Eolo Radsail 1.8M

One evening while trawling through Ebay i accidentally came across power kites and thought, looks like it could be a laugh, so with money burning a hole in my paypal account, i hit the buy it now button for a Radsail 1.8 for £54.99 (not the cheapest around now I've looked about a bit) the kite came the next day or should i say kites, it also comes with the smart little Radsail 1.45. So after taking the 1.8 out of it's packaging and having a look at all the gear, i knew this kit was a far cry from taking my 4 year old daughter out with our tiny stunt kite which had a pic of a eagle and a also had a bright yellow tale, although i was well pleased, i was quite freaked out by all the bits of string and stuff (only joking, i know their really called bridles or something).

A few weeks passed with the kite up in the spare bedroom and everyday at work i thought i must try to get my new gear out. One Sunday afternoon when my other half had gone off to do her hobby, which is going to the local stables to throw hard earned cash at her horse (no bitterness there honest, apart from having the cheek to have a whinge at me for spending £55 on a kite which is the same as two weeks horse stabling) anyway i decided to give it a go, but when i went outside the wind was only blowing about 4-6 mph, but i thought lets still give it a chance. i grabbed a coat, car keys, kite, daughter, and off we went.

I live in Wiltshire in the middle of Pewsey Vale so i thought the top of Pewsey downs sounded good. when we got up there the sky was blue and the wind was about 14-18 mph. first i got out the 1.45 which was easy to connect the lines and straps. my 4 year old daughter helped with the take off which was easy and after half an hour of flying the 1.45, i felt very confident where the area of power was and how far it could be taken in all directions. i took to slamming it into the ground a few times but not even a minute later it was up again. after an hour i landed it in my own fashion, i packed it away. the only problem with my 1.45 was one control line was longer than the other, easily rectified though.

Out came the 1.8, i was excited, my daughter was bored and wanted to go home, but i had to be done. with both control lines and straps so easily connected, the kite looked great just laided out on the ground. I held the controls as squirt (my daughter) held the kite up, i pulled on the lines and the kite just flipped 180 degrees. this happened about 5 times so being a bit short fused and slightly stupid, i got squirt to hold the lines and i held the kite, up it went as i stared at this spectacular site and all i heard was daddy daddy daddy!!! as my daughter shot across the top of the hill at about 7 knots. i just got to her just as the straps were leaving her finger tips. i complemented squirt on her excellent technique and control. i flew the 1.8 for about 25 mins and totally got the Radsail bug, with the smooth and responsive control, but mostly the power of the pull for such a small area, it felt great to lean back and feel the power.

Bearing in mind i've only ventured out once, i think the 1.45 great value for money and would be excellent fun in high wind. The 1.8 is brilliant fun and can't wait for the weekend.

Maybe i'm trying to run before i can walk but with mountain biking, sailing single handed Olympic class yachts and windsurfing as past hobbies i like a challenge so in a few months i want to buy a bigger 4 line Radsail, i want to experience scudding or even getting some air and may get a board later on what size shall i get 3m or pro 2 4m cosidering i'm 30 years old and about 11 stone Any suggestions on a size would be great ??

P.S i only brought the kite for recreation but want to experience what powerkiting can do.

Cheers Matt (squirty4124)

By : squirty4124