Flysurfer Pulse 10M

I have been one of the lucky ones to get a 10m Pulse Proto to play with.

14 Days in Barbados with the new Pulse. Great!!!

I also took a 7m and 10m Speed but I can say straight away that the Speeds stayed in their bags apart from a couple of times.

The conditions where between 12-28knots crosshore winds with waves ranging from 1-2.5m on the faces.

In 14 days I was out every day. Top score!!!

I have used the Speeds for most of the 2005 season and really, really like them. As the conditions where I sail are usually flat water there is no better kite for me.

Barbados is a different matter though. Having wave-riding conditions every day changes your perception of things and the Speeds, though still great had to give way to the Pulse.

One thing that impressed me with the Pulse was that it had fairly good bottom end. Not as much as a 10m Speed but enough to see me through days where people where out on 15-16m LEIs and 12m Crossbows.

The Pulses depower range was massive and the kite allowed me to stay out when other riders where happily shredding on 9m tubes.

This meant that the 7m Speed didn't get out of its bag.

The good depowerability also gives the kite a great upwind performance as it flies very far forward in the wind window.

The other nice surprise was the Pulses jumping potential. OK, from flat water you will need to be a little more powered to get the same height and float as on the Speeds but the Pulse really impressed me, giving me up to 6.5sec. hangtime and decent height when lit. I would say that it will easily do for most.

Also unhooked the Pulse rode better than any previous Flysurfer. It had good pop and little backstall tendencies.

Turning Speed was similar to the Speeds but the turning radius was tighter thanks to the lower Aspect ratio.

The Bar feedback was also nicer and the bar pressure remained fairly constant no matter how much I depowered the kite. This is one thing that allowed me to ride the kite quite high up in its windrange. I could just pull in more on the depower-strap without the backlines going slack.

The chickenloop-rope is longer than on the Speeds but not too long. I had to go full stretch when sheeting out but I could have also pulled in more pre-depower on the trimmer and thus ride comfortable with slightly bent arms. The way it came, was perfect anyway.

The bar-pressure is perfect in my books.

This kite feels very similar to a bow kite but it hasn't got the mega bar-pressure of a Crossbow and also gets away with less travel than the Novas, Sonics etc.

The whole kite just felt great.

Relaunching put a big smile on my face and disbelief in the eyes of fellow tubekiters. I would say that the kite never stayed down for more than 10 seconds. Sometimes it relaunched before I came up from beneath the waves.

This gave me buckets of confidence to go for it. Even when the kite got washed by a wave it took on zero water and came up in seconds. This is definitely the best relaunching kite ever made.

At the same time I saw one Crossbow Kiter a day having to swim back when the Crossbow inverted. This happened every day without failure. My Pulse never ever inverted or tangled!!!

Launching on the beach was a doddle. Sand on one wingtip, a bit of pre-inflation and of you go.

Thanks to its big de-powerability the launching is even safer now.

I used the Pulse with a handlepass to chickenloop leash set-up and never had any problems with this. The kite depowers so much that it hardly pulls you when you let go of the bar.

On the beach I sometimes hooked the leash onto the re-ride system on one of the steering lines. This was just in case something unforeseen would happen and I needed to kill the kites power totally. As it happened I never used it. The Pulses stability was so good that even when launching behind a hotel it stayed up when other kites dropped like flies.

So after having used the 10m Pulse almost every day for 2 weeks in perfect conditions I can really, really recommend it.

For beginners this will be the easiest to learn with kite on the market. The Pulses depower range, stability, bar-feedback and relaunchability will give any newbie lots and lots of confidence and will make learning to kitesurf very safe and easy.

For all of us who are passed the learning stage and are looking to add the Pulse to their quiver I would say the following.

The Pulse will not disappoint, no matter how good a rider you are. If the water is super flat and you like to go fast, big and floaty then the Speeds will remain the ticket but if you want to ride unhooked, try handlepasses, shred waves or ride in difficult conditions the Pulse is better.

It is super easy to fly and has great potential to really rip. I will definitely have a 10m and a 7m myself and hopefully get those aerial handlepasses cracked this year.

By : just do it