turbine

[Jafuzzer]

anyone tested the new slingy turbine ? want to know how it compares to other light wind LEI'S

[waterbaby]

Never mind that wat the are those vids all about????

[g0nz01599968659]

Yep... works a treat I've got one on demo in the shop that we've been using, so I'll give you my 2p on it. Lots of pull as you'd expect for a 17m, but doesn't sit deep & drag you downwind, burning out your leg like an old 20m C kite. Goes upwind better than 2010 Zephyr - we've just opened an Ozone account so we will have the current Zephyr on demo soon for a true back to back.

 

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/264976_120199368068373_100002349324637_176019_7346788_n.jpg

 

Pulls nice & consistently out of the turns & flies up well from the bottom of the window even when its very light. A gentle sine of the kite gives a decent surge of power, but its happiest on the edge of the window hauling you upwind. Quick enough for sent boosts & gives real float - timing is a bit different on a 17, but once you get it sorted

 

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/265116_120193808068929_100002349324637_175956_6325391_n.jpg

 

Bar pressure has two settings, the lighter setting is nicer on the race boards as there's less load on your arms & you can concentrate on what the board is doing. The heavier setting gives more feedback for playing about on the twin tip - this setting isnt that heavy though, feels about the same as the medium setting on my rally. Bar 'feel' is less direct than the rally as there is a pulley on the wing tip, but it does mean the kite turns without caning your elbows by the end of a session & bar pressure doesn't increase much with load on the kite - its easy to forget its a 17m. Relaunch is simples - it looks like a big Rally & relaunch is just as easy.

 

Bar & lines are the 'comp stick' set you see on slingys other kites. Bar is 23" wide & lines are 27m. Top notch stuff. Build on this kite is pretty standard for slingshot, as good as it gets really. They don't seem to have gone to any great lengths to make it from unobtanium, that only lasts for 100 hours of use or anything. It has all the same kevlar/dacron etc etc that you find on the rally. The 3 strut design is light weight anyway, so durability doesn't seem to have been compromised anywhere.

 

Wind range for me realistically (75kg on a Juice 132x42 - thats a fairly efficient TT with 5cm fins) is about 8-16knots. That's going upwind easily in 10 knot conditions.... I have also been on it when the wind has come up to 18 knots (on the wind meter in the shop) & whilst I could pin it down, it was heavily depowered & the experience was less than fun. My colleague Rob (same weight as me) has been out on the Sector 60 when the windy meter has been reading all of 6 knots. We were sure the kite would fall out of the sky & hit the water before he even got going & that would be it, but he made it across the beach, stepped up on the board & set off upwind! Gybing required a down loop to keep a bit of line tension, but as soon as you edge the apparent wind builds up & off you go We have a couple of heavier guys at the beach who are making great use of the Turbine in a bit more wind & loving it.

 

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/270316_120191104735866_100002349324637_175903_8183199_n.jpg

All photos courtesy of Zimigery Prints - Find him on FB.

 

Aloha - Dan 24/7

[kiteingcolin]

The turbine is a great looking kite, feels very similar to the 18mtr North Dyno, although the 18 Dyno feels even more grunty, but it is 1mtr bigger,

if your a heavier guy the 18 dyno is the kite to get you going first, but if your lighter and don't race then the 18 is way too big/slow/unexciting, now then if You want the kite for fun then the 16 north Dyno has the others well beaten, others being the Turbine and Flysurfer Speed 3 DLX, the best looker is the Turbine, ease of use? blowing up time - the Turbine has it, the speed is of course the 1st in the air by a big margin but wrapping it up in a breeze can be tricky,

feel through the bar is very samey on all the kites apart from the speed 3 which is super light, the slowest is the speed then the Turbine then the 18 mtr Dyno and the 16 Dyno is way in front for being nimble, in fact the term nimble only applies to the 16, all the others are park/ ride style.

the biggest jumper is the speed 3, closely followed by the 16 dyno, the turbine is not a jumper at all, and the 18 is hard work as its quite slow, ie not a jumper, or not that much fun if you intend using it for --well fun.

 

if any kite comes up to the ability of the 16 mtr dyno to please, then I want to try it,

[jamesslingshot]

flysurfer silver arrow speed 2 19m i think?, slingy turbine, north dyno sure it was the 18, zypher, all out on the same day all on a variety of boards and riders, wind ranged between 6-13 kts all day, what was the 1 kite that was able to stay out all day with a variety of riders and boards....

 

to me fun isn't being sat on the beach....

 

please look at the second picture down for evidence of the no jumping ability of the turbine, a full sequence is available too

[paulie_amoose]

flysurfer silver arrow speed 2 19m i think?, slingy turbine, north dyno sure it was the 18, zypher, all out on the same day all on a variety of boards and riders, wind ranged between 6-13 kts all day, what was the 1 kite that was able to stay out all day with a variety of riders and boards....

 

to me fun isn't being sat on the beach....

 

please look at the second picture down for evidence of the no jumping ability of the turbine, a full sequence is available too

 

"I think you'll find my lightwind specialist kite rides in the lightest wind of all" said the kitesurf brand rep to his potential customer base...

[jamesslingshot]

very good... just pointing out a few truths from the weekends riding, , colin has tried it and feels the dyno is a better bet for him at the same time as stating a couple of small points in that my experience and that of others at the beach that day are a little different to his

 

apart from anything a didn't actually say what kite it was, you assumed..... correctly i might add.

 

of course the elephant in the room is the price....but then the dyno owners seem a little reluctant on that front

[peet]

I tried the turbine this weekend, the wind was cross-offshore and gusty at the Kinmel Bay BKSA, but it preformed admirably. I'd have loved to have kept hold of it for longer to try it out in better conditions, but there's a lot of demand for it and had to ship it straight back to the shop

 

My review is here: 2011 Slingshot Turbine Review - Force Six

 

I've tried both the flysurfer 21dlx and the Zephyr before and seen plenty of the Dyno at the BKSA events - they all seem to offer slightly different things, but I think Slingy have knocked the nail bang on the head with an easy to get on with, durable performer which any competent rider will get masses of fun & performance out of.

[paulie_amoose]

apart from anything a didn't actually say what kite it was, you assumed..... correctly i might add.

 

You wouldnt be doing a very good job if was any other one!!!!

[jamesslingshot]

no, the kite designer wouldn't be doing a good job...

[kiteingcolin]

if you have ever stood under a F One Bandit 2or3 the turbine is the same outline shape, I only knock the turbine out of favour for me due to the lack of air speed to crack off jumps with out planning ahead, the speed 3 is the best jumper but the slowest through the air, this point will confuse many, until you realise that with the speed you do not need to crank the kite back for take off, you simply edge upwind and pull in on the bar, half way into orbit you pull in again, etc,

but this is a unique feature that I have only experienced on the speed, and I have to say the build quality is best on the Turbine.

[jamesslingshot]

I frequently swap kites with a friend who has had bandit 1 2 3 and now 4.

 

given that fone have never made a 17 how can they be the same outline shape?

 

in your opinion you think they look similar? but the 2 and i think the three were five strut kites with completely different bridles and arc shapes,

 

yes it is a very delta shape properties but that is as far as i would go.

 

I understand your reasons behind your choice so there is no need to think i am attacking you or finding fault in your choice, but you are in the very strong position of having owned and flown a lot of equipment so that your opinion is held in high regard on the forums, consequently people will pick up and listen very carefully to what you say and in some instances take it as gospel.

 

i am just clarifying things from a more analytical point of view and looking at the bare facts, eg your outline comments..

[Westwood]

Dan - would you like me to send you a Speed 3 to add to your comparison?

[skiffman]

are any of these light wind kites good at unhooking or provide good slack?? Theres a big difference in a kites ridable wind range and its unhooking wind range so what about these kites?

 

Would be interesting to know how a big C kite (fuel, hadlow, razor) compare to these big kites for low end unhooking

[peet]

Most lightwind kites are ok for unhooking with, but they are not designed with it in mind. I was knocking out raileys to blind with the turbine quite happily on the weekend, and I'm sure s-bends and such would be fine too. Airpasses on the other hand would require a lot of strength, as there is likely to be little slack through the air.

 

The one advantage you do get though, is that when the wind is light its quite easy to significantly diminish the wind speed by riding toward the kite. So if you land well downwind you will get some slack.

 

I use a 11/9/7m hadlow quiver and always have a big bow kite on long lines for lightwind days.

[marman]

I have a 2011 zephyr and 15m deluxe speed, and have a turbine in the van, I'll share non bullshit review once I have had it out quite happily

[g0nz01599968659]

Dan - would you like me to send you a Speed 3 to add to your comparison?

 

Sure. I used to fly psycho 2s, so I've done a bit on flysurfers in the past. Be very interested to fly an up to date foil & see how good they are now

 

Dan

[kiteingcolin]

great to see a light wind kite discussion without the predictable "rather be walking the dog" "rather earn brownie points" sort of crap.

 

at long last light wind kitesurfing has come of age, its bloody brilliant nowadays, well it is with a North Dyno 16mtr, (ooppps sorry) my finger keeps dropping that one in.

 

honestly though you need to try the latest if you haven't already, and try a few as they are different, a small board will not give you best under one of these new kites, and you definitely don't need a dead feeling board like some have mentioned, god there are some ruddy awful boards out there, huge boards are not the way to go.

[Tone]

great to see a light wind kite discussion without the predictable "rather be walking the dog" "rather earn brownie points" sort of crap.

 

at long last light wind kitesurfing has come of age, its bloody brilliant nowadays, well it is with a North Dyno 16mtr, (ooppps sorry) my finger keeps dropping that one in.

 

honestly though you need to try the latest if you haven't already, and try a few as they are different, a small board will not give you best under one of these new kites, and you definitely don't need a dead feeling board like some have mentioned, god there are some ruddy awful boards out there, huge boards are not the way to go.

 

it has been of age for the last 5 years, others have finally started to catch up, that is all!

[paulie_amoose]

Yeaaaah... Tone..! lightwind kute forum troll extraordinaire, I knew he would turn up sometime...!

[benbaron]

Im yet to be converted, last I tried was an 06 16m waroo (slow turning and a nightmare to pump up). I am however on the look out to try a speed 3 or if they are as good as ppl are making out either of the other 2......

[smudge837]

OK i would like to stick my neck out here.

 

I am not sure if there is such a thing BUT for a fat bloke 110Kg, (very newbie, done a 3 day course and had the weekend in the water with just short of enough wind for me.)

 

So is there a sub 15 knt kite that will have the grunt to pull my pies out of the water, without me having to work the kite like a mad man to get going?

 

It seems there are so many options out there. i don't know enough to have a favorite brand. The gear i have now goes on a North 5 line bar. Price is an issue but if it gets me out most evenings and weekends it can only help me learn this sport better i think.

 

any advice welcome

 

Cheers

 

Smudge

[Sammy1599968740]

Dyno would be the obvious choice (if you already got the north bar) but it really is built like tissue paper. not a kite recommended to learn on. 14m evo perhaps? they grunty as hell. but heavy so dont really fly properly til 10-12 knots.

[kiteingcolin]

agree, the 14mtr north Evo sounds perfect, strongly built, and I have had a bit of banter on the beach about just how powerful the Evo is,

 

No brainer, it fits all your requirements and you have the right bar, great kite as I keep being told, silly easy to relaunch that has to be seen to be believed, I have seen it and shake my head in disbelief as it happens,

 

forget all the big kites that have been mentioned before, the speed would turn you off completely, only for seasoned kiters, the others are not for you either.

 

Evo gets my vote