Does anyone have experience with flying all of the above types of kites? I've flown C and SLE only. Last night (it was noticably above 20 knts and gusty) i just had hard time with my 13m C as it was pulling strong, overpowered, and hard to keep upwind 
. However on easier days, my C fuel turns very fast. Then last night i also tried/demoed a 12m SLE (Eclipse nano), which was a lot more forgiving in lastnight's gusty conditions, and allowed much easier upwind control (despite very similar size), but i found it noticably slower than C so not sure how it would go in below 20knts days.
Other guys on the beach with Bows didn't have any issues either, but can anyone tell me how do all of them compare speed wise, or if you have any other thoughts on this topic? Would you say using C is good for not too windy days, but using other types is better/easier on very windy days?
Most of the bows are slower than a C, but it depends largely on 2 things, the model and the year. The main reason they are slower is they react slower to input on the bar (the mushy feel you get).
Of the 08 kites, I'd say the 2 fastest are the Rev and the Furia. If you want faster than that, you'll have to go with a Hybrid (5 line) like the Rebel which the same turning speed, but reacts to input faster than the Rev and Furia so it will feel much faster.
One thing to bare in mind with bows is you lose your steering ability when you depower, so in last nights wind where you would probably have depowered a 12m a little, you would have lost some of the steering, its one of the reasons I tend to move to my 9m when I can, but it also means in the lower end of the wind range, you have the kite more powered up so your steering is better.
Most kite types turn really fast if you pull the bar in (apply back line pressure) when turning the kite. Conversely, most kite types turn really slow if you are using all that de-power(slack back lines). I'm guessing this is the experience you had. Just a hunch.
Thanks Saffer. Very helpful info.
Gstar, well i noticed slower turning performance all together (with various bar positions - in/out)... i.e. the response time was slower than on my C.
