Born-Kite RaceStar

[windstruck]

I'm just sayin....

 

[windstruck]

 

The leading edge has those flexible plastic wires sewn in at each white piece of fabric shown above.  Feels like the sort of material you use in a edge trimmer.  As usual, Born has done a superb job in the seamstress department and the quality really looks to be great.  Can't wait to fly these beauties in a couple of weeks at IBX2018!

[BigTone]

Nice.... can't wait for mine. See you have the FAS installed on yours. I've just retrofitted my 12.5 LS2 with it as it makes replacement line-sets much easier to make. And i agree, the Born-Kite stitching is always absolutely top notch.

[windstruck]

5 hours ago, BigTone said:

Nice.... can't wait for mine. See you have the FAS installed on yours. I've just retrofitted my 12.5 LS2 with it as it makes replacement line-sets much easier to make. And i agree, the Born-Kite stitching is always absolutely top notch.

Nice that you were able to do the retrofit for the 5th line FAS.  I became a real fan of the true 5th line safety system (as compared to a 4.5) a couple of years ago when I was snowkiting with Ozone kites equipped with their ReRide system.  When the time comes to deploy the safety I truly want no residual pull from the kite and these systems deliver that nicely.  The Born-Kite 5th line FAS is simple and effective and I have it on my complete quiver of LS2s and now these two RSs.  I use the same bar for all of these and keep a backup set of lines.

While I haven't tried it with Born kites, with the ReRide equipped Ozones I would sometimes manually pull in the 5th line from inside the chicken loop to collapse the kite and bring it to the ground when I needed a rest during snowkiting.  Resting complete I'd just let go of the 5th line and shake out the kite from the ball it formed until I could inflate it again and off I'd go.  These returns to action were sometimes pretty exciting since they were direct downwind hot-launches so often the action would return quite quickly once the kite got back to shape!  I suspect you could do this with Born kites too.

[windstruck]

The RaceStars are now on the Born-Kite website.

http://www.venturi-power.de/index.php?cat=c86_Race-Star-Race-Star.html&XTCsid=0l839i9q2be1aovr6928nhc2h0

Kite-only coming in about 200 Euros more than comparable LS2 sizes.

[BigTone]

Just ordered mine. :-)

 

[windstruck]

2 hours ago, BigTone said:

Just ordered mine. :-)

 

OUTSTANDING.  Complete quiver or a select few?  I've got the 5m and 9m.  I'm going to fly them next week at IBX2018 on the dry lake bed of Ivanpah.  I'm going to use the same bar as my LS2 quiver.  I look forward to hearing about how you like them and how they stack up to the LS2s.

[BigTone]

I was going to get a select few... but I couldn't decide between sizes so i just bought one of each.... as you do. :-)

[windstruck]

5 hours ago, BigTone said:

I was going to get a select few... but I couldn't decide between sizes so i just bought one of each.... as you do. :-)

Never met a quiver I didn't like!  Well played.

[Tiger37]

On 16/03/2018 at 9:51 AM, windstruck said:

 

The leading edge has those flexible plastic wires sewn in at each white piece of fabric shown above.  Feels like the sort of material you use in a edge trimmer.  As usual, Born has done a superb job in the seamstress department and the quality really looks to be great.  Can't wait to fly these beauties in a couple of weeks at IBX2018!

Thanks for the photos and update on these great looking kites. Look forward to hearing your report from IBX. I'm saving my dollars already! 9 or 11m?

@windstruck - a question for you. Can you use the Born Kites bar that I have for my LS2 on the Race Star?

[windstruck]

@Tiger37 - Yes to the bar question.  The RaceStars and LS2s both come with two DP pulleys per side and the little securing lines in the center of the leading edge as you see in the pictures.  The bridles terminate as four even sets of lines, "balanced" as it were.  As such, either RSs or LS2s could theoretically be flown on any basic four line bar that has break and power lines terminating in equal lengths, again "balanced" (if that's the right word).

I personally plan to use both my LS2s and RSs on the same single bar, a version of Born-Kites Universal Control Bar:

http://www.venturi-power.de/product_info.php?info=p272_ls-universal-control-bar.html

I have my bar strung with the full length 5th safety line that terminates in a yellow little wind sock along with the standard Red-Blue-White-Green lines.  Similarly, I have all my LS2s and two RSs (5 & 9 m) strung with the center 5th line FAS system.  In retrospect this is probably overkill as the SS kites flag out just fine with the standard 4.5 line setup but I started that way so I stuck with it.  Final thing, I had Steffen make me up a second set of 5-lines that he packaged up for me and charged me for.  I don't remember what he charged me, but he made them up for me custom so that I could have a complete second set of lines as backup since I only have a single bar for seven kites.  I'm sure he could do that for you too.

If I like the RSs next week and I'm feeling frisky I may have to buy the 7 and 11 m RSs too.  Lord help me!

[windstruck]

I had several long sessions with the RSs on the Ivanpah dry lake bed this week during IBX 2018.  These are beautifully designed kites, purpose built for racing around the sky, pulling really hard and going to the front edge of wind window, and performing admirably in upwind propulsion.  I don't have any experience with other similarly dimensioned 6:1 AR kites, but can compare them to their cousins the LS2s.  Compared to the LS2s, the 5.0m RS feels like you have more kite in the air than the 5.5m LS2 (same for the 9.0m RS versus 9.5m LS2) and the RSs have a lot more personality, and that personality is aggressive.  I'd say Steffen scored very high marks in designing a highly responsive, aggressive, single skin depower kite.

Choice between similarly sized LS2s and RSs likely come down to personal preference.  To give it a vehicular comparison, I'd liken the RS kites to sports cars and the LS2 kites to SUVs.  They handle very differently and in the case of the RSs take keeping close attention to.  I am able to fly my LS2s in most conditions without really looking at them, or maybe just sort of see them out of the corner of my eye, but I found I had to keep quite close continuous attention to the RSs.

Speaking only for myself, I prefer the LS2s over the RSs.  I'm a long straight park-and-ride buggy pilot and the LS2s suit me just right.  My style is to park a kite and cruise for several kilometers.  Friends of mine I watched on the playa this week were constantly looping, diving, and redirecting their kites.  I suspect that such people would vastly prefer the responsiveness of the RSs over the comparative slow motion action of the LS2s.  If anything, flying the RSs this week made me appreciate my LS2s even more.  That takes nothing from the RSs; they are purpose built.  For my purposes the LS2s are just right.

For anyone looking for a single skin powerful high performance kite I'd suggest taking a strong look at the RSs.

[BigTone]

Hey @windstruck, how are the RS bridles? With the new stiffer lines, is there less tangling? Can’t wait for mine to arrive. Hopefully my back issues will be resolved when they arrive and i’ll actually be able to fly them immediately.

[windstruck]

3 hours ago, BigTone said:

Hey @windstruck, how are the RS bridles? With the new stiffer lines, is there less tangling? Can’t wait for mine to arrive. Hopefully my back issues will be resolved when they arrive and i’ll actually be able to fly them immediately.

@BigTone - Bridling is improved with somewhat less tangling.  Still lots and lots of bridles due to the lack of the second skin, but this seemed to be somewhat less of an issue.  Best of luck getting your back on the mend.

[BigTone]

16 hours ago, windstruck said:

@BigTone - Bridling is improved with somewhat less tangling.  Still lots and lots of bridles due to the lack of the second skin, but this seemed to be somewhat less of an issue.  Best of luck getting your back on the mend.

Cheers. Back is coming right, slooooowly - Stupid disks, why they can't stay between the vertebrae where they are supposed to be is beyond me....  Another few sessions with my Back Man should help.

[plummet]

I am keen to fly these. They looks way better than the original born kites. Should make a good dune kite. 

How much are they?

[speed rider]

 

They made a "video" about the prices. The Race Star is more expensive than the Long Star.

 

On the facebook page of BORN I have seen more videos:

 

 

[windstruck]

4 hours ago, plummet said:

I am keen to fly these. They looks way better than the original born kites. Should make a good dune kite. 

How much are they?

Prices and further details can be seen on their website here:  http://www.born-kite.de/

 

[BigTone]

@plummet  I've got a full set coming, so once they have arrived I might pop down to the Naki for a road trip. :-D

[plummet]

[Tiger37]

On 08/04/2018 at 8:46 AM, windstruck said:

I had several long sessions with the RSs on the Ivanpah dry lake bed this week during IBX 2018.  These are beautifully designed kites, purpose built for racing around the sky, pulling really hard and going to the front edge of wind window, and performing admirably in upwind propulsion.  I don't have any experience with other similarly dimensioned 6:1 AR kites, but can compare them to their cousins the LS2s.  Compared to the LS2s, the 5.0m RS feels like you have more kite in the air than the 5.5m LS2 (same for the 9.0m RS versus 9.5m LS2) and the RSs have a lot more personality, and that personality is aggressive.  I'd say Steffen scored very high marks in designing a highly responsive, aggressive, single skin depower kite.

Choice between similarly sized LS2s and RSs likely come down to personal preference.  To give it a vehicular comparison, I'd liken the RS kites to sports cars and the LS2 kites to SUVs.  They handle very differently and in the case of the RSs take keeping close attention to.  I am able to fly my LS2s in most conditions without really looking at them, or maybe just sort of see them out of the corner of my eye, but I found I had to keep quite close continuous attention to the RSs.

Speaking only for myself, I prefer the LS2s over the RSs.  I'm a long straight park-and-ride buggy pilot and the LS2s suit me just right.  My style is to park a kite and cruise for several kilometers.  Friends of mine I watched on the playa this week were constantly looping, diving, and redirecting their kites.  I suspect that such people would vastly prefer the responsiveness of the RSs over the comparative slow motion action of the LS2s.  If anything, flying the RSs this week made me appreciate my LS2s even more.  That takes nothing from the RSs; they are purpose built.  For my purposes the LS2s are just right.

For anyone looking for a single skin powerful high performance kite I'd suggest taking a strong look at the RSs.

Great review with some interesting comparisons to the LS kites. Thank you

[speed rider]

New RaceStar video, nice music.

 

[BigTone]

My 7 and 9 racestars have arrived. The 5 and 11 should be on the way soon. Cant wait to get out and have a fly with them. They look incredible, the 9m in particular is an awesome colour. Ive been laid up with a back injury, so having to just look at them at the moment. 

 

[Tiger37]

4 hours ago, BigTone said:

My 7 and 9 racestars have arrived. The 5 and 11 should be on the way soon. Cant wait to get out and have a fly with them. They look incredible, the 9m in particular is an awesome colour. Ive been laid up with a back injury, so having to just look at them at the moment. 

 

I'm very jealous- do let us know how you get on with them once your back has recovered.

[andy666]

Wow, those prices are up there 

I thought born kites were supposed to be the more affordable option, but maybe since they are the only ones really producing a single skin “race” kite they are charging a premium.

@BigTone and @plummet it will be interesting to get your feed back on the race star and see if they actually deserve the “race” part of their name ?