F-One Shadow 7M

F-One Shadow 7.0: (AKA STW 700 & STW 500)

This kite is advertised as a water relaunchable ram air foil kite for primary use as an entry level kitesurfing kite, & i've seen evidence that it was also used be kiteboarding schools. Even though this kite was produced nearly 6 years ago, I still have seen a number of them listed for sale on the web I thought someone might be interested in my experiences as a result of owning it.

I bought it off the internet about a year ago for $150 US, with the idea that it would be fun to play with on the snow and water since the price was right for a 7.0m kite.

Construction / Set-up :
The kite came in a pretty small backpack, so you need to fold the kite down well to get it to fit inside the bag. The kite is set up as a 3 line kite and is controlled with a bar in a 3 line configuration. (Two brake lines are connected to the center of the bar, with another line leading off the brake line to a wrist leash to kill the kite as needed.)

The bridle system on the kite consists of (4) rows of bridles equally spaced from the leading edge to the trailing edge on the underside of the kite. The kite's only similarity to the flysurfer kites is the fact that it is a closed cell foil with the entire leading edge sewn closed with the exception of (1) large intake located in the center of the leading edge. This intake is covered with a small mesh screen to keep sand and debris out, and just above it is a velcro opening used for deflation. Behind the mesh air intake is a "sock" of cloth that is designed to collapse & close the air intake when the kite is crashed in the water. This is to maintain the internal pressure, which allows the kite to then be reverse launched. Rigging is pretty easy, and is exacly the same as rigging any other 4 line kite for use with a bar in a three line configuration. Launching: This is where it gets interesting- Because it's a closed cell foil, you need to preinflate the kite in order for it to take it's proper shape prior to flight by holding all 8 bridles (4 attachment points for each half of the kite) pull it up in the air while shaking it back and fourth to let air in the various cells of the kite frim the middle to the ends.

This generally takes about 5 minutes depending on wind strength. Once the kite is inflated fully (and it does have to be well inflated for the wing to have enough shape to launch) you need to run back to the bar and launch the kite before it looses too much air. (In which case you need to start the inflation process all over.) I've found the kite cannot be lanuched well from anywhere except directly down wind. It's generally REALLY SLUGGISH until the kite gains altitude, and wind speed forces air deep into the far outer edges giving it a more rigid profile.

Flying :
Once airborne, the kite is fairly slow, so manuvers need to be deliberate, and to even when the kite is fully inflated is generally pretty unresposive. If you are unfortunate enough to crash it in the water you need to imediately release the tension on the bar to prevent the kite from filling up with water.

Overall thoughts : I've seen other posts on the internet (none after 1999) from people who have had a much better experience with this thing than I have, but I've been flying foils for 3 years now, and still cannot seem to get the kite lines trimmed to get much in the way of performance out of it. To be perfectly honest, this kite flies like a big pig in the sky, and has left me more fustrated than pleased.

I have tried countless times (usually after i've forgotten how miserable my last outing with it was) to fine tune the bridle & trim, but have not had much success. Not long after buying this kite I bought a flexifoil blade and now this one is left to gather dust. I don't even want to sell it for fear that I would ruin someone's interest in this fantastic sport.

Here are some interesting links I have found on the kite courtesy of "xtremebigair": http://xtremebigair.com/kitesurfing/foneSTWsetup.htm http://www.xtremebigair.com/kitesurfing/ListProductReviewsKS.cfm?Product_ID=54

Here is an online users manual: http://xtremebigair.com/kitesurfing/FOneSTWManual.htm

Here's the (really old) F-One website: http://www.f-one-usa.com/

If anyone can share their experiences with the trim set-up that works for them, I would be curious to hear from you. Please post them as a comment to this review.

By : Nums