get a balance of smooth starts to turns, with a strong or more powerful exit to the turns.
Alpine V3
Basically a full camber profile, with the tiniest little flat sections at the contact points of the board.
Panda Hover Core
The regular Hover Core is used on a couple of boards that I have owned, the Mercury and The Outsiders. It is a simple and mix of poplar and paulownia wood that is lightweight but strong. The Panda version is used on the Aeronaut and the Kazu, and the difference is that it has bamboo rods.
Amplitex V-Tech Amplified
This is a natural flax fiber mixed with carbon strands, and is added to keep the board reactive with the carbon, but still damp with the flax. This is found on just a few of their higher end boards.
Holysheet Tri/Bi Fiberglass
This version of construction is used on the majority of Capita boards, and is a mix of two directions (biaxial) on the bottom of the core, and three directions (triaxial) on the top of the core.
Magic Bean Resin
60% renewable, this resin is made to be strong and durable, which allows the cores to be thinner.
Hyperdrive ADV Base
Capita seem to change the names of their bases every season, so it can be hard to keep track, but this is a fast sintered base.
Silkscreen Base
360 Degree HRC48 Steel Edges
Full ABS1000 Sidealls
Stainless Steel 4×2 Inserts
Sizes available:
- 153cm
- 155cm
- 157cm
- 159cm
- 161cm
Capita Aeronaut Technical Specs
| Length (cm) | Effective Edge (mm) | Setback (in) | Waist Width (mm) | Sidecut (m) | Taper (mm) | Suggested Weight (lbs / kg) |
| 153 | 1200 | 0.8 | 247 | 8.3 / 7.3 | 5 | 115-175 / 52-79 |
| 155 | 1215 | 0.8 | 250 | 8.4 / 7.4 | 5 | 125-185 / 56-83 |
| 157 | 1230 | 0.8 | 253 | 8.5 / 7.5 | 5 | 135-195 / 61-88 |
| 159 | 1245 | 0.8 | 256 | 8.6 / 7.6 | 5 | 145-205 / 65-92 |
| 161 | 1260 | 0.8 | 259 | 8.7 / 7.7 | 5 | 160-220 / 72-99 |
Great review! Just wondering how does this compare to the Korua Otto in terms of stiffness and rideability?
Looking for something I can use as a daily.
Thanks! It is much much lighter than the Otto – a big plus for me. The Otto felt stiffer in general, but to ride it takes a bit more effort, or maybe it is that you have to be more deliberate with each turn to get the most out of it.
The Aeronaut is very quick and easy to turn, and all the performance is there, you just don’t have to try so hard to get a lot out of it if you don’t want to. It is a very easy choice as a daily board, for my riding at least.
Great review!
How does it ride comparing to a MegaMerc?
Thanks!
The Aeronaut does turn better than the Mega Mercury, but that is pretty expected with the directional/tapered shape. I would think of the Aeronaut as a nice shaped, light and expensive board, with the Mega Merc being a very light, fast but plain/regular shaped board – handy if you want to ride a lot of switch.