thindigital1600949562

Well hello to everybody, Im new to the site and the sport so this review is of my first proper powerkite; HQ's Rush 200 Firstly, about me, Im a Yorkshiremanin Stoke on Trent, 32, 6'2 13st I was bitten by the kiting bug after taking a Lidl (!) 80cm foil to Cornwall and flying it in 30mph gusting winds, watching the 'big boys' and starting to get the weird feeling that I wanted to be dragged about like them. After talking about, reading about and thoroughly boring my wife about kites I took the plunge and phoned Brian at www.blueskyleisure.com. I had £55 to spend and he advised the Rush 200 as a good, safe trainer kite. I said "its pink, Im from Yorkshire mate I dont know about this!" he assured me it was red so I placed my order. I limited myself to one pestering phone call and very soon the kite arrived! To my novice eyes the initial package looked great - great big asymetrical rucksack with a huge zip. I know its not about the bag but to a me this was a nice addition. Details like this is what I would expect from a leading kite brand. The kite is stowed rolled around the control bar. The kite and bridle appeared of sound quality and all the stitching seemed tough looking. The kite and bar had a general feeling of being 'engineered' (something I appreciate from mountain biking). The kite comes ready to fly, lines attached are dyneema prestretched (100kg I think). Now, I had read all the safety guides at this excellent site, start in low winds , work your way in etc. A storm was moving in. Wind speeds were gusting in excess of 25mph Out I went My first flight was in a relatively shield field with trees approx. 200m behind me. I un furled the kite, lay it down with trailing edge folded and walked back to my stake. A small tug and straight up through the zone to the zenith. The bar felt incredibly solid - a great feeling to have so much power from a 'trainer' kite. I took the kite down and into the zone, doing figure 8's like I practiced with my tiny foil. Great pull, no scudding even in the really strong gusts - this may be me lacking technique as it took me for quite a few short 'sprints' I would say I manged full control of the kite, the flight was predictable with the pull increasing smoothly through the window. Subsequent flights in more reasonable conditions have shown the flight window to be wide and overall performance of the kite in flight to be predictable and relatively agile. Overall, A great kite for beginners. However. As my only kite ( for the foreseeable future) it has been somewhat underpowered on subsequent flights in lighter winds. Today I took out a mate and her 13 year old daughter out (I rant to all who will listen about kites, wind etc) - and she had immense fun with some scuddng in light 7mph winds. I had a great day too but I miss the BIG PULL. Conclusions A great value solidly built kite which has withstood many crashes already at high speed on the leading edge. A powerful kite for young teenagers in 5mph+ wind and grownups on windy days. No lift whatsoever so no danger of the kids floating away. It helped that i already knew how to fly 2 line kites (deltas) I even had my 4 year old son Kaneda hanging off the bar today while I was flying ( I had a VERY tight grip) I could really do with some advice on my next kite purchase, £100 3+m kite with some lift ( i want to jump !) Im thinking Beamer II 3.6 .... cheers for reading and hope this has helped someone Steve thanks to the people who have helped me get into power kiting - the guy at Apedale who gave me a go with his 'peter lynn 3m trainer?' < awesome - Racekites forums and reviews - Midlands Kite Flyers for doing a great festival at Apedale and the kitesurfers in Cornwall ripping about in 25mph winds like they were on jetskis! wicked stuff By : thindigital