redrocks

I've been looking for a while for a replacement for my very first kite - a 4m skytiger. its had so much use that the fabric is wearing thin, some of the stitching coming undone etc etc. A few week's ago, Scud gave me a go on his 4m Brooza on Hoylake beach and i thought - this is just what i've been looking for. A few hints to my long-suffering wife and guess what turned up for my 50th birthday present.... Mine came kite only courtesy of Andy at prokites and the first thing that struck me was how small the package was. it comes in a simple ripstop bag with straps that mean you could wear it as a (not hugely comfortable) type of rucksack. Material is light and crisp with stitching / bridle of high quality. And if you like the personal touch, there's even the name of the person who stitched it. On the sand, attaching lines to it was a doddle - although the thinness of the brake lines on the bridle surprised me. Initial set up on a 30m line set that i'd been using on another kite needed a couple of adjustments - had to shorten main leaders by a good 4-5 inches in order to get the brakes off! But once this was done, launch was easy in about a 15kt wind. Kite takes a little while to fill - there are very few open cells (part of the reason for the stability mentioned below) - and it needs a little work to get to the zenith. Once there, it sat pretty well. In the buggy it was everything i'd been used to and then loads more. Skytiger type stability - its almost imporssible to make this kite fall out of the sky and when it does luff it still keeps its shape and recovery is usually possible. But, it was the upwind ability that impressed most. OK probably not as good as a racekite - i couldn't hold the same line against its higher aspect brother, the Century - but for what i like best - blatting across an empty beach, the combination of stability and upwind is brilliant. Yesterday i flew it again, against Offshore flying Oxy Pros and Butanes. Size for size, its almost as fast as these, keeps as good an upwind line and is way more stable, particularly in gusts. In the buggy, you can just plonk it in the powerzone, use a bit of brake to keep it there or work the kite quite hard if you prefer - in which case you'll get a bit more speed (i got up to 36mph in a 20kt wind). There's not very much lift, so no danger of being OBE'd by a sudden gust. Line length makes a real difference. On 30m lines its graceful and smooth but still quick to turn. On 20m lines it became a different beast - really responsive to even the slightest input - almost twitchy, but still hugely stable. Its not very well behaved on the ground - using just the handle loops to secure it keeps too much brake on and the wind tends to get under it and make it flutter. A second stake to put slight tension into the power lines sorts this out though. If you buy one, you'll think its good value for money. if like me you get it as a present, then its a great kits and fantastic value! By : redrocks

So, after 18 months or so of a Skytiger 40 as a buggy engine, it was time for a bigger beast for those low wind days... Didn't want something too expensive and after spiralling around all web-sites i could find (getting more and more confused )decided that a special offer on a 7.0 Beamer was the answer. Yes I'd read all the reviews about it being a bit of a pig to fly, that the bridle needed adjustment before you started, that the bag was no good... but in the end money (or saving it) talks. Delivered to the office (along with a 2.5m Bullet, but that's another story), it got one or two people intrigued about why being dragged down a beach was so much fun - (they'll learn one day). DAY 1 Out of the delivery wrapping it looked just like i expected: scabby bag with low quality straps and bindings; but hey, why does the bag matter? Then saw the handles - which do matter! A few days later, on the beach the wind was just right. Unpacked, attached the lines to the handles - which I'd padded with 9" lengths of heating pipe insulation foam - stood back, tugged gently, watched it fly straight up to and over the zenith and then - TWANG - the power line whipped back into my face. Tangled bundle of washing drifted slowly down... Thinking the knot holding the line at the end of the bridle must have been stripped, i reknotted it (double), put another knot on the other side just in case, relaunched, took it to the edge of the wind window where it promptly luffed. Tangled bundle of washing drifted slowly down... Relaunched and could see that if kept well away from the edge of the wind window there was a lot of grunt there. This had some potential but wasn't going to give it up easily. Turns were slow and needed lots of brake, but even in very low wind this would pull me and buggy. Sitting in the buggy, straightline was fine, but any turn lead immediately to a luff and... Tangled bundle of washing drifted slowly down... In and out of buggy, launch, luff, relaunch, trundle, luff etc etc until - TWANG - the power line whipped back into my face again and... Tangled bundle of washing drifted slowly down... AAAAaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! and pack up in disgust. DAY 2 Attached new cord at end of the bridle - it wasn't that the knot was being stripped - the whole cord was breaking! Then made the C+D line adjustment in the hope of solving the luffing problem took it back out and... ...it wouldn't even stay off the ground - obviously it wasn't one of those ones with the duff length bridles. Took those bridle knots out and shortened the brake lines and then things began to come together and as the wind picked up the kite really started to come into its own. Immense long and smooth power including right at the edge of the wind window, no overflying, no luffing, low lift; all in all a totally different kite to the previous day. Summary: Stick with it. Perseverance pays. Build quality may not be the same as on a £500 kite; the bridle shouldn't have broken the way it did, the supplied handles wouldn't be able to handle the full power of the kite unmodified (and the bag buckle has already broken) But, with the right set up, on short brake lines, these are a terrific buggy engine and fantastic value for money. By : redrocks