Peter Lynn Venom 2 13M

Well, I got this kite last February, not having flown a depower before. I took it out in silly conditions on its maiden flight, with winds near 30mph, (for me that’s a lot at about 50 kgs) with someone just helping to keep me on the ground. Although the wind was very erratic, gusty as hell, it behaved how all arcs should; extremely well. Not wanting to annoy the poor fellow holding me on the floor, I put her down, for another day.

Over the course of one season with this kite, I have learned a LOT of things; my flying ability has improved immensely, coming from a 3.6 HQ beamer 1. I remember the first time I sent the kite to the zenith, and the sheer amazement on my face when I looked at the people ten foot below me; then forgetting to redirect and landing on my head; my lid saved me on that one hehe, and the kite just went back to the zenith, and stayed there till I pulled my safety and all power was gone. I have gone from trundling along with this kite, to kiteloops (getting spanked most of the time!), board offs (nearly with 360s) and landing things to blind. This kite has taken me from embarrassed newbie, to decent free style landboarder. If you would class yourself as intermediate, being able to board upwind, and are looking for a super stable depower, that jumps BIG in the right conditions, and has the option of hopping onto the water, then this may be the kite you are after.

BARS
I fly this kite on a 50cm Zero 4 carbon bar, and it does the job. The safety is not the best on the bar because on a number of occasions, the pin that holds the chicken loop together has struck me in my fingers with a lot of force, which isn't well...pleasant. Another thing; when the bar runs up the lines to flag it out, the kite can sometimes get in a tangle; this isn't a problem if you are using it to buggy or landboard, but if this happens out at sea, your in trouble, no one wants to do a deep water pack down in their life... ever! You can put a stopper ball on the safety line, but I would not recommend it, due to the very possible chance of a line snagging on it, sending the kite into 'death spins'.

The Zero 7 bar is out now, and looks much better, with OS (Oh Sh**) handles, for the daring people who want to fly on a suicide leash and don't want to run such a risk of being dragged if they miss an aerial handle pass or something (if you don't know what a suicide leash is, you don’t need one...yet; they are very dangerous in the wrong hands, and are more suited to water where the landings are smoother). Also, FINALLY Peter Lynn have put a spinning safety leash on their new bars, making life a LOT easier; rotations and big spins become a lot safer and hassle free. The 07 bars come standard with Peter Lynn Twinskin kites now, and are compatible with any Peter Lynn kite newer than the old S and F Arcs. If you have some cash to spare and have a Zero 4 bar at the moment, consider the 07 bar; for it is a massive improvement on the bar and at under £120 for any size in the range, it is a bargain; it is the same quality as most 4 line Leading Edge Inflatable kites, but around £100 cheaper.

SPARS
Peter Lynn Venom 2s come with aluminium spars as standard. If you are familiar with the carbon spars, these are about one inch thicker in circumference, and bend rather than snapping, as the carbon ones tend to do if you’re not careful! I have damaged 2 spars; one by someone stepping on it accidentally, and another which snapped clean in two, because the kite fell out of the window, and a gust hit it and threw it back into the power zone with extreme force. When the first one bent, I bought a new set of two for around £50. When the second one broke, I emailed wind designs and they sorted me out by sending me 2 new aluminium spars, free of charge; but I bought a set of two, one piece carbon rods at £9 for 150cm and cut them down to size myself, just in case I it all goes wrong. If you would like to know which kite shop I got all this from, feel free to PM me. If you look after spars, you should not really ever have to buy anymore, but there are always defected spars, which break all by themselves, (well in flight hehe) which isn't the flyer's fault; in which case Wind Designs will most likely replace the parts free of charge. www.winddesigns.com

KITE
This kite behaves very well in an array of winds, from 12mph for me, up to 25mph. The stability of this kite is second to none. The amount that can be achieved with this is up to the riders potential really, it can do what all other kites do; kite loops, handle passes, big air, etc.

The kite turns at a nice pace, and fairly fast when the wind is nice. The turning is predictable, and will rarely catch you off guard. Unhooked, the kite behaves well, as long as it is trimmed to at least half power before unhooking, otherwise the kite will stall. A lot of unhooked manoeuvres are possible with venom 2, everything that can be done on other kites is pretty much possible on this kite really.

The build quality is pretty good; I have been unlucky, having had my both spar pockets tear a little and having to send it to Holland to be fixed up; on the whole though, I am impressed with the build quality.

Self launching and landed takes a while to get the hang of, but is not too hard once you get the hang of it. I myself, rarely launch my venom because I’m with other people. If you need any info on self launching and landing, PM me, I can show you the Peter Lynn instructional video.

PROS

* Very stable

* Auto-zenith makes life easy because if you bail, you know you kite will be above your head, waiting for your action; or if you have to take a walk of shame up-wind you can just leave it at the top, turn around and walk (beware, if wind is gusty, do not take your eye off of the kite, it may be stable but it does not fly it self in gusty wind!)

* the Twin Skin technology allows you to hop on the water without pumping it up (landing with venom 2s on water can go smoothly and relaunch well, most of the time, other times it does not go so well and can be difficult to relaunch)

* Durable: when crashed; they can take one heck of a beating, land, water or snow

* Can be modified to your liking without using a needle and thread; they have straps on the inside that make the kite perform in different ways (one inside each of the inflation pockets and one inside the deflation pocket), for example, if the wind is about 15knots and smooth, if I tighten the straps, my kite will give me more power, but this may cause it to stall more in lighter winds. In lighter winds you can loosen the straps to make the kite stall less, although this may not give a lot of power.

* The kite spanks you a lot less than C kites and bridled foils when learning new moves

* Jumps big in the right hands

* Costs a reasonable amount

* HAS NO BRIDLES! for all you bridle haters, hehe

* Has a very good amount of depower

* The bar pressure is not very heavy, I find it just right myself, not too much, not too light.

CONS

* Is not as fast as C kites or bows (down to personal preference if you want a super fast kite to be honest)

* Is not as quick to unpack, and to pack away as fixed bridles (not extremely slow, mind)

* The bottom end is not as good as bridled foils or the latest bows/SLEs(bridled bow, supported leading edge)/hybrids

* The kite loops are not as crazy as C kites or bows/SLEs/hybrids

* The bar pressure is more than on most modern bows/SLEs/hybrids, but not as heavy as most C shaped kites

* Self launching and landing can be a pain when learning how to launch and land on your own

To summarize, if you want a stable kite, mid aspect, capable of land and water disciplines, look into the Peter Lynn Venom 2. If you want a high aspect Twin Skin, more suited to land and not water, consider the Peter Lynn Phantom or wait for the Scorpion, and read someone's review on that.

All in all, for performance, I rate the kite 7.8/10 because it has taught me a lot, but there is more to learn that may be suited to another kite for me.

For build quality I rate this venom 2 13m, 7/10 because on the whole, it has been good, but for unknown reasons, I have damaged my kite, when it has not been entirely my fault.

I rate this kite for safety 8.4/10, if you want shed-loads of depower, this kite has it, and if you want the power to disappear, pull the safety, and all is gone!

Bar and lines (zero 4) get an 8/10; no lines have snapped, nothing has gone wrong with the bar...the 07 is better though.

Author : sym170