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  1. Well I decided before Christmas to make the switch from the 'flying mattress' club (Arc's) to the 'pump up' club (LEI's). I sold my beloved Venoms and bought Flexi Atom's (9m and 12m)............. I am both a land lubber and water chappy, but I use foils when in the buggy. This review relates to by water expiences - I have been surfing for approx 30 months on a 127x28 Crazy fly or a 140x40 Cyclone. I have been a long term fan of the Arc's, moving up from GII's to the Venom's over the last few years. I still love their simplicity and flexibility - great for water or land; pack up nice and small; and, annoy the heck out of the LEI boys!! However, I was beginning to crave a little faster turn speed, and greater depower for those days playing in the surf. I tried a couple of alternative Bows/Hybrid's including the RRD's and Nova's but plumped for the Flexi for a whole bunch of reasons. The kite build quality is absolutely superb (in my opinion) - reinforced in all the right places and very well put together. Flexi's reputation in this department is well deserved. Set up is simplicity itself - one pump inflation (increasingly common), and idiot proof line attachments with a couple of alternative settings that are well explained in the provided manual. The bar set up is good. Standard set up is 4 line, but capable of 5th line addition. The bar/grip has a very good feel, but the diameter might be a little small for some preferences. The power adjuster is an easy to use direct colour co-ordinated 'pull/pull' strap arrangement. The safety system is a very simple 'push it away' system that is also very easy to reassemble in the water - but you do need to keep the occassional eye on it if you are to avoid the occassional accidental release. This has happened to me once and would be my only gripe so far with the bar. There have been no real signs of wear on the centre line to date, but I do use wax. In the air the kite has a very solid feel - direct and responsive when powered up. It does need constant input (unlike the Arc's that would be happy to sit above you all day long without any input), but the abilty to control the power with slight bar movements is endless. Liken the bar to an accelerator - pull it in....vavavoom!!, push it away the power falls of immidiatley - absolutely great in the waves when you do not want to get launched under power off the top of a crest, or want to have a bit of fun down the face of a wave with little tow from the kite but know that you can pull the bar in and the power will come back in for a quick get away. Turn speed of the kites is 'frightening'. Quick is not the word. This has caught me out once or twice, but it is all part of the adaption process. I am having to relearn the timing of my jumping (I am over sending the kite at the moment because of un-necessary bar movements) but you could very easily become very lazy with your jumping. You do not actually have to send your kite at all...... nice bit of power with the kite at 11.00, carve up wind and a little pop to release the grip, pull in the bar and........weeeeeee you are flying high (ie. the kite has great lift!). If you send the kite when 'popping' you will be higher than you have ever been before, I guarentee!! All in all I could not recommend the kite more highly. I still love the Venom's. The Atom's are not better, they are a very different proposition completely. I would still recomend Arc's for those early days on the water (and for land based stuff where de-power is wanted), the auto zenith feature and ease of use is very useful particlarly when it all goes 'Pete Tong' - 9 times out of 10 you just let go of the bar and when you have worked out which way is up etc... the kite is sat above you ready to go again. But, for intermidiate progression when you want more power control and quicker turn speed I think the Atom is just brilliant. I have had my Atom's 2 months now and I have never grinned so much in all my life!! By : Bruce100
  2. Introduction The Guerilla is the third model in the Peter Lynn ARC series. After the F-ARC of last year, and the S-ARC of the year before, Peter Lynn didn't stop innovating and released the Guerilla. The Guerilla is Peter Lynn's answer to the Tube kite market when it comes to technical innovation besides looks and marketing. Finishing and durability The quality is the first thing that really shows when you get your hands on a Guerilla. A nice looking, decently finished and sturdy bag which has separate pockets for bar, lines and other accessories. The bags are spacious, no more stuffing the kite when you finished a great session. It just fits in there. When we unroll the kite we see that the looks of the Guerilla are a great enhancement over the S-ARC and F-ARC series. No more flat orange or blue colours but a quite nice looking kite! Of course it's not the most important feature of a kite, but it's never a bad thing to fly a kite that looks great. From this year all seams are stitched and taped. This prevents air for escaping the kite in case of a water start. Dacron tips for durability. This durability is a thing that has been well known for all ARC models, and it is an important feature for the Guerilla. When you don't use the kite for some time I advice you to roll it up. The fabric is, like the fabric of any kite, sensitive to the sun's violent rays and a continuous flapping of tips doesn't make the kite any better either. The Guerilla can be easily fixed in case of damage. All parts are replaceable and fixable. The Guerilla's tips have Velcro openings to lose sand or water. d Set-up Just like the F-ARC setup is simple, so is the setup of the Guerilla. Light wind starts aren't any problem. Unroll the kite, open the zipper which is placed on a central spot in the kite and make sure the zipper is in the right angle to the wind, and the inflation is going strong. When you finish setting up the lines and you return to the kite it will be well-inflated. Attach the lines and go! This saves considerable time in comparison to the inflation of a tube kite. The Guerilla therefore can be considered quite user-friendly. In stronger winds I do advice to stay at the kite. When the zipper is open for a longer time and the kite is already well inflated, the kite can easily fill up with sand which has to be removed afterwards. It's not a real problem, since the kite inflates within one minute in that kind of wind. In stronger winds using smaller sized Guerilla's it is advisable to make use of a helper. The lines can wrap around the tips due to the flapping of the wing. This will inevitably end up in a crash of the kite, which is highly uncomfortable. After some practise you'll start any Guerilla with ease. Make sure you keep a 45 degree angle to the wind. Just like modern tube kites the Guerilla is equipped with multiple attachment points. The power lines attach to a single point but for the control-lines the kite offers two options. The lower attachment points offer little bar pressure, the top attachment points more bar pressure. I personally choose for more bar pressure because it passes more information to the rider this way about the position of the kite. The Guerilla is a complete new design. It's no upgraded S-ARC or downgraded F-ARC. The kite is very stable and when the lines are equal in length it will stay 'parked' neatly wherever you put it. Without exaggerating this is by far the most stable kitesurf kite on the market today. Large sizes are rather slow, although the 15 is still quite usable. The 10 and 13 are ideal kites. The 10 is my personal favourite. Using longer lines (35 meters) this kite is still quite easy. Less easy is the fact that every size needs a different bar-setup. The 10 'wants' more pressure on the steering lines then the 15 so it can be a hustle on the beach changing kite size with just one bar. I solved this by moving some knots on the attachment points of the kites. Low-end : high-end The Guerilla is not a low-end kite. You can go out with it in it's low-end but it's just cruising then, no jumps, no upwind performance. This has to do with the fact that a Guerilla stalls a little bit when you have too much pressure on the steering lines. With the 15 I was able to go out really nice in 10 knots but the kite just starts to perform as it is intended to at around 14 knots. In the high-end on the contrary the Guerilla is a great performer. It's noticeable in jumps for sure. The lift of the Guerilla in its low-end is minimal, but there is surely a lot of float. Only in its high-end the Guerilla offers lots of pop in the jumps. The last events of the Funsport-tour showed that tube kites have better low-end then the Guerilla's. Where tube kite riders could jump properly the Guerilla riders were just able to go out and cruise. Turning In the turning department we can see quite large differences between the sizes. The 15 and 18 are considered to be really slow, whereas the 10 and 13 can be considered ideal. The 10 is the best performer, turning wise that is. You think turn and it turns. A Guerilla turns slower then the high aspect ratio tubes of 2003 though. Take a Guerilla 15 and compare its turning-rate to that of a 16m2 2003 tube kite and know what I mean. Never seen anyone do a kite loop with a Guerilla. Upwind performance The upwind performance of the Guerilla is pretty good. The more wind you have, the better the upwind performance. Because you fly the kite more on its frontlines the kite crawls in to the edge of the windframe. I didn't notice that much difference in upwind performance in the different sizes, although I have to admit that I don't have that much experience on the 18. Depower The Guerilla's depowerablitily is comparable with modern tube kites. It's like it outperforms the less depowerable tubes of 2003, but does not underperform in comparison to really good depowerable tubes. The 10 is again the best in the Guerilla range. Its depowerability is really superb and it has a great range. For an experienced rider on smaller boards the end of the range is somewhere around 38 to 40 knots. Depowering the kite works a little different then with a tube kite. When you sheet out a Guerilla the flight-speed increases so more force is generated. The trick is to get the rail in pretty good and steer the kite to the outer range of the wind frame. That is where the kite is at its maximum depower. This is a method that you master within just a couple of sessions. Jumping Guerilla's jumps are tremendously floaty. The larger sized Guerilla's have a lesser lift do drag ratio if you ask me. You can jump less high but will stay in the air extremely long. The 10 and 13 have nice pop and nice float. You do need some better breezes to make use of this. Think 15 knots for the 13 and 20 to 25 knots for the 10. Strongly depending on board size and rider weight of course. While jumping the kite behaves nice and relaxed. This is ideal for practising tricks without worries, especially because the kite never overflies the rider. Make sure you watch out not to sheet in the bar too much when getting in to the jump. For high jumps the kite should generate lift on its frontlines. Waterstart Can't say too much about the waterstart of the Guerilla (sorry?). I go out with the Guerilla since January but haven't had it on the water once. Not because I'm like an 'uber-rider' or something like that, but more because you're not really able to get it in the water. The kite doesn't crash, even if you jump right under it. It just floats nicely back to the top of the windframe to continue its flight. The Guerilla is and will stay a foil-kite, which makes it prone to twist itself into a candy wrapper when it's not landed properly. When this occurs the kite is not able to restart. Helper assistance is needed then. But because of the taped seams and neatly closed inlets the kite keeps the air in for a sufficient amount of time. I have seen friends of me who use Guerilla too do several waterstarts. Most without any problems. Just when the two tips are right on top of each other it can be difficult. The only kites with a 100% water-restart warranty are Flysurfers modern kites like Warrior, Titan and Psycho. Purchase Like purchasing any kite purchasing a Guerilla needs to be done with some consideration. The Guerilla comes in 4 sizes: 10, 13, 15 and 18. The 10 should be in any quiver if you ask me. Since we have increasing amounts of days with 6 to 7 Beaufort it is a must-have. Buying a 15 and 18 is overkill. Make the choice depending on your weight and board size. If you weigh above 75 kilo's buy an 18, below that weight get a 15. The 15 is just a more pleasant kite to fly. It is possible to have a quiver of just 10 and 15 but it's not ideal. When you surf much on inland water the 10 could be replaced by a 13 and combined with an 18, regardless of your weight. You can go on surfing up to a good 6 Beaufort. I used to fly 10 and 15 but replaced the 15 by a 13. The 15 was too slow in my humble opinion to have good fun with. It hurt to skip the 13 too, because of its qualities. With less wind it's possible to stack the Guerilla's. Consider the fact that stacked kites are way less easy to restart and jumping isn't that easy with a stack either. On low wind days I fly a 10-13 stack. It uses 5 to 7 meter long stack lines and the power lines are about 10 cm longer then the steering lines. Availability of the Guerilla is a bit of a problem at the moment. Some sizes have a delivery time of up to a couple of weeks. I hope this problem is solved in the near future. I fly all Guerilla's using a 55 cm bar. The Peter Lynn suggested bar lengths are a bit small if you ask me. Conclusion The Peter Lynn Guerilla is the most stabile kite on the market today. Upwind performance and lift are pretty good and overall quality of the kite is absolutely not less then that of a modern tube kite. The durability and quality of construction of the Guerilla make it a serious contender for the average tube kite. For lots of riders this kite could be even a better choice. Too bad the kitesurf community and market is that much conservative. Recently I met a lad that doesn't kitesurf himself nor did he fly kites at all. He was telling anyone that wanted to hear that ARC's sucked. Because everyone flies tube kites it can never be a good thing he said. This 'legacy talk' is ruining the chances that good kites should get in today's kitesurf marketplace. If Peter Lynn produces more kites of this quality and price and combines it with better marketing then it's prone to get a better market share for sure! Pros: Set-upUpwind performanceFloaty jumpsDurabilityPriceEase of use in high endBroad wind rangeStabilityStackable Cons: Too slow big sizesLittle low-end performanceBig sizes less pop in jumps.Delivery problems (summer 2003)Launching with strong wind. By : Fokke
  3. 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
  4. I started snowkite with the first generation ARC kites from Peter Lynn. Superfast and very predictable kites with huge power and lot of userfriendliness. From snowkite I moved to kiteboarding and different types of LEI. Mostly size 12, 14 and 9. Somehow I thought there was something missing when flying the tubekites. One day I got my hands on the G2 9m, went out in 25-30 kts and had the time of my life. The feeling I had missed with LEI's was suddenly back. I am talking about the feeling of full controll of the power. Suddenly I was total confident and secure in all matters. No more luff, overflying and dangerous exits through the power zone. There was guys with 7 and 8 m LEI's not riding that day. When you don't want the G2 to produce power it does not. It hangs there in the sky and wait for your command. When you fly the kite for generating power then you get more than enough of it. The kite turn really fast. No problem to do a continuing dobbel loop with this one. In really gusty wind with difference at 10 kts the kite sometimes want to stall out a little bit just in the secuence when the wind dropped. I found out that it was possible to compensate by being more aware of the fligth speed and to feel when the wind was about to drop after the burst. Then no problem at all. The kite can be flown with long acceleration paths within the power zone. If you dare do that and accelerate the kite to the sky from the watersurface you get a vertical lift so high and long that you scare yourself. However the landing curve is really smooth. The genuin stability this kite gives makes you a better rider in short time. Did i tell you about how high I could ride up against the wind? Superior! Sometimes I was clumsy when trying to stick the landing after a jump and thumbled around in the water. I quicly learned to then let go of the bar and the kite simply stoppet in the position it was and waited for me to get the head over the water, put on my board and go again. From similare situations with LEI's i am used to the fact that they fly themselfs into the water. I have to say that sometimes I chrashed the kite in the water also. The water relaunch had a tendency to be remarkable quicker and easier than with LEI's. Even for LEI with a 5 line. But I have also experienced full chrash, tangled lines and swimming to the beach again with the G2. Guess it has to do with the individual skills for relaunching. Anyway, the kite floats like a cork. Be patient and wait for the wind to affect the kite when in the water and it relaunch really quick. If you are impatient, pull the lines to quicly and try to force the kite, then you create a problem for your self. This kite does not want anything else than to fly, give it a chance and it does. G2 has a tremendous depower range. This combined with rapid reaction from the barpressure and a really quick turning speed and acceleration makes it possible to produce good power even in the low end of the wind range. Self launch and landing is as easy and safe as the constructor says. The setup and packing activities are both so easy and effortless that no other manufacture are close to this features. No pump needed. The lines and the bar has good color code marking and is easy to set up. The fact that you place the kite paralell with the wind, open the inflate zipper and walk out the lines in a 45 degree angle to the kite makes less hands on activities during setup and thereby shorter time before you are ready to launch. The fabric seems to be very solid due to the fact that I by one ocation chrashed the kite so severly into some bushes that i was sure it would penetrate the fabric and crack all the sawings. After a very close inspection no damage was found. Maybe i was lucky. Packing down is a three minutes operation. Open deflatezipper. Detach and wind the lines on the bar. Simply roll toghether the kite, but it in the smart G2 back pack and go home. When I flew the first generation ARC kites the critics was against the speed. The kite was to fast. Now the same camp says the ARC kites are to slow. Well, from my experience I would say it is insufficient differences if none between G2 9 and similare LEI's. For the snow season 2004/2005 the G2 9 will be my favorite when snowkiting. Talk about crossfunctionality? The G2 9 is a really confident friend. No fear for the control in strong wind anymore. Stelundg By : stelundg
  5. I've been flying power kites for a couple of years now, having started with the beginners favourite, 3.6m Beamer. I always wanted to board, and after about 2 flights of the Beamer set about building a quiver. Budget was always a big issue for me, as I was never going to justify spending £500 on a single kite. I've been through a lot of kites, most second hand or ex-demo, thinking they'd suit me. And while I've had some bargians I still hadn't settled on one that suited me fine until I went for a Peter Lynn Guerilla 13m. Now this was an awsome kite. Loads of lift (sometimes too much, got a bit scary in gusts), and really nice on the board. So I thought I'd found a kite that I could build a quiver on. I started looking for a 10m Guerilla, but just couldn't get one for sensible money, so when a 630 Arc come along for £110 I snapped it up, thinking it would sit well below the G13. But I discovered that because of the different AR's and sizing of the old arcs, it was actually more usable than G13 for the type of flying I do. (Mainly inland, and a fair bit of static flying). Becuase the kite is smaller and faster it can be worked easier to produce enough power to get going on the board when all the G13 wanted to do was stall. So I made the brave,(many would say foolish) desicion to sell the G13 and get a quiver of S-Arcs. A 460 soon followed, but it took me quite a while to find an 1120 and the 840. In all I had four kites in excellent condition for under £500. So what about flying them? Well just like the modern arcs, there is a nack to getting them in the air, but once up they stay up, unless you bail big time. The disadvantage of the 1st generation arcs is that most don't have inflation zips in the middle. (My 840 has been retro fitted with one). So to fill them with air you either point the trailing edge into the wind with the velcro seal open, or stand on one wing tip, holding the other one over your head so that the air inlet valves face into the wind, thus inflating the kite. This method only really works when there is a good wind however, so for the bigger kites I use a small airbed pump to get some air in. The 840 however is a doddle compared to the others because of the zip. And I am thinking about getting my others fitted with zips. Once up in the air they are just as, if not more stable than the Guerilla. They don't luff and collapse, and you can easily have a good 2hr session without dropping on down. I was a little dissapointed with the 1120 the first time i had that out, as I had always thought them to be a good low wind monster, but in 8-10 mph winds there still wasn't enough power at the edge to get me going on the board. My next session was with the 840 in 15-18mph and it was awesome. Plenty of pull, and as stable as ever. There's lift there too, although I still can't utilise it very well whilst moving on the board! My best session yet. The 630 and 460 are super quick, and turn on the spot with a 50cm bar. The 840 and 1120 also turn quick for their size. I fly them on a 65cm bar. I haven't had chance to board with all the kites yet, but after using the 840 in 18mph I reckon i'll be good upto 30mph with the 460. Although I very rarely fly in such winds. So overall, I rate these kits very highly. They may be old designs, very under rated, and not have the wind range and performance of the modern Arcs, but for less that the price of a single 10m Venom, you can get a whole quiver of S-Arcs to cover almost all the wind range you'll fly in. There are some unbelievable bargains to be had at the moment on these kites. Why have a second hand Buster or a new Pepper when you can have these super high performance kites? (And you can learn to kitesurf with them too). Value for money just can't be beaten. By : andrewjohn
  6. After I returned from Egypt I was desperate to get my mitts on some different kites as my Hydros had suddenly looked old and slow, probably because I spent a day flying everyone elses kites and as I had finally rweached a level where I was going both directions and making ground upwind my views were changing. So after talking to people, flying kites as different as the North Rhino 05 12m(terrifying) Slingshot Turbo Diesel 12m (horrible) North Vegas 12m (superb) Slingshot fuel 11m (grunty and fun) Flexifoil Fusion 12m (ford escort) I was seriously looking for a 12m Vegas. Sadly until I got back to the UK I didnt see the price tag. When I did see the price tag I didnt like it!!! So after some more looking I was introduced to the Slingshot Octane. Now anyone familiar with this kite will know it was marketed as Slingshots competition kite, even though most Slingshot riders are riding Fuels (and for good reason!!) I was initially suspicious as I still consider myself a beginner although others say I am reaching intermediate but thats something you can dispute all day, whats important is if you have a bad feeling... trust it! But I did trust the person selling me the kite and as it was half price, new and RTF it got the better of me, so after trading in my trusty Hydros I was the proud owner of a 12m Slingshot Octane. Well firstly I have to say the build quality impressed, trhe bag was great and practical if a little too covered in straps but still a good bag, if anyone has had the pleasure of trying to get an 05 fuel into the so called travel bags thay came with this is a godsend. Its basically the same bag as the 06 fuels come in except its yellow and black. The bar was already set up and required no adjustment. Unpacking the kite the Slingshot attention to detail and build quality are in my opinion brilliant. The stitching was bombproof, all reinforcing looked practical and anywhere that might rub through like spars was velcro'd so as to be replaceable. Unpacking it on the beach the first thing I noticed were the cries of "Its like a ribbon!!!" and "that is SOOOOOOO high aspect you go into orbiit!!!" None of which I can honestly say filled me with confidence. Well I pumped up with the supplied pump and was immediately converted to the one pump system! None of this pump up the spars and fiddling with small plugs (which in winter when you cant feel your habds will be a godsend!) Superb! I got the lines attached, all colour coded and therefore idiot proof and yup... the wind died!!! Always the blody way!!! So dissapointedly I packed up to return the following day. The next day it was blowing a nice 18-22mph and I couldnt wait to get out. especailly as I had not just a new kite but a brand new North dragon board to go with it! TO the beach I went, pumped up and got again the same cries of "it still looks like a ribbon ya know!" Well.... up she went smoothly and.... Holy Crap thats quick! Guys.... guys... is it me?? No..... was the resounding answer! It wasnt me!! This thing was fast!!! But it didnt feel like I had to watch it all the time! I could take my hands off the bar and she would sit overhead with no problems, the bar pressure was light but when she moved she was SO responsive. Well out I went and I could not believe the speed of this kite, but what impressed me more was the fact she felt so stable and user freindly! So I jst had a wonderful afternoon cruising up and down, but the fact she was SO quick I was struggling to get upwind! Probably just me I thought !!! THings will be different next time, but still I was grinning from ear to ear! SO much so as soon as I got home i was on the phone ordering the 16m! Well the next time out conditions were very different, it was around 25 plus, bang onshore and I was at Camber, but undettered I went out and had the best session I had EVER had!! I was getting lit up on every run! It was making me WANT to jump!!! and it felt like as soon as I plucked up the courage to go it would be big! VERY big!!! The sea was choppy, guys were out on surfboards and I suddenly noticed that guys bigger and better than me were out on 9s, and what was that! a guy on an 8!!! And I am not even sheeted in!!! No wonder I cant get upwind!!! Better sheet in!! Actually...no I will just call it a day... Im knackered!!! lol I will say that this kite, unlike say the fuel, the Octane gathers its power from its speed, it requires a bit of play in the bar to manage the power rather than juast locking it in like the fuels. As a result for me (13.5 stone) this 12 and indeed my 16 is probably the equivalent of an 11 and a 14/15. I totally disagree with Slingshots original market of this being the comp machine as its SO VERY user friendly! Thats not to say it doesnt bite! when I finally di pluck up the courage to release that edge and pull that bar in I was right! 20ft easy!!! BOOM strraight up! But never felt out of control! However, after dropping tentatively down the back of a wave and accidentally pulling on the bar (I think) I was picked up and slammed like WWF wrestler throwing a child!!! I could barely move my neck for 3 days and it really shook my confidence. But yuo gotta get back on the horse as they say and I am back loving my Octanes again. I am loathed to put these kites in the beginners class due to there speed and power but both these things are VERY manageable. I did ask a friend why we dont see more? (I am in kent and the Slingshot importers are local to all my spots so there is a disproportional amount of fuels to other kites in my area) and he informed me that the price of new Octanes is up with the Vegas' at around £900 so they dont sell that well but at the price I got mine he would have an entire quiver.. no question!! (Although he has now changed his mind and returned to his love of Fuels, just 07 ones now! lol) So in conclusion.... what can I say!!!! If you can find a good deal on an Octane and you want a massive amount of bang for your buck, go for it! It may not have the outright power of the 05 Rhino or the smooth grunt of the 06 fuels but it does have a phenomenal amount of speed and controllable power, it munches gusts well, has a bar pressure that means you dont need arms like apes to manage it and a safety system that I beleive is the best on the market. That coupled with Slingshots bombproof build has made me a convert for sure. If I am absolutely honest I couldnt at the moment wish for better kites...! OK just one! I would swap my 9m Boxer III for a 9m Octane!!! lol But hey... life aint perfect after all!!! By : BlindJP
  7. When I was still but a lowly newbie, and I MEAN newbie to kitesurfing I planned a trip to Egypt, Moonbeach to be exact, where the weather was warm and the winds were perfect. I owned a 12m and a 15m so what else would I possibly need!! Well... after booking and doing the inevitable EXTRA research on where I was going I discovered if I wanted to get the best out of the lpace I had better get my hands on a 9m! Fortunately due to the miracle of work (yes I do actually work folks!!....Occasionally!) I went to see Mark at Whitstable Windsurfing and got some great advice and left the shop £350 lighter and the proud owner of a new 06 Naish Boxer III 9m complete. Well I was desperate to use this kite before I went but lets be honest here! You buy a 9m kite 5 days before you go on a kitesurf holiday there is not a chance in hell that the wind gods are actually gonna let you fly it before you go!!! So I get to moonbeach and its perfect learners 9m weather! Well I was still at the stage where I could go right foot forward without a problem but left foot forward was definitely challenging! Well due to perfect wind, butter flat water and 90 degree sunshine I had both directions cracked on the first day and was finally in a postion to learn a bit about the kite! What I learnt was I LOVE IT!!! As a foil flyer I always though that a 9m kite was an absolute monster, and as foils go it is! It is also like flying a bus of beachy head, unless you get it right it just falls out of the sky!!! Well was I in for a shock! a 9m Lei flys like a wasp! The Boxer III is a medium aspect kite, it is fast through the window and had me grinning like a lunatic in minutes! By the 2nd hour of the 2nd day I was actually making 'upwind' progress!! Something that had seemed like some kind of Voodoo magik prior to this with my Hydros! The build quality of this kite is absolutely ROCK solid, the 5th line safety system is excellent, but I did find the leash banging against my leg a bit odd and after a couple of dunkings I diod notice it was wrapped around the chicken loop. Not something that is too essential but as Naish's safety system is an odd 'grab the web cover at the top of the chicken loop and slide forward' this did give me a minor amount of concern. The kite is marketed as an 'all terrain' kite and although I have no plans to landboard with this EVER! I am toying with the idea of snowkiting with it! Yes I am that impressed with the build quality! This kite gave me my first taste of jumps and as with all small kites like this it shoots you airborne very rapidly but it doesnt have a great deal of float! Not that I cared as I was too busy thinking "Ive just made it into orbit!!" Some say a beginner shouldnt even think about a small Lei but this was as friendly as you made it. Something that is often the case with kites. Granted I did learn the following day this isnt applicable to ALL kites! (I flew an 05 14m Rhino that scare the bejesus outta me!) Would I recommend this to a beginner, well in hindsight probably not, but not because its a dangerous kite but more because of the winds you take it out in. I am now loathed to get this baby out in anything less than 30mph where its an absolute beasty!! Its an amazing kite, great build quality and attention to detail. It flies well has a good fifth line system and in my opinion is only let down by its bizzarre relaes system. Something I didnt have to use in Egypt and as I now fly it on an 06 Slingshot bar system it is not an issue. Its a fast kite, will get you very high very quickly but DONT expect floaty landings. Its a high wind kite if you really want to get the best out of it. But it flys well, the sheet in/out doesnt make it too ugly to fly if you are horrible overpowered but at the time I only had 03 kites to compare it with. As with most Lei's this size, its not that much about aspect ratios as you are generally flying them in high winds anyway so you are going to be lit up regardless. I like my little Boxer and its price onhly made it more attractive and now its been superceeded by the SLE I have seen it for sale new kite only for £299 which in my opinion makes it a steal! By : BlindJP
  8. Both these board were my introduction to kitesurfing. Bought gtom a freind 2nd Hand in mint condition, bars, lines, pump etc... As I didnt really know what I was doing I but had a large amount of experience of foil kites I took the advice from Kitesurfing mates of taking it (the 15.6) out on a low wind day, getting into a wetsuit, wading out into chest deep water (I am lucky, m local beach has about a mile of water before it gets over your chest!) and just getting to grips with body dragging nd learning the nuances of the kites! Well after laying the kite out flat my first thoughts were "Oh sh*t!! what have I done!!" It was enormous! The sheer scale of an Lei laid out flat is VERY daunting!! But after many assurances from several freinds at the scene I pumped her up, got attached and with a certain amount of trepidation (OK... it was a DEFINITE brown trouser moment!) and with the help of a freind (note from me at this point! NEVER TRY TO LAUNCH OR LAND AN LEI ON YOUR OWN) I launched her. Well I was amazed at the lack of pull until she got overhead and for some unknown reason I leant back and pulled the bar in. To my suprise and a certain amount of horror I was picked gently up about 2ft carried 5ft downwind and lowered gently to the ground as I let the bar out. OK drop the kite to the side of the window and walk out to sea. I will point out now that these kites are the 03 version, VERY low aspect and VERY user friendly. What they DO lack however is any sort of fifth line safety/trim system. I had had the relaunch technique explained by several people but must admit I didnt really get it! So out I waded until I was chest deep and then whooooooosh! I dived the kite in a big arc! I accelerated at an incredible rate of knots! Grinning I immedietly did the same again across teh centre of the window and found I had covered 100yards and was lying in 6 inches of water with the kite straining to pick me up again (I had the bar in!!) after a coulpe of days of this and no ill effects and no bad experiences I decided it was time to get on a board and get on with it. Again it wasnt hugely windy so I was out with the 15. Well this is starting to sound more like a review of my experiences learning to kitesurf rather than a review but the two are actually intrinsically linked. I was lucky in that I was riding a very wide and floaty board so I was able to get up and planing relatively easily. Over the next two weeks I was out every day I could and was progressing nicely even if I could only go in one direction, my confidence was building. The kites were easy to use, friendly, not too aggressive, slow in the turn so it appeared I got plenty of time to think about things. Well, then I went to egypt for a holiday and the kites went with me... well kitesurfing was the whole point of the holiday after all!!! This was where my enjoyment of these kites peaked. I had ideal conditions, my confidence was up, I was in a HUGE shallow water lagoon so I could really go for it!!! I had also bought a 9m Naish boxer to take complete with 5 line bar. The first day I was curious to see if I could relaunch the kites on 4 lines in the traditional way so out I went to the middle of the laggon and promptly dumped the kite on the water. Now I was pleased to know that I had the technique for launching the kite down and after 20mins of splahing, paddling, swimming like a mad thing, several boughts of Kite tourettes I finally got the kite to launch but had realised that if I had been back in blighty I would NEVER have relaunched it in any sort of swell. The kite was just too big and too slow. So I did what any madman would do! I put my Naish 5 line bar on it by tying an extra leader line around the top of the centre spar by the leading edge. Madness you cry!!!! Well actually no its not! I guessed the length of the leader by tying lots of knots in it and having the 5th line with a slight bow in it when the kite was held at the edge of the window. Now this didnt give me any 5thn line trim a la slingshot but after I went back into the lagoon dumped the kite and relaunched in secods with no ill effects I realised you can fit a 5th line system to any older 4 line Lei! Well now I could really play!!! The kite behaved beautifully, and my progress as a kitesurfer rocketed! I felt safer with the 5th line and as such improved no end! So as a far better surfer now I can give better opinions of the kite. The hydo's are VERY low aspect and as such behave like a bus on an icerink, they lack speed and to a point lack power, however bearing in mind that these are an 03 Kite they were in my humble opinion perfect to learn with! I rarely felt like I was out of control, they were slow to the point of always giving me enough time to think, the power delivery was always smooth and I always had a big grin after a session. I would recommend these kites to anyone thinking about getting into kitesurfing but lacking the money for newer kites as its possible to fit a 5th line which improves safety MASSIVELY and you can pick them up incredibly cheaply! Mine went in as a part ex on my current Lei's to Whitstable Windsurfing and Mark (gent that he is) gave me a good price and then sold them back out for £150 for the 15 complete and £100 for teh 12 kite only. So by those standards you could have an entire beginners quiver of a 12 and 15 for £200 and a 05 or 06 5 line bar for an extra £100!! Certainly enough to get you up and rocking and by now means pocket bustingly expensive!!! I had a wonderful, albeit brief love affair with my Hydros and would recommend them to anyone as a statrer package! By : BlindJP
  9. Well, where do i start, I have waited a few months to write this review. This because I wanted to get a good idea of how the kite flys in all conditions and application. But this is where the story starts. After a year or so of flying I wanted a larger kite and after watching videos and taking advice i decided that it would have to be depower kite. And after trying out various kites, and deciding that i would like to get into kitesurfing, I knew I was looking at an LEI. Now being only 16 money is a little tight, and i didnt want to buy something that I was going to be dissapointed with, so i decided to go for a qualtiy kite, and the one i chose just happened to be one of the latest and hottest kites on the market at that time. After watching Ollie Raby on his sonic down at mudeford and at wallop and asking him about what he thought, as well as a whole host of other people recomending the kite, I decided to go for the GK sonic, and I just happened to stumble upon a bargain. My friend Dan who had jsut been sponsored by north, had a quiver of sonics which he was no longer allowed to fly, and to fund his new quver of North Rebels the sonics had to go. So i got a virtually unsed 11m sonic for £550 (£800rrp). I was chuffed and couldn't wait to unleash the beast. Before i move on to the all important flying characteristics, the build quality. I wouldnt say this kite oozes quality like an Ozone. but its certainly equal to or better than most of the leis I have seen close up and the overall finish of the kite looks fantastic. The bar is ridiculously simple to use and adjust. The bag is fantastic too, it's understaed but looks great it has enough room in there for two kites! as well as pump and bar etc. It also packs down very small. all of the stitching on the kite is excellent and I was very pleased with my purchase. Now on to the exciting bit, My first fly was in 5-10mph winds. not rely enough wind to get moving on the board. but the kite flew very well and generated a hell of a lot of power compared to what i was used to, even in these light winds!! i packed up and went home chuffed. However my next experience was not so good, i went out on my own. and struggled to set up and reverse launch. It was also incredibly gusty. so that time I was left demoralised. My first proper flight however left me gagging for more. When you get this kite up in 15-20mph OOOOHHHHH BABY it is a totally different animal. the turning speed is ridiculous, faster than a 4.9 blade on handles the bar pressure is light enough to make the kite childsplay to fly. but strong enough to give the perfect amount of feedback. and the depower is incredible. You can fly this kite in 30mph and with the bar out its like your not attatched to anything!!! no joke. it really is 100%. fortunately i have never had to use the chickenloop release on land but the punch through safety system works well. self relaunch on land is also amazing. in 8knots+ that is! you jus pull one side of the bar the kite flicks on to its side and your off!! Now on the landboard. this kite is awesome dip it into the power and you get instant consistant power, edge up wind a little, park the kite just below the zenith and you fly along. send the kite back, in with the bar, first time airs of 6-8 foot were not a problem (first session i had ever board jumped with a depower) with a bit more practice 10ft barrier is easily broken on the board i've been to scared to go higher although the kite is perfectly capable. The depower on this kite is like a throttle. too fast let the bar out and you will slow down. too slow lower the kite pull in and the acceleration is phenomonal. this kite is so forgiving. when you stack it big the bar punches through the stopper the kite loses all power and slows right down. then you can compse yourself as the kite slowy flutters down, grab the bar pull in and the kite instantly takes shape and makes its way to the zenith. There is one slightly annoying thing with this kite, this is the punch through safety system. its great when it is used, extremely effective and instinctive to use and it does fully depower the kite. however you don't want to fully depower the kite when your 10ft up. this has happened to me once or twice whilst attempting cannonballs (grabbing both tails of the board) and unlike a c kite you drop like a stone, and yes it does hurt!!!!!! but that is my only gripe. also the kite is hard to get going on sub 15mph. On Water, now as this kite is an LEI its main purpose is for use on water, and you guessed it, it excels here too!! now im not the worlds greatest kitesurfer. i can go left, right and just about upwind lol but this kite makes it so easy. waterstarts are effortless and once your planing and you've done a few sine waves you can park and ride, again using the depower like a throttle. simmilar to land this kite is excellent on the water. but the thing that impressed me more than anything is the water relaunch. Well I was speechless at how good it was. you go wrong the bar goes out the kite sits at the zenith totally depowered. if the kite is at the edge of the window the kite will slowly flutter down and gently land on the water surface. from that point on its just case of pulling on one side of the bar, the kite drifts round to the edge of the window, just one more pull and the kite rises up effortlessly. it is the best and simplest re-launch system i have ever encountered. it is instinctive just like it should be. Overall I would highly recomend this kite to anyone, perfect for the beginner out on the water to the progressing or advanced freestyler on land or water. it is so versatile and so easy to use! believe the hype, it really is that good!! the lift and hangtime is amazing. in my view still one of the best sle's on the market. if you want an all purpose surf kite that you can go big with yet is probably one of the safest kites on the market the sonic is for you!! Hope this helps Chris By : cwatson
  10. Prologue Well I am sorry it has taken me this long to write a review of the Pulse. I have had the Pulse pretty much since they were first released in this county after pre-ordering a 7m 2 months before release. I then ordered a 13m and had to wait another 2 months while the orders before mine cleared, wow this is a popular kite! I wish I could say I would be writing this review if the weather was windy but it would be a lie! Introduction I purchased both my kites from Sven at Oceonside.co.uk I have always found his help in-valuable when dealing with my other FS kites and always like to return the favor by buying my new gear through him. I originally ordered a 7m Pulse to replace my devil of a Pyscho2 7m, I always found it too much for me in high winds and I wanted something more sedate. After a few flights I enjoyed the lack of hassle when re-launching and it's friendly nature so I decided to order a 13m to replace my Speed 10m, little did I know it would be 2 months before I saw her! Flysurfer kites have always been more powerful than there LEI equivalents, the Speed was the pinnacle of this development. The pulse is a step down however still maintains the tradition; The 7m is the equivalent of a 7m to a 10.5m LEI where as the 13m is the equivalent of a 13 to 19.5m lei. Back Ground The Pulse was designed to be the successor to the Extacy, although a successful kite; many people found the larger size slightly lacking in power and performance. Both the Extacy and Pulse were designed as beginner to intermediate or wave riding kites. However the pulse has a trick up its sleeve, the pulse has a new bridle system which allows for bow like de-power (high de-power). The Pulse colour schemes change in each size which is helpful as it gives an indication as to what other people are flying, these are: * 5m - Blue * 7m - Red * 10m – Yellow / Orange (due to high demand yellow fabric ran out) * 13m - Blue The graphics on the pulse remind me a lot of the old style kites and is a welcome return, the simple design looks excellent. The pulse also come as standard like all Flysurfer kites with a 6 month free repair, this offer always puts me at ease because it means any damage I manage to cause to the kite will be reparable. This to me shows that Flysurfer believe in their products! Technical Data The Bag Flysurfer bags have always been a good design for those of you which don't know they are designed to accommodate 2 average sized kites and a board or two on the outside. I can easily fit a Pulse 7 and 13m + 4.9m Blade in the bag with a Flydoor on the outside (it is getting heavy at this point). To get this mass of kit in the bag, the bags have an expanded front which zips closed; this zip is prevented from damaging kites by a flap of material. The bag also has meshed areas to allow air to get to the kites. Personally I would rather the bags didn't have this as they only seem to manage to dump sand around the house and get me in trouble! Overall the quality of the bags is very high, I recently moved out of my uni house and used my spare pulse bag to carry my lecture notes when I got home I weighed it with a fish scale and found it weighed over 20kgs. These bags are made to last!! Bar and Lines The bar area on the pulse has gone through quite a significant redesign. The bar itself is carbon wrapped in colour coded neoprene and is very similar to older generation Flysurfers. The difference comes in the leader lines and safety, gone is the blue leash line, what you now get is a 5th line which when pulled folds the kite in half where it floats down with very little pull, ready for re-launch. You also get 'Oh Sh*t Handles' these handles can also be used as a safety however, when used in high wind can cause the LCLs at the kite to break. The 'Oh Sh*t Handles' are however, excellent at flagging the kite out at the end of a session. The trimmer has also massively increased in size to cope with the longer de-power line, full de-power is available through the bar travel the trimmer is only there for unhooked moves, I often find it use full though to change trimmer setting in low wind to prevent over sheeting. The line lengths which come as standard are 21m, this is changeable in increments of 3m from 21 down to 0m. This is excellent for both wave riding and changing wind conditions and further increases the wind range of the kite. Forces on the bar are also changeable through the WAC line. This line allows the steering forces to be changed from hard to soft in increments of 6 steps this allows the kite to be modified to anyone preferences my personal preference is full soft on the 13m and standard for the 7m. Another thing you will notice is that French safety standards have started being introduced. On the chicken loop there are weight recommendations for the safe usage of the kite, this is due to the safety being designed to rupture if put through excessive load. On my Speed I once had the safety clip release when landing the kite this sent the kite flying down the beach; since then I have never used the standard leash instead I have modified the clip with a climbing Crab, as a runaway kite is a very dangerous thing. The pull the pulse generates when on safety is minimal though so I find it hard to believe the clip would open however using the crab removes any chance of the buckle not clipping together (due to sand or something else) and also allows me to use the leash as a suicide leash in the future. The Kite First thing you will notice about the canopy is the low aspect ratio and the thickness of the canopy. This low aspect ratio and thickness gives the kite incredible grunt and allows very quick, tight turning. Another point worthy of notice is the design of the new deflation zip. The normal FS design is to have one or two small zips on the leading edge; the pulse has a massive zip on the upper surface. This new zip is a big improvement when packing away. The speed of pack up at the end of a session is now even quicker; just to rub it in to the LEI riders when it starts raining Construction of the canopy like all flysurfer is second to none; the quality of stitching and fabric is something other company's should take notice of. When the deflation zip is open the complexity of the internal structure of the kite shows that a lot of craftsmanship has gone into each kite. As with previous flysurfers Jetflaps are still present although it is obvious again slight modification have been carried out on them. There are two inlet valves present on the leading edge and 4 over pressure valves. Jetflaps are a clever patented design by flysurfer. It is common knowledge in aerodynamics that the stall is simply the airflow separating from the wing. During a back stall (occurs through sheeting in too far, or over flying) the stall begins at the trailing edge, jetflaps work like blown flaps on an aircraft, as the stall begins and flow starts to separate, air is blown through the jetflaps conditioning the flow on the trailing part of the wing and equalizing the pressure. All this allows for; higher angles of attack to be reached before back stall begins and a more stable kite. What Flysurfer say: "The JetFlap optimizes and stabilizes the current around the wing. In the high angle-of-incidence range, there is no flow separation thanks to the JetFlap" Setting up Setting up a flysurfer is a real strong point of these kites, the 5th line can sometimes complicate things if you not careful when packing away but overall it's a doddle. When I first started using flysurfers I had some difficulty with tangles however, once you have the method for packing away sorted it's no longer a problem. Set up and packing away takes around 2 mins. Launching and Landing There are two methods of launching the Pulse both require either a weight or sand and a small amount of pre-inflation, because of the low aspect ratio the pulse inflates very quickly even though it only has two vents on the leading edge. Hot Launch, is launching directly downwind of you this is only suitable for very low winds (sub 10knots). The second option is side launching where a weight is placed on the kite's upwind wingtip with the lines at about 45 degrees to the wind direction, a quick tug and up the kite goes no drags no fuss. The kite only takes a few second to fully inflate once launched and during this time the pull of the kite is significantly reduced, a small amount of pre-inflation before launch helps the kite fill up a lot quicker and gives a bit more control. Landing is a bit of an interesting point with the pulse there are a few options; * The best method is to have an assistant to grab the kite for you and lay the kite on the ground this keeps the lines in good order and is the safest method. * In low wind it is possible to back stall the kite to the ground this is not good idea in higher wind due to the low aspect ratio which means the kite has a great deal of rest pull. * The final method and the only viable method for landing on your own in high wind is to use the FDS. The FDS system puts the kite to the center line which folds the kite like a taco and leaves the kite with very little pull even in high wind. The biggest downside to this system is it can take some time for the kite to come down, the best way to get the kite on the ground quickly is to move towards the kite, removing tension n the line. The FDS leaves the lines with many twists in them however; the kite is still re-launchable from this state. Flying The kites have only really been used for surfing; so far I have clocked 80 to 100hrs on the water with them but have not really used them on land with exception of two short sessions. I have also leant them out to a few friends who fly bows for them to try and also so I could get a fly of some of the new SLEs / Hybrids! The kites are not the fastest through the air however; they make up for this lack of speed in grunt. People who have flown them have been impressed by there grunt and surprised by how they are still good in low wind. My two kite quiver (of a 7m and 13m) gets me out from about 9 knots up to 36knots which is more or less spot on what flysurfer give, at 36knots (40mph) I tend to stop for my own safety as I am not yet at a level where I feel safe at those winds speeds. The 13m goes from 9knots and is fun at about 12knots I can hold it to 26knots but switch at about 22knots as the 7m is well powered. Upwind is excellent on both kites, when combined with a flydoor getting upwind is a piece of cake and is sometimes done without even realizing it. I do however; have a lot more fun on my misfit. Turning A major aim in the design and development of the pulse was to improve turning speed from previous kites. I feel that they have achieved this goal, the 7m turns very quickly and the 13m turns quickly for its size. Their low aspect ratios allow both kites to turn well within a wingspan this makes the 13m; a kite which I felt may be too large to be a great kite. Care has to be taken in light wind when steering the kite as it is possible to kill the power of the kite though over steering. When comparing the turning of a foil another important element to take into consideration is the size for size power for example a 13m Pulse develops the equivalent power of an 18 to 19m LEI and turns a fair bit quicker! De-power The De-power of the Pulse was one of the main selling points and something which was pushed very hard by flysurfer's marketing department, it was also something which personally made the pulse a viable alternative to the Speed and the Pyscho2. The de-power on the pulse is more than on any other flysurfer, sheeting the bar fully out gives a huge reduction in power this was demonstrated in a flysurfer video by someone holding the chicken loop with their little finger! It is important to remember that there is a limit to the amount of de-power the Pulse has, just like all other SLEs, Bows and Hybrids; it is not an on off magic switch! With the bar out there will always be some pull, this pull increases as the wind speed increases. Therefore passing the kite through the power zone in moderate to high winds will still result in a body dragging but it won't be as bad as a normal foil. What the Pulse offers is a massive amount of de-power, when the bar is fully sheeted out. It offers a safety net when trying new tricks which allows you progress a lot quicker. Another difference worthy of notice when comparing the Pulse with current SLEs and bows is how the de-power on the pulse is linear. This allows sheeting out during gusts to be more accurately to a point where gusts are no longer felt and makes tricks a lot easier. Stability The Pulse is the most stable Flysurfer I have ever flown, in shifting lumpy winds there is no kite I would rather go out with. The low aspect ratio combined with the high number of cells with increased internal pressure makes this kite a very rigid structure. When a bad gust hits the kite will move foreword however due to the low aspect ratio this is limited and the large de-power range allows the power to be lost with a small movement of the bar, when the gust subsides the kite will just drift back looking at the canopy show little to no affect on the kite shape. When riding it is very rare that gusts are even noticed, overall this makes the pulse an even more friendly kite. Jumping This kite is not targeted at advanced riders, therefore when I purchased the kite I did not expect it to be a jumping machine. The Pulse does however jump…. and jumps well; the additional de-power provides a massive wind range which makes these kites one of the best jumping kites I have owned combine this with the kites low aspect ratio gives tremendous pop, enough to rival a lot of LEIs this makes carving upwind and popping of the water very fun and makes the kite a great wake style kite. In terms of height achieved in a jump, this kite can't compare with the Speed however, in my opinion these kites jump better than the Pyscho2. The 7m Jumps very well at the upper end of the wind range, the speed at which the kite can be sent allows for massive jumps, it is important to pay attention the first few times when directing the 7m as it is very easy to over re-direct. The 13m jumps well for its size as well which surprised me due to its size. The hang time which is available with this kite is silly. This kite is a great kite to learn to jump with due to the kite being more sedate when redirecting it also allows a lot of time to spot your landings. Overall the kite allows for a slower pace during jumps and a better learning platform. Long term quality I have decided to add this section as I have had a few problems with my Pulses. Both my pulses are from relatively early manufacturing batches and as such some of these problems have been fixed in following batches. A few days after receiving my 13m Pulse a problem emerged on foilzone. 2 Pulses had suffered blown cells with rips beginning at the blow out valve and propagating downwards through the whole cell. I rarely check the inside of the kite however, after these reports I checked all my blowout valves; from this I found one end of the stitching on one valve had come apart, only a very thin line of stitching on the cell was preventing the rip propagating down the cell. I quickly rang the UK distributor (Sven @ Oceanside) who's response and service was second to non! He offered to re-stich the kite himself he also explained how I could do it myself. I chose to do it on my own as I didn't want to be without a kite. This has made a valve which now appears stronger than any of the other valves. I also finished all the other valves stitching top and bottom on both the 7m and the13m to prevent this happening again. A lot of feedback was given on this problem on Foilzone,com and Armin the lead designer for Flysurfer gave us his assurance that all future kites would have the blowout valve stitching checked. Another niggle I have had with my pulse is how the deflation zip which is plastic coated metal has begun to rust, it is not obvious however, some orange discoloring has occurred. This is my no means a major problem and I doubt will ever become a major issue. Overall I am very impressed with the quality of the kite, the repair kit provided with the kite is second to none they even included spare bridle parts! I am yet to see a company who has the same customer support which flysurfer has both in terms of after service care and quality of product. Conclusion Overall I am happy with my kites both these have by far exceeded my expectations. The Pulse is the perfect kite for anyone who is not an advanced or competition rider. They will suite anyone getting into the sport and anyone simply looking to progress, without having there ass handed to them all the time. Every Flysurfer is an advance on the previous design, the pulse however, was a jump from the Speed in both turning speed and de-power. All I can say is Flysurfer is showing that they can easily keep up with tube kite design and advance foil kite development. Well done Armin and Team! Author : HippyMchop
  11. I already reviewed the 10m Extacy a while back but after a few good weeks of wind and the opportunity to ride the 7m, 10m and 13m all within the space of a few days I feel its time to share my experiences. I have to add straight away that I am affiliated to Flysurfer and will thus try and compare the Extacy more to the Psycho2 rather than other kites on the market. Lets start with the 7m. After having ridden the Psycho2s for most of last year I thought going down to a lower aspect ratio foil would maybe suit the new trend of faster turning kites which are also suitable for unhooked riding. The Extacy fits this bill pretty perfectly. One thing that really surprised me however is the Extacys ability to get you on the plane so early. As the Extacy has a lot less backstall than the Psycho2 you can ride it pretty powered without killing the kites momentum. In simple terms you can pull on the bar in light winds without reversing the kite. Even with the bar fully pulled in and the trimmer on full power mode it is still possible to go upwind. The 7m can still stall a bit but you have to go very slow and pull very hard and long before it stalls. This characteristic is what helps the kite to maintain its flying speed when turned, looped or ridden unhooked. Coming from the Psycho2 I had to adjust my jumping style a bit to get the most out of the Extacy and initially I thought that the Extacy has less jumping potential than the Psycho2 but now that I am used to the Extacy I have to correct my opinion on this matter. I now boost higher 90% of the time with the Extacy. It still drops you a little quicker making the landings a little harder, well unless you are nicely powered up but the pop is quite spectacular. Yesterday I still managed to get 15-20feet of height in a mere 15mph of wind. That was on the 10m Extacy. Normally I would have needed the 13m Psycho2 for this. The dense and lifty air definitely helped. The other great thing about the Extacy is its sheer simplicity. No more pulleys and a super simple bridle lay-out. The Extacy has no Mutation lines like the Psycho2 and is pre set by Flysurfer. When new the Extacys are only at about 75% of their potential but after 10-15hours of good use they just keep on getting better. It has to do with the stretch and shrink of various bridle lines which Armin has compensated for. So unlike the Blade3s which stopped flying all together the Extacys keep on getting better. I personally have experimented with different bar length, like I always do and prefer a longer bar on the 10m but will probably change my longer bar on the 13m back to the standard one again. The 13m has a nice bar pressure which it maintains even when more than half pre-depowered on the trimmer. Flysurfer managed to stop the backlines from going slack when heavily depowered on the 13m. The 13m benefits the most from the performance increase after the wearing in period. It gets really lively and fast and its stability increases by the minute. I always thought that I will keep the 13m Psycho2 and then use the 10m and 7m Extacy for the stronger winds but I have now changed my mind. I can use my 10m Extacy from 12mph upwards but realistically I use it only above 14-15mph unless the wind drops during a session. Still it's good to know that I can get away with such a small kite. On the Psycho2 I would have used the 13m up to 18mph and then changed. The 10m Extacy gets me up to 20mph and I then change to the 7m. I could hold on to the 10m up to 25-30 but the 7m is way more fun then. The 13m Extacy has definitely more bottom end than the 13m Psycho2 and an unexpected amount of lift. As it has more grunt I don't think I could get the same height as on a 13m Psycho2 but very close too and it certainly has the same hangtime unless fully maxed. For me the 13m Extacy tops out earlier than the 13m Psycho2 but then I change to the 10m Extacy way before the 13m Extacy reaches its top end. Turning speed is not necessarily faster on the 13m Extacy but the turning circle is tighter which resulted in a lot of my landing being very fast at first with the kite heading rapidly towards the water. Well I just had to redirected less sharply. I would say that on my shortboard I need around 10mph+ during the colder month and maybe a tad more in the hot summer month. On my Flydoor I can go upwind the minute the 13m stays in the air, which is around 6-8mph. So what do I ride now? Well I have sold all of my Psycho2s and I am an Extacy convert. I have adapted my riding style to suit and it works better as a kite for me. I know that the Extacy also targets beginners and I do agree that it is super simple to set-up, fly and relaunch but it also suits intermediates to experts who were previously targeted by the Psycho2s. So were does this leave the Psycho2? The Psycho2 is an awesome kite with a distinctly different feel to the Extacy. It has more backstall tendency but this can be used very effectively for different tricks. People who are used to the classic Flysurfer feel will appreciate the Psycho2 more than the Extacy. Tube and ARC-riders will get on better with the Extacy. The 13m Psycho2 is a classic and has the biggest windrange out of all Flysurfers. For a 80-90kg rider it could almost be a one-kite quiver. The same as the 10m Extacy could be a one-kite quiver for a 65-75kg rider. The 7m Psycho2 is a super kite and light riders get away with it in pretty light winds. The 7m Extacy is a kiteloop new school kite with awesome potential. Both Flysurfer ranges are great and the choice is a matter of taste and certainly not performance related. I hope this wasn't too boring and of use to some. By : just do it
  12. OCEAN RODEO THE "1" 12M INTRO I decided to take up kitesurfing after seeing it done at West Sands,St Andrews and being blown away by the tricks they were pulling off. I've only been kiting for 6 months now.........My name is Dawson Michie.......and I am addicted to kites!!!! After lengthy research into kitesurfing,I decided I was looking for a cross between safety and performance and the new "bow" style kites seemed to fit the bill. I went for the Ocean Rodeo out of all the choices of "bow" out there as their kites are renowned for being bombproof........nothing to do with the fact it's also one of the cheapest "bows" out there.......honest!!!! So there you have it, my reasons for choosing the Ocean Rodeo The "1". Perfomance,safety,durability,price.....the "1" scores highly on all these points, you just choose your size according to your weight and typical wind conditions. "One kite,all conditions" is the claim.......can it deliver? THE KITE I managed to pick this kite up for £670 complete from Airbossworld. First thoughts on setting up for the first time were pretty much amazement at the scale of the thing( the biggest kite I'd flown previously was my 4.9 BladeIII). My first issue soon arose however....the instructions are next to useless. I was actually sent the booklet for the Bronco which is a standard C shape and nothing like setting up the "bow" which resulted in me attaching the power lines to the bar and the brake lines to my harness.....which I now know could have been very nasty!! But a quick visit to their website and the instruction manuals are there for the bar and the kite. Please download both of these before setting up. THE BAR The bar supplied is the Ocean Rodeo "Punch up" bar and to the complete newbie is like nothing you've ever seen before. But it's all pretty intuitive stuff and before you know it you'll be hooking into your chicken loop using your donkey dick,trimming the power line using your cam-cleat and riding "hard against the stopper" Again I've had a couple of issues with this. During one very frustrating session the trim line slipped through the cam-cleat,ripping the bar out of my hands and gashing the foam covering on the bar. There are two solutions to this.1-Ocean Rodeo have taken steps to resolve this so if you've purchased a newer kite,there should be a stopper ball that will stop this happening. 2- If there's no stopper ball, before flying, unravel the existing overhand knot and replace it with a figure of eight knot. And secondly, if you buy this kite,do not keep the stopper screwed into the same place.....I've found that this has started to go through my rigging line and I now can't move the stopper down to the furthest seeting from the kite. THE BAG Once you actually work out how to open the bloody thing it's a pretty standard affair by LEI accounts(apart from the fact there are bloody zips everywhere!!!!). Good size, with expander pouches should you wish to leave your struts inflated. Side straps to attach your bar and pump and........eh,that's about it and finally you're supplied with a double action steel shafted pump.......does exactly as it says on the tin!!!!! SETTING UP Once you manage to get a hold of the proper instructions this is a doddle....still very time consuming.....but a doddle nonetheless. you have a choice of knots to attach your power lines and your brake lines to. choose the longest power lines/shortest brake lines for maximum power and shortest power lines/longest brake lines for minimum power. To give you an idea of the depower available to you just in the initial set up without even touching the cam-cleat....I had this kite out in 25mph winds and thought I'd better put it on the minimum setting as I'm still a beginner. now bear in mind I was having a hard time with a friends 3m Radsail......I ended up vastly underpowered for the afternoon and had my worst ever session This amount of depower was what was crucial to me choosing the "bow" style in the first place. Okay, it may take me a few months,a year even,to know what settings to use in what winds automatically....but it's good to know that I have almost complete control over the power generated by this potential monster LAUNCHING "You can't lauch an LEI on your own", "certainly not down the centre of the wind window" HA!!!!set the kite down on its back,leading edge pointing downwind,sand down the trailing edge,pump it up,attach your lines. Now trim the power lines right in using the cam-cleat and pull on the front lines.....WATCH OUT KSURFER COMI....................EH??? You will not even have to walk forward......it's unbelievable!!!!! If you have no friends whatsoever,this is the kite for you!!!!!!again, I launched this solo on 25mph winds day and just stood there as it reached the zenith PERFORMANCE Let's get the downside of the "1"s performance out of the way shall we? You WILL need a clean wind.No bones about it. Sitting at the zenith the "1" will luff at almost the slightest switch off of the wind. I imagine this is because of the flatter profile and it sometimes can be rescued....but when it's gone.......it's gone......which can mean big trouble on a crowded beach as I nearly found out to my cost. Thankfully I hit noone but it was close enough to teach me a very valuable lesson. And,as if by magic,this brings me onto the next part of performance......... Relaunching...........Awesome!!! as long as you have enough wind, just pull on a back line,flip the kite,let out the bar and the kite will start to climb.....I don't kmow what all the fuss over relaunching is all about......it's easy!!!!!!!! Once the kite is in the air it is an absolute joy to fly.Power does not come on until about halfway up the side of the wind window which means the kite has to be flown higher than the classic C shaped LEI but this is no problem at all. The "1" will generate power by picking your spot in the wind window and sitting it there a la fixed bridle stylee.....wind picks up and you're starting to feel overpowered??? just let that bar out and you can breathe easy again. It really is like an accellerator, pull it in....go faster,let it out......go slower. wind still getting a bit too high??? that's what the cam-cleat's there for The amount of depower available to you is, quite frankly, astounding!!! I had the"1" out in 15mph winds and was surfing really nicely on the maximum power setting. The wind picked up to about 23mph and all I had to do was trim the cam-cleat and performance wise, it felt like the wind hadn't picked up at all ON DRY LAND I have used the "1" for landboarding and it left me smiling for days. Again I would urge you to use it with a nice steady onshore wind. Get this right and you're laughing. Same rules apply a la Ksurfing but I'm confident enough to try jumps on land and Oh Boy! does the "1" deliver!!!!!! very long,fairly high but VERY floaty jumps will be yours in only 10-15mph winds.....you will be grinning from ear to ear!!!!!!! I even learned how to switch stance after my first attempt and I really felt like king of the Board!!!! And the thing that you will never forget???? If you get in any trouble whatsoever.......just push the bar out!!!! power gone!!!! On the one occasion where the kite got caught round the wrong way and the depower bar wasn't working I just pulled the chicken loop safety and all power was gone......It really is that safe!!!!!!!! SUMMARY again I'll start off with the bad points. I've had a couple of issues with this kite. I had a bladder valve that let out air before I could get the stopper valve back on. The two bar issues and the aftersales results have always been the same.......promises,promises,promises!!!! I was promised new bladders by Airbossworld which I've still to receive......Just as well I was able to work out the problem on my own then!! With the bar/trim line problem I contacted Ocean Rodeo direct(at their request when you validate your warranty) and I was put in touch with the UKs "leading" Ocean Rodeo distributer, Twist and Turn Sports in Edinburgh with the promise of a new bar without the rigging.....cue a phone call in which I was told he "didn't want to be left short of a bar" and "would a tube of Aquasure glue not fix the problem?" Despite these difficulties(I really am the worlds unluckiest person)I would definitely recommend the "1" to any level of kiter. It has all the attributes that make a great kite. Safety,performance,build quality and price Enjoy your Ocean Rodeo The "1" Dawson By : DawsonCreaks
  13. Peter Lynn Bomba 13m So one minute I'm quite happy tootling up and down the beach with my small but adequate quiver of fixed bridle kites, the next minute one of our happy band of kiters arrives with a shiny new bag wrapped around a 15m Phantom. Extolling the virtues of twin skins, he impresses us all with the ease of handling and the auto-zenith. So it was perhaps inevitable that more arcs would soon be cluttering up our beach. First impressions: One Ebay bargain later and I was the owner of a 13m Bomba, being the cautious sort I didn't want to be with something high AR like a Phantom. Unpacking it in the garden the only impression was the size of the beast, it seems to go on for miles. ASAP it was off to the beach for a maiden flight, nephew in tow to provide help, ballast or whatever. First Flight. Instruction DVD thoroughly memorised, we inflated the kite, attached the lines, attached safety to harness and I tentatively lifted the downwind tip, the wind caught it, forming the arc shape and the kite lifted along the edge of the window to the zenith. I hooked into my harness, pumped the centre lines a bit to fully inflate the canopy, then unsheeted the depower loop about half way, the wind was probably about 12 mph but I wasn't taking any chances. The next hour or two were spent flying the kite through the window, getting some impressive scuds and the occasional small jump. Such a relaxing way of flying after being used to fixed bridles. Want a drink? No problem let the kite auto-zenith and chug away. Brilliant. Landing was equally straightforward, sheet the kite in, lower it at the edge of the window, unhook from harness, let go of bar and seconds later the kite is laid flat on the beach. In Use. Since that first flight, I reckon the Bomba has been used for 95% of my kiting, staying in the bag only when the wind is truly ballistic or conversely when it's sub-10 mph. On the landboard there is a world of difference between the Bomba and fixed bridles, it's so easy to lock the Bomba into position and cruise. Pull the bar in for a bit of boost or, if the wind gets too strong, sheet in the depower strap and carry on. Upwind performance is phenomenal, given the right conditions you can almost travel into the wind. I'm not exactly a trick guru but getting some air at the end of runs is so easy, simply redirect the kite to just past the zenith in the opposite to the direction you are travelling, pull down the bar and you've left the beach behind. However briefly. Keep the bar pulled down for a soft landing and be ready to start rolling again when the wheels touch the ground. It's quite possible to fly the Bomba in what would otherwise be scary winds, my current record is 34 knots. I did endure one unintentional lofting on a day of nasty, gusty wind, the type which goes from zero to mental in seconds. Fully depowered, walking backwards up the beach, the next thing I'm looking down at the flotsam and jetsam becoming smaller. Generally however, the kites are gentle giants, with an exemplary safety leash system which will drop the kite from the zenith in strong winds quite easily, certainly without the kite-killer, death-spin sometimes associated with fixed bridle emergency landings. Conclusion Being widely thought of as a beginner's depower does the Bomba a disservice, it's certainly stable and easy to fly, given a reasonable amount of wind it's very grunty with a great deal of traction. Turning is slower than the Phantom but this only seems to be an issue in low wind, most of the time it can easily keep up with its slimmer stable mates. By : terra
  14. There I was.... stood in the kite shop, chewing the fat on a windless summer saturday afternoon. It had reached the point in the day when nothing else exciting was going to happen, there was nothing to look forward to but the simple pleasure of getting twisted out of my skull on absinthe and the MSG from a heavy dosing of chinese food. "tch, I could use a new kite" I accidentally let slip... The shopkeep was all over me like a cheap suit... "Have you tried the new PULSE from the german company?" he purred!! the die was cast... he "just happened " to have one on demo... we walked over to the field and put the beast through it's lightwind paces. She responded to every bar input like no other flysurfer before! "Damn this is good" Once again I had let the pusher know I was keen.... when would I learn? We packed down before the heat arrived and made back to his den... the cold burning of wanting was upon me.... the Man knew it... he could smell it on me! He cracked open root beer and we stood... brooding over the pile of tightly zipped bags in the corner, neither willing to speak first less the outcome be as we feared. The phone jangled on the wall, breaking the spell. Here was my chance, I could run now. Leave and be free of the terrible addiction that was slowly but surely going to drag me down to that place no man should be... He finished his hushed conversation. Slipped the receiver back on the wall an turned to face me... his eyes were blazing... he pulled his pricing gun and loaded a new casette of those tag things... "So" His voice was low and pregnant with menace "you got the samolians... and the spuds to be packing that Pulse!?" The question had been asked, there was no turning back. all the light in the pit he called a shop danced on his gold front tooth as he smiled, tapping his pricing gun on the open palm of his left hand. Time stood still... even the dust in the sticky, stinking summer air seemed to pause in it's whirling dance. Waiting, needing to hear the answer. I was trapped. He had started me small... "it's no big thing" he had said...drawing me in like so many saps before me. Sure anyone can handle a 2m Buster I thought... I can take it or leave it. That was nearly three years ago... three years that lead up to this moment... it was just the three of us. Him me and the monkey on my shoulder screaming for me to get my fix. It was two against one, a rigged fight, only a mug would have put a buck on me coming out of this one on top. He would have lost his buck. Time caught up. "sure." The word exploded from my lips! "I can handle it" I slapped the cash on the scarred counter top.. it had dissapeared, slipped into one of his greasy pockets before the final echo hit my ears. Our business was over, he lost interest and went to throwing mice for his fighting dog tied to a post in the corner. I took my package, walked to my trusty automobile and drove noisily into the sweaty afternoon heat. Thankfully I awoke the next day in a more normal frame of mind... So what IS a pulse like? Lots has been spoken of the massive depower range, the ease of use, the superb safety system and the flysurfer build quality... well prepare for more of it! Starting at the top... these things are NOT CHEAP! Nearly £800 for a 10m kite!! "crikey!" I hear you all say... "I could buy a Zillion Pash kites for that" well... you could or you could buy ONE superbly built... should I say engineered.. kite that will last you for many years, shrugging of damage like it's made of teflon. What you should also bear in mind when buying a Flysurfer is that you are getting a land AND water kite... one of very few kites that works well on both mediums too! Well... you have handed £800 over what do you get? An updated Flysurfer bag, centre zip as always and two side pockets. It is a HUGE bag, i can get wetsuit, kite, lunch, towel... well a days kitesurfing kit really inside it. I can also strap my board to it it using the handy front pouch to hold the tip and the extra strap to sto it moving about. The pulse packs down very small... Handily the leash fits around it making it super easy to carry without the bag too. This is a great thing if you park near the beach, no bags for the tide, or chavs, to get! Set the kite up for flight.. I have stopped using pegs on the beach, just throw sand on the upwind tip and side launch. The new massive depower bridle IS much more complicated to look at than the old extacy one.... and there ARE five lines in there!! Saying this I have not yet had any tangles that took more than a minute of gentle tugging to sort out. Older flysurfers had zips on the front, the pulse has one large one on the back...ensure this is closed before flight!! Take off... this is the first time you think.."gosh this is different!" You used to need to pre-inflate a Flysurfer, until it was full it was a bit..well.. intersesting... to fly! Not the Pulse, it lifts off and rises, filling as it goes. By the time it hits the Zenith it's just about full nad the fun can begin. I have flown my Pulse in wind from 8-30mph and felt safe right up to the top. Set the maxpower on the trim strap. Keep pulling the blue strap until it's where you want it . Once you are ready just let go of the bar and be amazed! All the power just goes!! Well...not all, but a good 80-85%. Enough to be really safe if you suddenly get scared or hurt. How does it fly? Superbly. I have had Psycho2, spirirt, voodoo, rookie2, extacys and THIS is the best I have ever used. It is everything I ever wanted a Flysurfer to be... PLUS they got rid of the old "safety" sytsem and fitted a fifth line one. Hit the panic toggle and the kite folds back tip to tip then falls to the floor with all the pull of a day old kitten... LOVELY! Compare that to hitting the safety on a Psycho2 in high wind!! It urns quickly and with as much or little power as you want, it jumps high and floats well... it does everything you could want really! It works well as a landboarding kite and on the water... I would say it would be equvillent to a 14m Venom... if they made one... just above the 13, just under the 16 in power and speed. Packing down is a doddle too. Undo the zip on the back and roll it up...done! What level of flyer would this suit? Everyone really. If you are ready to start using a depower, this is a superb way to learn as it is highly unlikely to bite you. It will also keep up with you as you improve. Have a try on one, you may find yourself £800 lighter but with a huge smile!! By : adamski
  15. Ozone Instinct 13. After i found out that Ozone was going to release a kitesurf kite i instantly wanted to get my hands on one, so there it was finally and avail in the shops, there i snowkite with Frenzy's and always been impressed with the Ozone materials and the way they perform & handle, i was not reluctant to buy one of there 1st flat arc kites, even if the pricing of these can hardly be called low, and 1st "water" kite that they produced. So after finally arriving, another very nice Ozone bag was mine, the bag is also widely promoted on the site and has the handy board 'Slot"where you can place the board and carry it together with the bag, so you have more freedom to move, the bag is very nice as usual typical Ozone and is again well thought of, so then unpacking the kite, as usual the kite is neatly packed and comes with the ozone manual telling the basic's of the kite,set up , etc. The kite itself is very well manufactured , as usual all stitches are perfect and nothing can be found wrong, the materials for the tubes are very light and feel comfortably strong, the struts are very thin so we already know these will produce less drag, the main tube of the leading edge has got a little mesh guard that goes over the valve's so that the lines do not tangle or hang up there , the 5-th line , hence this is not a bow there it's got no bridle, but a 5th, looks in the beginning on the ground a bit odd but these are the anti invert lines, so the kite does not roll threw the lines when coming down. Also you will notice the lines go to directly to the main tube, and have no other knots for adjustment. Flying the kite, i'm 100 kilo's fully set up and wet, according to Ozone you choose 1 kite according to your weight and can fly it from 10-25 knots, well there I'm a bit heavier then the scale for the 13, i noticed that indeed with 10 knots the kite does not rely gets me going upwind, sineing downwind however i do manage to get going, but with a meer 13 knots the instinct does get me going and upwind !! , some thing to mention here i use a 1,50m board with a 36cm width. last weekend i had the change to test the upper end of the kite, and had the kite out with a constant 24 knots and gusts upto the 30's and was able to hold the kite and due to the huge depower was able to manage the harder gusts. Also the kite does not overfly with these hard gusts even parked at zenith the kite stays put. The kite fly's very comfortable and is very stable, you park it and it stays there, the bar pressure is quite light however still enough to feel where the kite is, its real easy to keep flying for hours without any aching arms after, the kite feels quite similar as my normal c-kites and after about 2 days you are used to the slight difference of the instinct/flat kite When taking the instinct out for the 1-st time , and for who are used to the c-kites, for me it was getting a bit used to it , the launching of the kite will have to be done with the bar pulled in a bit, this is for the safety , there when you let the bar go the kite flies down to the corner of the window, however landing and launching you will have to "power" up a bit to keep the tension to the lines, also when putting on the board you cant let go off the bar, or again the "safety" engages and the kite flys down again. This is a bit getting used to, and now you notice how many times you let go of the bar now and then, also sheeting out the full way gives such a depower that you don't want to do this 2 long or again you loose almost all power, but in 2 day's you will get used 2 it and hardly think of it anymore, there still is time to spin the bar , there it takes a little bit before the kite really comes down.The safety trim works well in both the high and low and,just let go of the bar and the kite fly's almost power less to the edge of the window and waits there to get started again. The lift is quite amazing, just put the kite at 12 and pull the bar and the kite pulls you off the water, the lift is quite explosive ,and the hangtime is amazing, with steering the kite back and pulling the bar in, the lift is really amazing and the kite just plucks you off the water. Also jumping unhooked goes very well , you will need to pull the trim in a bit to make sure the kite does not backstall a bit, but then you can really go for it, the pull is hard but not explosive, and feels very comfortable, looping the kite is also no problem, and gives you the power you want, just with adjusting the strap. Just sailing the kite is great, its very stable and you can just park the kite and ride it on the harness, just sheeting in and out for the power you need, the range of power you have is amazing and never seen or felt that in any kite, gusts are truly no problem with this thing, as well as holes in the wind just pull the bar and get the extra power you need. What ever you want from the kite is no problem everything feels comfortable and easy, it does not power up, suddenly, stay's put ,and does nothing un expected, its a very smooth feeling kite, and you can just concentrate on anything else then the kite. Going upwind is very very easy as well , i think this kite get;s me more easy upwind then any other kite i have ever flown, the kite really flies nice to the edge of the window and allows you to pull upwind without any problem, throttle the kite up a bit and it sits a bit deeper into the window, and you can you can really get some speed out of it. give more edge and depower and you can really shoot upwind, or hold the kite in hard winds. Launching the kite , i had no problems with,just pull one of the back lines in and the kite reverses like a mattress, even in the lower winds i had no problems with this, but they do advice to keep the struts pumped as per spec. Are there no downfalls, well the bag for me is useless, looks nice and neat but maybe for a 9, for my 13 its clearly to small , or i might need to go do a course on japanese origami, or other folding art, i just do not like the amount of times i need to fold the thing over b-4 the thing fits,i believe this will damage the struts sooner or later. coming out of the water and the wind still blowing its just not possible to neatly fold the kite, or you should have all your kite buddies help or so. Also i think the leading edge could do with some protection pads there the main tube really lay's straight on the sand, grass or whatever, but possibly this is done to keep the kite as light as possible (and it is light) , the kite comes with a handle pass leach, and can be set up with the leash going to the depower strap to let it flag out for people who prefers this extra safety, however if you spin the bar this will tangle round the lines, the other set up is the suicide leach just going to the chickenloop, then you again only have the depower of the kite to trust, however Ozone just brought a safety kit on the market for the kite, to let the kite flag out and still ride it with the leash attached to this, what i ordered as well, no messing around with safety, i hope this will become standard on the kites, and not a add on people have to buy, but it does show ozone listens to the market. I can tel how easy the bar set up is , but if you don't know that , you better go do your lessons again 🙂 and about the nice pump and pump leash and gauge, but these things are just to std. All and all I'm really happy with the kite and the range this kite gives is just huge, this kite replaces the 12 and 16 that i mostly use, it feels nice and alround and can do anything you like, as they say its from beginner to expert and i do believe this kite can give all the people in between all the joy as well. Hope this provides a bit of information over this particular kite, its the only bow i have ridden till now, but they are worth a shot, as well as many other brands out there they give a HUGE wind range, and extended low and upper range. cheers Niels By : niels74
  16. The Lightwave 169 was my first training board for kite surfing. Researched the characteristics of the larger board for the larger rider I purchased a pristine example from Ebay. With a total length of 169cm and twin tip this was the ideal learner board for me. Took a day out to Cleethorpes and met an instructor to give me some pointers to starting, I was already familiar with rigging and launching, and took to the water with a 9mtr Flexifoil Strike and Dakine Fusion Harness. What an amazing board. With my history of Cable Wake Boarding and Speed Windsurfing the transition to kitesurf-board should have been a smooth one. Hmm. Took about 5 attempts to actually get planning on the Litewave 169, and personally I think this was down to the board. Tough as nails with razor sharp rails, all this board wanted to do was GO! I sold the board shortly after this day however, due to wanting a slightly smaller board that would be easier to travel abroad with. Bought the Naish 134 TTPRO. Compared to the Litewave the TTPRO feels like a TOP TRUMP card! Oh the TTPRO is pretty wide at 40ish centimetres, but there is no beating the 169 for overall buoyancy and early planning capabilities. I would deffo get another, if I could find one at the right price. Shouldn't have sold the last one. One of the other points that sold me the Litewave is the story of one owner who left his board leant up behind a transit van next to the beach. Not too surprisingly the van reversed, flattening the board into the sand. On rescuing the board, the only sign of damage were a few scratch marks down the rocker, no dents or perforations what so ever. By : mrmawalker
  17. The Flysurfer Speed I was untangling my new Speeds the other day over at Epsom Downs and a guy who was struggling to fly one of those things Argos thinks is a kite came over to chat. We had a long conversation regarding our shared pastime and unfortunately he walked off in a bit of a huff when I explained that my underpants would have a better chance of flying in the current conditions than his new kite. I even offered to donate them to him for testing, however I don't think he truly appreciated the gift. Something that would have flown well in that wind, if I could get them untangled before the sun set, would be my new Flysurfer Speeds. Introduction Patience is a virtue. Or at least that's what we have always been led to believe. After waiting several weeks for delivery of a few production Speeds they are finally here. I purchased mine from Sven at oceanside.co.uk, I've always had great service and support from Sven and this purchase was no different. I decided to go for a 10m, probably the most popular size, and the 17m which is just huge. I've been a big fan of Flysurfer for some time now so it will be interesting to see how the new kite performs in the real world. The Speeds are designed to be powerful kites, a 10m Speed is said to be equivalent to the 13m PSYCHO2, which in turn is equivalent to a 16-17m LEI. The 17m Speed is roughly equivalent to the 21m PSYCHO2, or in other words, a 25m LEI, so we are talking about a big powerful kite here. Imagine the power of a 17m Blade 3 and you'll be pretty close. The big Speeds create so much power that those crazy Flysurfer guys have actually tried paragliding with them. Please don't even begin to try this with your kites, however it gives a good indication of what these kites can do. Background These latest kites top Flysurfer's current production range. They are de-powerable offering versatility, high performance with superb stability, cover a huge wind range and can be steered very close to the edge of the window. The Speeds use the new XD-14 profile, developed and modelled on computer and then refined in the wind tunnel, these are pretty impressive bits of kit. With an aspect ratio (A/R) of a mind boggling 5.9 across the range, these kites look like they mean business. The Blade3 4.9m for example has an A/R of just 5.0. The graphics and colours of these new kites fit with the evolving Flysurfer tradition and in my opinion look pretty cool. Colours follow the PSYCHO2 scheme, 5 and 13m are blue, 10m is yellow and the 7 and 17m being red. These kites look outstanding. Flysurfer also offer a free 6 month repair deal on all the Speeds they sell in the UK, this to be honest, is an amazing offer and other manufacturers should take note. The Bag The kite comes ready to go as do all new Flysurfers. The way they are packed still astounds me, you can be flying within minutes, no lines to attach, nothing to setup (unless you want to). The bag itself is new and looks like a redesign of the previous blue bags. Good strong material, new colours and a larger rear pocket for carrying boards. Included are also an instruction manual (which I still have yet to read), repair kit and a cheap looking lanyard for putting your keys on. The construction of the bag is very good. No issues at all. The rear pocket is now even bigger and can fit 2 boards quite easily. Bar and Lines As with all Flysurfers, you get top quality products. The bar is very solid and is wrapped in colour coded neoprene allowing you to quickly see which way around the bar needs to go. Very simple, however very effective. Bar length is 50cm on the 10m and a lengthy 63cm on the 17m, the setup and safety is very similar to the PSYCHO2 bar, so if you have flown PS2s then you'll be in familiar territory. Kite setup is on four lines rather than the usual three. Pullies are used to balance the kite and can get clogged with sand and twigs. They need to be kept clean and free running at all times. Line length is adjustable, however as standard is 21m across the range. The MML (Serial Multi-Line-Length) allows you however to adjust the line length in 3m sections. Great for adapting the kite to suit your conditions and riding style, however is something that I'll probably not need to play with. The trim line runs through the center of the bar and attaches to the auto rotor leash. I still seem to experience a similar problem as I did with the PSYCHO2s, the auto restart line gets twisted around the center line. This can be very annoying and potentially a serious issue if you don't keep your eye on it. It's a shame it hasn't been fixed yet. The trimmer has a good solid feel, its easy to operate and the depower available is just huge. The 17m Speed for instance can be depowered to something similar to a 20m LEI, however when fully powered is approaching a 30m LEI. The power available is just huge. The forces on the bar can be adjusted via the WAC system. Five stages from Hard to Soft Steering are available. Kiters looking to cruise will typically go for a soft feedback. Riders coming from LEIs and those looking to ride unhooked will likely go more towards the Hard feedback. I like something in between. How you have it is entirely up to you. Not many kites offer this kind of personalisation. The Kite The first thing you notice when you see a Speed is the Aspect Ratio. At 5.9 across the range, its simply huge. The kites look so big in the sky. When flying the 17m, someone once asked if I was on very short lines as the kite seemed so close. Nope, they are the standard 21m, it's just that the kite is so big!! Each Speed has 35 cells, a 90% surface ratio and a very large projected area. Performance is just outstanding. All Flysurfers are up there at the top of the list when it comes to construction and materials. I've had a good look at every seam, every point where the line connects and I just can't find anything that looks dodgey. These kites are just perfectly made, its really true craftsmanship, Flysurfer are expensive, however you really do get what you pay for. As with previous kites, the Speeds have inlet valves, jet flaps, zipped deflation openings, and pressure release or "over pressure" valves on the trailing edge. The inlets are located along the leading edge and in a steady breeze, the kites fill easily and quickly. Once filled and up to pressure, the kite remains inflated for a very long time. In a very light wind, a bit of leading edge flapping is required, but this is only in winds of less than 3 knots. The jet flaps, as with the PSYCHO2s add to the stability of the kite and also to the lift. All kites are designed with a compromise between performance (reactivity, lift, upwind ability) and stability (no over flying, easy relaunch, constant power). A high performance kite, requires a high aspect ratio and thin profile, however this can make a kite unstable. Balancing performance and stability is where these Speeds really excel. Performance is breath taking and stability is amazing. The jet flaps enable the kite to follow a design which pass beyond the limitations implied by traditional kite aerodynamics. They auto regulate the air pressure system around the kite and give two significant performance features. Max power with no stalling : For a normal kite (foil or LEI ), the lift produced is limited by the stalling point, in other words, when the angle-of-attack becomes too large a kite would not create more lift but stall or even start to fly backwards. The Jet Flaps help to overcome this, since the excess air pressure can be dumped through the flaps. This means that the angle-of attack and consequently the vertical boost and hangtime can be increased beyond anything seen with a traditional kite. Max stability : Jet Flaps balance uneven aerodynamics forces (for example, when the kite is close to leaving the wind window or a gust forces the kite to fly far overhead or a rider under jumps the kite). Therefore, when changing wind conditions or bad steering cause the kite's air flow to break off, the Jet Flaps compensate for lack of pressure on either side of the sail and cause the kite to find its optimum position in the wind window. Setting Up Getting the kite ready to fly is relatively straightforward. If you are used to foils then its easy. If you come from a LEI background then the extra bridle lines may be a little strange but you'll soon get used to them. I've had a few major tangles and had to take the lines off a few times to get it sorted. When the Speeds get tangled then they really do get tangled. The problems I have had probably come from me not packing the kite away properly. Maybe if I read the manual it might be easier. Take the bar from the bag and unwind the lines down wind. Then remove the kite. A simple shake will sort everything out then sufficiently weigh down the upwind tip. Make sure that there are no tangles, hook up the bar and your ready to fly. Easy. And of course there's nothing to pump up !! Launching and Landing In light winds, the Speeds need to be well inflated for an easy side launch. This is relatively easy to do by "pumping" via the center lines, or just move side ways until the kite is more down wind of you then once you're ready walk to one side. Pre-inflation is made easier by keeping the zips on the leading edge open, however make sure you remember to close them before you launch. Launching with the Speeds is like all modern Flysurfers, its just so easy, no help is required. A gentle tug and the kite takes to the air, it takes a few more seconds until it is completely inflated at the tips then your ready to go. I've never yet experienced any issues such as power surges or a lack of control. The kite raises relatively slowly, you still have full control, with a steady progressive power up, the kite is flying above your head. Landing is equally as easy, there are a number of options here, however the easiest way is to have the kite directly over your head at the top of the wind window and to then pull on the lines at either side of the bar. By doing this you are effectively putting on the brakes. The kite will begin to reverse and by keeping hold of these out lines you can control both the speed and direction of descent. A little more skill or care is required when trying to launch and land in breezy or gusty conditions; however it really is all very easy. Flying The Speeds have been flown in a wide variety of locations and weather conditions. They've been used by a number of different people so I could get some feedback from kiters who aren't used to Flysurfers and also feedback from LEI flyers. They've been used for kite surfing, mountain boarding and buggying, so I feel that I'm being fair when I say they've been properly tested. Everyone who has flown them have been impressed. Some are seriously thinking about buying some for themselves. These truly are impressive kites, Flysurfer's just keep getting better and better. The kites fly fast and have direct control, they really feel good in the air. The 10m is probably the most popular, power wise its equivalent to a 16m LEI. It will happily fly in around 5 knots, however will be underpowered. When the wind hits 9 knots then you really start to have fun and as with all of the Speeds, get the kite moving and the power is incredible. Top wind speed is around 27 knots, here the kite is depowered however still manageable. We are talking about a pretty huge wind range here. The 17m will comfortably fly in about 5 knots. 5 - 6 knots and you're underpowered. 7 knots and the power and performance really start to kick in. If you're looking at using these for surfing, nothing will get you going sooner. While everyone else is sat waiting for the wind you'll be out on the water. Its as simple as that. The 17m max's out at around 15knots, however its still manageable and doesn't feel scary. If you like to fly over powered then you can easily go up to around 25 knots. However that is scary. Turning Turning is sharp and quick. The 17m does take time however is probably similar to that of a 20m LEI, however given that its producing so much more power, the turning speed is pretty good. The 10m is much quicker and snappier. Handling is quick and responsive. The pilot will get so much more out of the kites if they have a little experience with high performance kites. If the pilot can feel the kite then the experience is so much better. Both kites can be easily turned around their central axis by pulling the bar and powering up a little as you start the turn. I've had the kites pretty much stalled in the air as they turn. If you get the hang of it you can stall turn without losing the fluidity of the kites motion. Fluidity is probably a good word to describe how to fly these kites. Stability The Speeds are high performance kites. If you haven't flown anything like them its hard to understand what they are capable of. If you think that the Blade3 are high performance then think again, they don't even some close to the Speeds. These kites are in a category all on their own. Stability of high performance kites has always been something that has been lacking. Well, not lacking as such, just something that has to be learnt through experience. The Speeds are very stable, and you feel totally at easy flying these on both land and on the water. I've not yet managed to ditch the kite, not even managed to crash it once. The options to set the kite to your own preference goes a long way in terms of stability, by changing the WAC settings you can tune the kite and either eliminate or add back stall or over flying, or a setting between the two. Precise stability is up to you. On the Hard setting the kites feel like LEIs with no back stall at all, even in light winds. In soft steering mode, the kite has a little back stall however, turns and responds much quicker than before. Jumping To say that these kites are lifty, is an understatement. The Flysurfer guys have used these kites to paraglide with. The lift is enormous, jumping is just second nature when flying the Speeds. Even in relatively sedate winds, big jumps are easy, if not part of the experience. Hang time is again huge, floaty jumps with lots of air time is easy. Adjustments Hard/Soft Steering : The steering forces can be adjusted individually on the bridal adjustments. You can adapt the kite for unhooked kiting, cruising and everything in between. You can decide how you want the kite to fly. APC (Automatic Profile Camber) : The optimized WAC-Line-System allows the kite to automatically change the camber of the profile. The kite will adjust itself to the wind conditions automatically, so whether you're riding at maximum speed with high stability (flat profile) or riding with high lift and power (arched profile), you never have to adjust the kite by hand. MLL (Serial Multi-Line-Length) : Allows you to easily reduce the flying-line length of 21 meters in 3 meter intervals. That way, you can quickly change the kite to a wave rider or adjust it for use in narrow launch locations. LCL (Little Connection Lines) : Predetermined breaking points at the connections of the wing to the bridle lines prevent damage to the kite and the lines. The LCL can be replaced very quickly so you can kite again in no time, e.g. after getting caught in an obstacle. Conclusion I've had Flysurfers for a few years now and something pretty revolutionary would need to come out to make me swap. These Speeds only backup this statement. They are fantastic kites. Designed for experienced kiters, there is nothing these kites can't do. Land, snow and water, these kites really excel. Upwind performance is very impressive, jumping and hang time is impressive. Its really hard to find any bad points with these kites, if I really had to find something then it would have to be the tangling rotor leash and the constant tangles with the lines, but this is probably more my fault than the kite's. If you are experienced, and I mean experienced, having a Bullet for 3 months just isn't going to cut it with these kites, then you really need to try them. Every top of the range kite Flysurfer release is so much better than the one before. Everything has been thought about, everything has been tweaked, everything comes together to give you probably the best foil kite ever made. If you have never flown a Flysurfer then you really are missing out. If you have never owned a Flysurfer then you are missing out. These Flysurfer Speeds redefine kiting. The measure used to define extreme has been redefined. Armin... You get 10/10 for this one !! Author : racekites admin
  18. I live in San Diego and regularly kitesurf at the Silver Strand where the wind conditions average about 10 mph. I weigh 180 pounds and use a 179 cm Litewave Dave as my board. The Silver Strand is on the ocean side of the Pacific Ocean and the surf can range from 3 feet to about 7 feet. I have a Cabrinha 23.5 lei, a 15 m2 and a 19m2 slingshot lei. Of all the kites i own, I prefer the Speed 17. The speed has just as much power as the 23.5 Cabrinha and the turning speed is faster on the softest 2 steering positions. Prior to trying the Speed, I had modified my Cabrinha into a 5 line kite using the bar from my 19m2 Slingshot. My primary motivation for using the fifth line was to aid in relaunch and secondarily to assist in self landings. Launching still required help. Self launches with a big kite in light winds is fairly difficult. However, self launches with Speed 17 is easily done by launching directly down wind in the power zone. The kite takes off with only half the usual power as kite continues to fill with air. It doesn't attain full power in 10-12 mph winds until directly overhead for about 5 seconds. I place the kite downwind and put a handfull of sand on the trailing edge in about 7 places and shake out the bridle lines to insure no tangles and seaweed passengers. I untangle the line by walking toward the bars rather than walking from the bars toward the kite as I normally do with the leis. When I get to the bar I usually have to twist the bar a few times to get the lines untwisted. If necessary, I can easily slip off the center lines and reconnect if the bar has rolled so as to have the center lines wrapped around the steering lines. The key to avoiding tangles is to pack the kite with the bar near the center of the kite but two feet below the trailing edge with the red lines off to the left and the green lines to the right and the kite and the bridles laid out horizontally in front of you on top of the kite. I then fold one wingtip over the other wingtip and roll the two wingtips with the bridles safely sandwiched inside toward the center. When I get the kite fully rolled up, the dirty sandy bar and some of the pully lines are available for easy washing when I get back to my house. The kite is now about 6 feet vertical with leading edge away from you x 1 feet wide with trailing edge at feet and kitebar with small amount of lines right underfoot. I then fold the kite from the leading edge down towards the trailing edge twice, in order to fit into backpack and wrap with a strap. The bar is easily washed as it is not buried in the middle of the kite. The 23.5 m2 Cabrinha has about the same power as the Speed 17. The Cabrinha turns faster than the speed when the speed is on hard steering and slower when the speed is on the second knot from max soft steering. Also, when the Speed is tuned correctly (additional 4 inches added to the back lines), the kite will turn faster when sheeted in and slower when sheeted out. If the kite is backstalled by sheeting in too far (usually a problem when kite is used as delivered with the center lines that are 4 inches too long after third use of kite and stretching of lines and bridle has taken place) sheeting out slightly may be necessary for optimum turning speed. Since, the wind is usually about 10 mph, I have modified my Speed by adding 10 meter lines and putting the steering on max soft steering. With the extra line length, the Speed is a little less responsive to turning pressure, so the maximum soft steering feels the same on longer lines as the second knot did with the standard setup. In addition, the four 10 meter lines that I added were not exactly the same length. Two of the lines were about 4 inches shorter. The shorter lines, I attached to the center lines and the longer lines to the steering lines. This fixed a problem that I noticed has also been experienced by other Speed owners. By the third use, The sweet spot of maximum power with the kite as delivered is almost fully sheeted our with the yellow line pulled almost all the way in. The answer is to shorten the center lines (with big problems with adjusting the emergency depower lines) or easily adding 4 inches onto the back lines. I suggest adding 4 inches onto the back lines. With the additional line length, I now am the first one on the water and the last one off. The extra line length gives a larger power window. The disadvantage is that timing for jumps is more difficult since in non overpowered conditions, the kite takes longer to swing overhead from the edge of the window 30-45 degree off the horizon position. If the wind is 13+mph, the kite is higher in the window and jumping is a lot easier to time and the lift is amazing. Also, with longer lines turning is slower so the kite must be moved to the maximum soft steering position. Also, a big board is required because turning at the edge of the wind window requires slightly more bouyancy to keep on plain for a slightly longer turn. If I time the jumps correctly with the extra power off the ramps produced by the surf, I can get higher and longer jumps than anyone else on the beach. The Caution 20 is the only lei kite that delivers the same class of jumping power, but the people on these kites have about 2 years more experience than I do and weight about 20 pounds less and they still don't get the same lift. With the Speed 17, I can self land the kite without help. I direct the kite towards the edge of the wind window. When the kite is close to the sand, I grab the blue emergency depower line which pulls the trailing lines and collapses the kite with the leading edge up. I then immmediately grab the steering line closest upwind, and run upwind with pressure only on this steering line as I reel it in and get closer to the kite's leading wing. The kite may tumble a litle bit downwind and even roll as this happens. Makes sure that no spectators are downwind when self landing. If the kite tumbles, detangling the bridles can be a 30 minute project if seaweed and brambles get caught in the lines. Nonetheless, after the first two times self landing by pulling the emergency blue line connected to the steering lines, I had no fear of losing control over the kite. Another advantage; I have overflown the kite a number of times through jumping. My Cabrinha would have tumbled out of the sky and perhaps even inverted. The speed will float in the air with slack lines and with a minimum amount of direction and end up back in position within the wind window after 3-4 seconds of powerlessness. The weight of the bridles keep the kite from deforming or tumbling. This is a big advantage when jumping a half mile off shore. One disadvantage of the kite: If you are an expert who doesn't drop the kite into the surf, this kite rocks. If you drop it into the surf and it rolls around in the sand, you might as well pack it up. You have a water logged mess that weighs a ton and requires at least 30 minutes to untangle the bridle lines. All the lei users are busy laughing at you on the beach. I have done this twice in about 12 sessions. Washing the kite in the garage when you get it home and letting it dry now becomes a necessity. If you don't drop it in the water, I don't even bother to wash anything other than the bar and lines which I have conveniently available and unburied in the kite. I have relaunched this kite when dropped into the water by pulling on the back steering lines and flying it backwards off the water. This works great in non surf conditions and with 10mph plus winds. With the advantages of easier self launch, self landing, huge power in a smaller, faster turning package and the useability in otherwise marginal conditions, the Speed 17 with the modifications mentioned above, is the ultimate light wind machine. Having developed some skill with other kites that are easily relaunched, I prefer to use the Speed 17 whenever the wind speed is below 15 mph. The performance is simply not matched by anything else I've seen on my beach. By : SilverStrandMan
  19. I've used both LEI (16m x2) and various flysurfer kites including the psycho1 and warrior. So whats it like? Well out of the bag, its well made, packs down nicely and has afew new features that should increase it longevity such as: 1. blow off valves (Aye Aye!) which should open if you pile it into the water/ground on its front edge, and stop it popping like a paper bag. 2. small loops of bridle that should snap in preference to the insertion points on the kite, so if you do break them they should be easy enough to replace. 3.Reinforced 500lb center line (I snapped the psycho 1 300lb lines at least 3 times) Set up is ok, provided you are used to it. First of all lay out the kite and shake out the bridles, next untangle the control lines. This is more complex than previous FS's in that there are three layers of contol lines. It sort of make sense when you see it but could be a bit of a nightmare if you are not used to bridling. (i.e straight of LEI's). The extra complexity here allows the kites angle of attack to be varied hugely with a very sort range on the depower at the bar. So far I've not had too many problems, except the first time I used it (in 28mph winds, not ideal) and now I'm used to it, it takes me about 5 mins to set up and be off. Take off is ok, I usually self launch at the side of the window. Once had a problem in high wind with too much weight on one end, the kite half inflated then dragged backward without taking off. Had to dump it on the safety. No problems next time with a little more preinflation a fiddle with the wac system (more of this later) and less sand. In the sky, very stable, very fast on the turn, very little tip curl (with the factory wac settings), and very light on the arms. The small degree of imput on the bar includes the power up, overpower/stall as the bar is draw towards you. It does depend on how you have the depower strap pulled, full on the power up range is about 20 cm (i.e very very short. In low winds you fly with no depower stap and the power up range is 0, i.e. the kite flies like a LEI on full depower. Generally I have the depower strap pulled about 1/4 and this gives about 6cm pull on the bar for full power. Pull beyond this the kite will stall and slowly drop backwards. Grunt is great, as is pop, hang time needs a good pilot with hands used to the short power range. I find the kite has a tendancy to drop me out the sky quickly sometimes, othertimes you float down like a feather. I suspect this is related to the inflight piloting. The grunt is great for low wind flying, and the turn speed allows you to Sine like a LEI (unlike the old Psychos). I have had the 10 keeping me upwind with 2m jumps in 12mph wind. Give the kite some wind 15mph-23mph and its heaven on wings. It does fly like a LEI quite alot in that you rely on board edge quite alot to cope with the gusts. JUmps are easy, but the bar system could do with something like the cabrinha power ball to keep consistent power on during flight, because oversheet, undersheet and you is heavier than meeting with Michael Howard. Overpowered it behaves and keeps you on you toes with the grunt kicking in the gusts and (on one occasion ripping me off the board for a 20m downwind power belly slide!) Relaunch is the best I've seen, either release and retrive the bar, or pull on one of the side lines and the kite should flip up and off. Only in light winds (like the 12mph I was in) get the kite wet, and its going nowhere. Safety, again excellent, (this is why I have FS), chicken loop relase- and pull stop system works reliabley and well. Also kite dump if ness available. I generally surf alone and find the FS are very good for self launch self land (better than the X2) Overall, great, Im really pleased, it has some drawbacks, the short power range on the bar, Also I've noticed some wear on the lines that pass through the pulleys and the kite is only 20x used. By : sheff
  20. After my good lady has now decided my old Beamer II 3.6m is officially hers (not sure how!) I decided to go out and get a similar sized kite but now thanks to using a friends massive Frenzy, get a depower. Due to the fact I've got (or have access to) bigger, performance kites - I decided on a Flysurfer Cool 4.0m as my latest aquisition. Looking on this board, I noticed a cerain Manx-man selling said kite at a reasonable price and after a few ' complications' with our friendly postal service (my end), the new old kite turned up at my local post office! Right on with the review... The Bag Old racekites cliche, but you don't fly the bag and all that. However was pleasantly surprised with the great quality and enormous size of the rucksack. It will comfortably house 2 kites and control gear and has no zips or anything which is likely to snag the kite material lines. Control Gear Colour coded, well stretched (well it is second hand) lines and basic depower control configuration. It doesn't have all the safety features the more expensive Ozone kites may have, but not overly concerned considering it's only 4m. Overall happy with it! The Kite Soft 4.0m, royal blue and white (great colours being a Birmingham City fan!!) No reinforcement to openings but generally very well constucted, quality bit of kit. Bridles After having a mare with the Frenzy's pulleys and general Heath Robinson construction (!), suprised to see a very simple arrangement that is very beginner friendly. First Flight Rubbish Second Flight Went out on winds between 15-20mph (according to skylinkweather). Messed around with the trimmer for two minutes then first proper flight. Straight up to the zenith, no overflying at all, and gently pulling me up. Great so far - a very simple friendly kite. Dipped into the power and the fun began, not massive Blade type antics, but smooth pulls and power-up jumps. Due to it's predictable behaviour, was able to fly it for over an hour without tiring and it didn't luff (seriously) once. Decided this was my high end wind kite straightaway (considering I don't go flying in >25mph winds). Overall Not a thrills and spills kite in this size but a great introduction to very well made depower kites. Now to save up for the limited edition FS Speed!!! By : davekermito
  21. Like most we buy our stuff second hand and this is what i did with this kite, i previously gave up kite flying about 2-3 years back and when i was kite flying then i use to use a frenzy 03 7.3 When they first came out so i knew about power and lift ect , but it came, the time when you miss kite flying so much, you have to go out and buy one. so when it came to purchase a kite i didn't know what i wanted but i knew i wanted to get on the water eventurally like most. and i didn't really want to go back to owning a frenzy as there are so many models out nowadays, and they are fairly expensive and you can't use them for water, done to the fact of it being a foil and i didn't really have the money for a flysurfer. So with some investergation i found a kite called 'Arcs' , 3 years ago ive never heard of them, so with being told that they can be used on both land and water i thought this would be a perfect kite for me. people told me and i already knew that the problem with LEIs are that they can break if crashed hard, and since i hadn't really kite flew for a few years, i didn't really want to risk it, and also ive been told the leis aren't brilliant in gusts but people say neither are frenzys. so i had a choice of either a flysurfer(which i didn't have the money for) or an LEI (which i may break) or a frenzy (which again are rather expensive even for the older versions and can't be used on the water) or this 'ARC' type kite. so after alot of investagation into the kite purchasing i found that arcs are very duriable, strong and easy to fly. Now the question is what type of arc do i get theres the F-arcs, guerillas 1 and 2, and venoms... the f arcs are the older ones (i think) and i didn't want something ttoo old tahts been raged about ect , the venom which is the newer out of the arcs which you can't find a cheap one dispate the venom 2 out now, your still looking around £400 for a 10m so that seems a bit too steep being a student and all. SO it was a Guerilla or nothing. the differnece between the guerilla 1 to the 2 is that the 2 moves quicker through the air appartly don't quote me on this as i haven't had the honour to fly a guerilla 1, so i decided to go for a version 2 but what size. ?? i looked on the flexi forums for arcs for sale and it was either a 13m or 15m, so i decided to go for a 13m becasue at the time i didn't have enough for the 15m. When i agreed to buy the 13m guerilla 2 the seller decided to come to my local town of harrogate to sell me it, and he came all the way from manchester!! so when he turned up he got it out and showed me the best way to set up. The winds were howling at the time so i was very nervours, so he un-wined the lines from the bar first, then got the kite out at first i thought it was massive and i ain't seen anything like it, i wasn't sure how it worked though , he showed me that the 'arcs' have two zips in the middle of the kite,one as an inflate and one as a deflate, so before flying the kite you use the inflate zip to pre inflate the kite to get it in the air! With the wind being so strong that day it took a matter of seconds to inflate the kite so once he was all hooked in on the bar, he pulled on two lines which were the furthest away from us, and this created the kite to lift and get in the air as soon as the kite was in the air he got dragged straight down this field, and straight away as he got back on his feet he pulled the safety lesh, and the bar, just flew up the line and the kite went straight down to the ground and told me you can't fly it today. but i knew straight away i wanted this kite !! so after showing me how everything works i bought it. Three months later, and i feel i have progessed so much with my kiteboarding, i haven't made it onto the water yet but im now doing grabs, deadmen and kite loops on the land. I feel if you want to progress fast then a arc is the kite for you, yes people say you need two people to set it up and everything but i feel i have creaked it and i can do it on my own now, but its like anything practise make perfect. The kite has so much de power, and the wind ranges on this kite is unbelievable, people say you need at least 10mph winds to get it in the air but ive had it in the air in around 6mph , the problem with the kite is that 'Yes you have to wait for the kite to inflate and if there is now wind then you have no chance, the kite does have vents in it (im not sure what they are there for ) they do allow wind in because when i inflate my guerilla i only tend to inflate it about 50% and fly it a couple of minutes and let it inflate its self. But overall i am very happy with the kite, its fast (even faster now i have it on a 60cm bar) , the bag is perfect for the kite and you don't have to put the spars away from the kite all the time as it has an extension on it so you can't put the kite away with the spars in. But yeah like i said i am very happy with it , im so happy i named my forum name from it and i even now own a 18m guerilla 2 (haven't written a reveiw on that yet , will do ) , but anyone out there loking to go de power i would recommend 'Arcs' any day of the week. By : GORILLA
  22. Flysurfer Rookie2 9m GE As there is always a lot of anticipation around the launch of a new kite I have decided to post my initial impressions of this kite after only a couple of flights. I will update the post when I have gained more experience with it. I received my Rookie2 at the beginning of June after buying it from www.airbossworld.co.uk, I ordered prior to going on holiday and it was delivered to work on my return. I have been flying a 5m Samurai for the past 12 months initially with handles and more recently with a bar and harness. I loved the Samurai but needed to extend my kite bag to encompass a bigger wind range – so decided to go for a depowerable foil. This would not only have the flexibility to fly in a big wind range but the potential for getting more air and for use with my board as well as static flying. The Frenzy was out of my price range, so after much research opted for the cheaper Flysurfer as it is supposed to have similar characteristics – I am not planning (at the moment) to go on the water so the opened cell design was perfect. The things that really sold me on it apart from the price (£450) was while reading the PDF instructions from the Flysurfer website I came across these 2 lines under the section called Kite-control in extreme situations - "If you get lifted up very high... Don’t panic! You actually have a small paraglider over top of you and you will be able to control your flight with gentle steering impulses." "If the kite collapses, this is called front-stall or luff. Fortunately, you have a FLYSURFER kite and you will notice this phenomenon more often when watching other kites" It may have been describing the Psycho2, but it was a deal clincher! What you get The whole package comes in a large grey and black rucksack, with gold Flysurfer logo’s on it. It has a large main pocket which has room for the kite, bar and lines, but also swallows my harness and pads. It has 3 small pockets (one on the top and two at the bottom) which will take keys, phone, instructions, etc. It would benefit from a couple more, larger external pockets, but is more than adequate for the job, comfy to wear and looks good in a subtle understated way. There is no zip on the main compartment, just draw string inner cover and Velcro lid. So no chance of getting the kite caught and torn in a zip. Kite – gold (not yellow!), black and grey. 18 cells, all with large open vents (large enough to swallow a pigeon in the middle!), with double stitched and reinforced internal bracing. The fabric feels lighter than the Samurai but remains very crisp. There are no problems with loose threads as was reported in the review of the Psycho2’s (Psycho2 review) and all the stitching and bridle attachments are excellent. It comes with lines and bar attached – ready to fly. There are four 18m lines, two (red and green) depower-flying-lines as well as two white steering-lines attached to the ends of the bar. They all appear to be sleeved dyneema and thicker than on my 5m Samurai, particularly the coloured lines. The gold edition (available in 6 and 9m) comes with the 50cm control bar (looks the same as on the psycho2, but I don’t think it is carbon) with the trimmer (only available on the gold edition) to adjust the angle of attack to power or depower the kite for different conditions. The bar is also colour coded so that you know which way round it should be. The Rotor-Kite-Leash (RKL), which should allow for multiple bar rotations without the safety system becoming tangled around the depower loop, and gust absorber. It does not have the multiwac system of the psycho2. The depower loop has a safety system activated by pulling and then letting go of the red ball (not forgetting to let go of the bar!). This allows the trailing edge and wing tips to fold up allowing the kite to fall to the ground with greatly reduced pull (1:3). The kite is also secured to the rotor-kite-leash to stop it blowing away, which also has a similar safety quick release – though this means the kite is free to blow away! Both safety systems are simple to reassemble after practising a couple of times. The instructions are comprehensive with good pictures; they are generic for the Rookie2, Psycho2 and Extasy (Flysurfer instructions PDF). Again it would be nice to have a DVD showing how to setup, launch, fly and pack away the kite especially as I have never flown a depowerable kite before. First Flight A gusty Shropshire day wind blowing anything from 0 – 15mph (approx), first time out with a depowerable foil, so a nice nervous knot in my gut! Unpacked it all, hooked in ready to go, adjusted the trimmer for minimal power, pulled on the webbing attached to the power lines and it started to rise gracefully into the sky then collapsed. I tried a couple more times with the same result – have I bought a dud? why did I sell my Samurai? After playing around with the trimmer for 5 or 10 minutes I decided that it wasn’t windy enough for full trim so launched with minimal trim. Different story, the kite flew to the zenith and was much more stable, it started to generate some good pull and lift when the wind picked up, handled the gusts well, but it still tended to collapse whenever the wind disappeared (which it did frequently). Though if one wing tip collapsed or folded in it could be shaken out while still in the air and would continue flying. With minimal trim launching and landing were straightforward and could be done without assistance – as the kite was sat there, inflated, waiting to go. To launch, after attaching the RKL to the spreader and the depower loop to the hook on the harness, all I needed to do was take a couple of steps back or pull on the webbing of the central power lines and up it would go. Landing it is even easier, as recommended in the instructions, either unhook or pull the safety on the depower loop and it would flutter down completely depowered onto the trailing edge. You can then either stake it through the loop on the RKL and then weigh the down trailing edge or hook back in and have another go. Reverse starts were simple, by pulling on the thick steering leader lines the kite would launch backwards and could be turned to land on the trailing edge and then launched as normal. Later on I had about 10 minutes of steady, clean wind, I am guessing about 5 or 8 mph (from experience) in which the kite became a different beast – it was smooth and stable, and turned really quickly almost on its tips at which point it felt very similar to my Sammi – the grin started to appear. The wind then picked up and the gusts came back, the kite started to generate some good pull enabling me to skud down wind (about 10 – 15m) and it started to show its potential for plenty of lift – unlike the Sammi and one of the reasons I bought this kite. The control through the bar was excellent, with subtle movements of the bar resulting in subtle movements of the kite. But pull hard on one side and the kite responds in kind, with a tight hard turn. The feedback through the bar was good. Without looking at the kite and while it moved through the window, I was able to feel the change in direction, power and wind strength (sounds a bit Jedi I know). To my surprise the gust absorber (a dense foam cylinder on the depower line, which the bar pushes against when the kite is caught by a gust) seamed took work and did absorb some of that excess energy. My hour of fun was then up and I had to pack away and head back into work. Following an e-mail from Gary at www.airbosswold.co.uk I was told that the problems with the kite collapsing and small wind window should resolve with the 6m line extensions and as the kite settles in. This has also been suggested by other members of the forum. My initial impression, following the early frustration is - that this is going to be a very stable kite, quick to turn and with the potential for loads of power and lift but with the controllability and safety of the depower. Yellow (I mean gold!) wouldn’t normally be my first choice of colour for a kite, but it looks great when flying. Nevertheless it is going to need the line extensions; I am not sure why flysurfer sell the kite with the 18m lines. The line extensions – four lengths of 6m sleeved and looped dyneema colour coded to match the lines on the kite. Easily attached in 5-10 minutes. Increases the total line length to 24m – lets see what difference these make to the performance. In theory, they should increase the size of the wind window, improve low wind performance and overall give an increase in the stability, power and lift. The only draw back is they may take some of the edge off the handling as shorter lines tend to equal greater responsiveness. Harlech Beach, North Wales With the line extensions attached I took the kite out for a couple of hours on the beach. Wind blowing 8 mph (approx.), sun shining and the beach was very quiet considering it was 20°C, the tide was just about on its way out when we arrived. Unpacked, bar out of the bag unwound the lines (no tangles) and staked it out through the safety on the RKL. Went back to the bag and got out the kite, unfolded it and it instantly filled and sat there like an eager puppy, ready to fly. I returned to the bar attached the RKL to the spreader on the harness, hooked into the depower loop and up it went straight to the zenith with a nice steady pull where it sat. I added a slight bit of trim, to prevent it overflying and it sat there happily with only minor touches on the bar to keep its position. I spent a good 1 ½ hours just static flying it, getting used to the size of the wind window and the feeling of the power zone, lift etc. This kite is awesome, with the line extensions it is very stable, and the wind window is huge. It is pretty quick through the air and I would imagine the speed would increase with the wind speed. It turns on its wing tips and at no point was there any sign of the tips collapsing or luffing. There is no or very minimal loss of responsiveness with the line extensions, and the bar forces allow for constant feedback at all times. The power delivery is smooth and constant through-out the middle of the window and as you near the top the lift kicks in. I was able to scud effortlessly and spent 10 minutes filling my shorts with sand while butt scudding and having a real laugh. I managed a few small jumps (2 or 3 feet high) I am positive these will be bigger with more wind. For the last ½ hour I tried it out with my board, I am still in the early stages of board riding, but this kite dramatically increased my ability, as I was able to do a few good runs and stay in control and slide to a stop – fantastic! it was the best session I have had for ages. Overall I rate this kite very highly; my initial concerns have been wiped out with the introduction of the line extensions (why don’t flysurfer sell this kite with the longer lines?). It is well made, looks fantastic in the air, and has great smooth power delivery and the potential for loads of lift. It is quick through the air and turns on a wing tip, but is hugely stable and with the line extensions doesn’t luff or collapse. The safety systems work well and are easy to reassemble. The kite can easily be launched and landed if you are on you own. I would recommend it for static flying and boarding and in particular on the board my confidence and ability have increased dramatically with this kite. If you are considering a depowerable foil take a look at the rookie2 as you get a lot of kite for your cash and the performance to match. I will update this review once I have had more flying time and experience. Mark
  23. The flysurfer voodoo is marketed as a multi purpose kite, suitable for water, land and snow use. this kite differs from previous FS models with the introduction of 'Multi-WAC' a sytem to allow the user to tailor the kite to their preferences. i bought this kite on the recommendation of a friend who had been lucky enough to try it at the product demo, and the product description made it sound perfectly matched to my needs. The kite/details im not really one for describing the various merits of manufacturers bags, so all i'll say on the VOODOO bag is that its the standard FS affair, expandable with a zip and a pocket to attach your kiteboard to helping you to keep mobile, all part of the foilflying ethos. it fits all my kite junk in so i cant really complain. the bar is a carbon affair wrapped in colour coded neoprene on the top & botton, left and right hand sides. this is useful when handlepassing and riding blind as it ensures you grab the correct side of the bar. the bar is quite small, something i like as i cant really stand excessively long bars as they get in the way during freestlye. running through the centre line slot is the safety leash, this connects to your spreader bar and allows for multiple spins. the trimmer is a pull/pull system, initially i was a little sceptical of this system after having clam-cleats on my last 2 depower kites but it dies allow e very fine adjustments to be done easily on the move. moving up, one can see the kite is on 3 lines, presumably to give less drag and help avoid tangles (more on this later). the lines themselves are split into sections, allowing you to add/remove sections according to the windspeed and required power level. at the kite, the lines connect to the WAC trim options. put simply, the front bridle connects to a knotted line, moving the bridle larkshead along the knots alters the ratio of angle of attack/camber adjustment. a similar system on the brakelines adjusts how much of the trailing edge is deformed to turn the kite. the kite itself has a surprising lack of bridles to its structure, flysurfer having done most of the work with internal bracing. there are no C lines to speak of, instead replaced with an ingenious pulley system. 2 pulley blocks control the AoA, while at the wingtips there are pulleys to pull in the tips to create a rudder effect and alter the wingtip surface area. the bridle lines dont connect directly to the kite, but to small links of line, creating engineered in weak points and helping to prevent tearing to the foil. on the front of the kite, there are two valves to inflate the kite, while next to these are two zippers. you can leave these open to create an open foil, or zip them up for the water. on the valves are two grabstraps to help you inflate the kite during preinflation or if launching directly from the water. at the tips are velcro sealed openings to empty out the sand, and on the trailing edge are the popoff valves. these are 2 strips of plastic which spring open in the event on a crash, preventing overpressure in the foil tearing the cells. the planform of the kite is a curved leading edge and straight trailing edge. on the T.E. are the fabled 'jetflaps', a flysurfer invention allowing crossventing of the top and bottom wing surfaces. this is claimed to improve lift and stability. the wingtips are very strongly curved downwards compared to the mild 'C' shape in the rest of the canopy. looking at it, i have to say flysurfers kites are very 'chunky' looking lately, and the voodoo is no exception. but that thick profile is a hint at the lift on offer, and when viewed in the air the kite looks very sleek indeed. land use the voodoo needs a minimum of 10 mph to take off, it will inflate in less but wont leave the ground. the kite really switches on above 12mph, with that certain feeling that seems to be engineered into every FS kite ive flown. its hard to describe but flysurfer kites seem to benefit most from clean, precise bar imputs, the voodoo responding best when sheeted in a little to speed up the turn, then sheeted out to the sweetspot or further to increase forward speed of the kite. even fully sheeted out the kite still has a respectable rate of turn, and when flown well you can literally spin it on the spot, fly it backwards and anything else you could do with a kite on handles. the kite is exceptionally agile. also impressive is the way the kite responds when sheeted in and out. sheeted out there is noticable forward acceleration, the kite rocketing forward to the edge of the window. sheet in and the grunt comes on progessively and precisely matches your imput on the bar. the voodoo feels like a scalpel in response compared to other previous generation foils. only the very best inflatables turn faster, and not by much. on the board, the real fun starts at 14mph+, the kite nicely powered for land use on the stock settings at my weight (circa 12 stone). this kite is FAST with a capital F. take your hands off the bar and the kite stays where you leave it, very reassuring. in stronger winds the kite auto zentiths. bar pressure is very light on stock setup, after coming from a frenzy this was a shock initially, but the feel is there and benifit is less strain on your arms making for longer sessions. for myself, initally i was overflying the kite, never seeming to keep up with it. relaxing, taking a step back and feeling the kite through my fingertips revealed the delicate nature of the voodoo flying style, be confident and agressive but with a light touch and the voodoo truly shines. but the important bit...what does she jump like? pretty damn good actually. pull the bar in and BOOM! up you go. the pop is very good on this kite, boosting you up to 2 metres plus every time with ease. learn how to hold the power and the results are startling, the voodoo feeling like a grenade launcher as you rocket up time and time again, grinning like a madman. the glide isnt as good as on a frenzy, but not far off if you use the bar well in the air to get the most out of the kite. but the voodoo is far easier to jump, both consistently and to a good height. water use when kitesurfing ive used the voodoo with my 175 olry, which meant i could get planing and hold my tack in 12mph. at the other end of the scale it took about 16-18mph to get going on a friends airush misfit 120, but a combination of fast kite and fast board was too much for my beginner kitesurfer brain . in high winds on the water it can be difficult to keep up with the kite when its sheeted out, as it accelerates very quickly. the remedy for this is to add a little WAC -, slowing down the kite as well as giving it a lot more grunt. the level of pop also goes through the roof... relaunching is basically foolproof. in light to meduim winds, let the kite onto its safety and it flips over. in stronger wind, gently pull a leader line to steer the kite to the windows edge and off the water. even waterlogged the kite will get up, and drains in about 2 mins in the air. it really does bounce off the water. conclusion the only real problems ive had with the kite is wear on the pulleys, there is a very small tolerace between the roller and pulley block so it clogs easily. but i seem to kill pulleys on all my kites so it could just be me. my other complaint is that the centre line is too big, it chafes the safety and wears through quickly (i wore one out in 2 weeks). this is easily enough stopped if you use thinner line, like the one used on the psycho 2. this isnt life threatening, its simply the sleeve around the line wears exposing the core, meaning you are still in control of the kite. in summary, im deeply impressed with this kite. its more exotic brother, the psycho 2 may have stolen some of the limelight but the voodoo is a fast, enjoyable stable and high performance kite suitable for people who want 1 or 2 kites to use on any surface, in any conditions. add extensions if you need more power as some feel the kite doesnt pull much for its size and you'll be rockin. another masterpiece from the FS stable. By : bushflyer
  24. Ohhhh these bow kites are nice! That wont really do as a review will it? OK.....some video Link to video Right.....that was the first day on the kite!! This is Ocean Rodeos flat/Bow/SLE kite. The one I went for was 12m.... this will be having a 16m to join it on the shelf soon. I had been waiting a few weeks for the kite to arrive.... the hype over Bows has been immense so i was all excited at the thought of having my own inflatable super kite! City link dropped it of and a quick attack with a packing knife and the slick kitebag was revealed....wait for the kitey stuff.... people like bags! The bag is usable as a rucksack OR a shoulder bag, all the bits zip into a pouch and are super easy to change. The bar comes in it's own mesh drawstring bag to keep everything neat, and sits in a seperate pocket in the side of the bag. I got the kite out and laid it on the lawn..... it is built like all the other Ocean Rodeo kit, super heavy duty! There are scuff pads on the leading edge, the Leading edge tube is built of a very thick ripstop and all of the bridle poitns are double thickness with triple stitching...they mean these kites to last! All the moving bridle is easy to remove for replacement....this WILL need doing BTW... I am investing in spares....Just in case. Colours...very good...I got the red, strong prints, not to garish and they look tops in the sky. OK.... enough about what it looks like....lets fly the thing! Setting it up. EASY.... the lines are colour coded and of a good quality, The bar looks just like any other....with a long depower rope...OK....it has a few anomolies, have a look. http://www.oceanrodeo.com/punchupbar.html The best bit for me is the trim adjuster on the chicken loop, this is a revelation after reaching up to grab a strap too far away and then not always knowing which bit to pull! The adjuster is always in the same place and always easy to fiddle with. it even has a velcro tab to stop it flapping about. So... you have the lines on the bar, time to hook them onto the kite. The bridle has multiple attachment points, use three up on the power lines and numer one on the brakes. The bridles come out without tangles everytime due to velcro clips on the leading edge, just undo them and it's obvious what to do. Launching.... there are several ways of doing this, the easiest is the "traditional" method, get your kite mate to hold it, make sure the safety is undone, just in case of a BIG gust and away you go! Launch with the bar all the way out, you will be astonished at the lack of pull....you will hardly even need to step forwards! Flying.... Once you are in the air this kite is amazing! Now, a "normal" LEI will give you SOME depower, enough to not die on the walk down the beach into the water...The ONE lets you walk about like there is no kite on the other end of the lines! Trimming is very important with these kites.... set the trim so it just wont stall when on fullpower and you have found the Max power for the wind conditions on the day. Static flying will make you giggle lots..... send the kite up with the bar out, when it's at the top of the stroke pull the bar in.... now look down and be astounded how high you are! This kite lifts you FAST and hard.... Once you are up BEWARE do not let the bar all the way out! you will fall to the floor as if there is no kite above you! I jarred my ankles a few imes to start with, you will soon learn how far is "enough". Once you have this dialled in your jumps will be huge and floaty. Landboarding.... as you saw in the video.... some great landboarding can be had 8-10mph onwards...... you can trundle about once it will fly, but that is NO fun. SO easy to get moving, send the kite down and pull the bar in. If you are getting too hot, relax, let the bar out and you will stop! Jumps come quickly and high if you want them!! Kitesurfin g... THIS is awesome! Lie back, send the kite hard and pull the bar in, you will be up quickly and easily, set the bar to the required power and ride away! Jump? Hell yeah! Send the kite..... wait....wait.... Pull the bar in! Up, up and AWAAAAAY! BEWARE.... if you push the bar all of the way out you will come off the plane and sink! Great for the nervous rider (such as me!) So is it ALL roses Adam? Well.... no..it isn't. Lets discuss ...inversion! Does the ONE invert? Yes it does, deploy the safety in too light wind and it WILL invert....when it does DONT PANIC. Grab the "oh gosh" handle and front line safety, flag the kite out and it reverts, let go and relaunch..easy So... it all sounds good eh? Well yes.... it is actually.... topped off with... the pricing! It's either the cheapest or the second cheapest BUT it is probably the highest build quality out there. So... get a demo of the ONE before buying any of the others out there.... this one will still be flying after some of the others are being turned into bags! By : adamski
  25. This is my second kite; I bought a Flexifoil Bullet 2.5 last summer as I wanted to try kitesurfing and I was advised to get a traction/power kite and get some flying time. I first flew a Venom on the beach at Aberavon when I went on a 2-day kitesurfing lesson with Bruce from Airways. The wind was a bit patchy but it still dragged me along the beach a few times. I didn't get to try it on the water as the wind dropped some more and Bruce ended up getting a 17m Strike II for me to get some planing speed with. I bought the Venom because I decided that I'd be more likely to get time for landboarding so I wanted a kite that would be suitable for both land and water. The Venom fits the bill, is easy to inflate and launch solo, and looks cool. Once I get some more flying time I'm sure I'll be able to say more about it, but the main thing that I can say is that it almost looks after itself. It is very stable once you get it adjusted right. The quality of the kite is very good, everything was perfectly in order with no loose seams. The stiffening rods are going to be a source of sharp fibres, but they can be stored in a separate pocket in the supplied bag. With a reasonably steady wind, inflating the kite should be straightforward, and completed within the time it takes to sort out the rigging. Once the kite is reasonably inflated you can solo launch or get someone to help you. I've managed solo even in gusting conditions. If the wind isn't quite strong enough you can encourage the Venom into the air with some tugs of the brake lines. Once it's a few metres off the ground you can dive it around to get it fully inflated. That's when the fun really starts! If it is full and the wind is strong you are going to know that you have a big kite up there. I weight a heavy 95kg and it has no problem in doing with me whatever it wants. My only criticism is the quality of the instructions supplied with the kite. The booklet isn't for the Venom, so you must refer to the addendum to spot the differences. Also the supplied DVD would work in any of my DVD players/PCs, so I can't comment on that. Otherwise I am more than happy and looking forward to many hours of kite flying/boarding/surfing! By : NutSoft
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