Rider: 85 kgs - intermediate
Style: Freeriding, cr@ppy waves, big boosts : P
Weather: 13-30 knots in mocean
Build Quality: 8.5/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: regular joe - no affiliation or discounts : (
2009 Eclipse Nano 9m
Disclaimer:
Paid my own $$ for this kite, have a C kite background (4 yrs) and only ridden a handful of SLEs to compare. I usually do downwind runs, in cr@ppy Perth metro surf, on a 136 twinny and love mixing it up with big (ish) boosts and gumby wave fun.
OK 1st up – as the disclaimer says I have only ridden a half a dozen big-name SLE kites and have found them varying from familiar to totally alien in ‘feel’, ride and behaviour.
The 09 Nano is a 3 strut, bridled SLE with only one pulley (between the front and back lines) each side at the kite end o’ things. The 09 Nano is intended to be an all-rounder leaning towards surf/freeride as the new Kima has replaced it as a pure surf kite.
The build quality looks basic but strong to me. Nice strut reinforcement etc. The graphics are tres plain (which I kinda like) and might not be to all tastes.
One pump is on board, but alas no clips on the joiners, so I will have to find 3 clips for that. A cool feature though is that the one pump can be bypassed as each strut has a standard valve too. Nice option I think.
There are a few options for turning/rigging but I haven’t explored them yet and went with faster steering on the back (I think?) and standard on the front.
Wind range? On my 1st run the wind was cr@p with emphasis on the poo… maybe 15-16kts but often as low as 12-13 kts. I was sceptical about putting up a 9m, even with my 151cm light wind twinny out for the conditions. In a word the bottom end of this kite is AMAZING! Probably no new news for SLE lovers, but being able to smoothly sine the kite, get planing cleanly in this wind, and with no fuss or excess bar pressure compared to my C kites, was deluxe! Boosting in this wind was not really happening but given it was my 1st day on the water in over a month, and the sesh was actually easy plus fun, I was grinning from ear to ear. : ) A later session in stronger winds revealed plenty of top end also. In 25 kts I had about 1/3 of the depower strap yet to go. Noice. Wind range is big for sure.
The Nano was super stable and well behaved and felt safe straight from the launch onwards. I had misgivings about the 08 bar, supplied with my kite (the 09 bar is a clam cleat long throw - complete kill style) as it has straps above the bar (which I like) but a seemingly short throw on the bar. In these low-wind conditions there was never a problem but I wondered if in gusty conditions this would be not so cool? In fact when I got to use the kite powered up the bar was good – but more about that later. In any case the 09 Nano is usually supplied with the improved 09 bar so I shouldn’t waffle too much about the 08 bar.
On the strength of this kite’s bar feel, agility and very good behaviour I ended up buying it, admittedly gambling a little on how the kite would respond in more serious conditions.
Well, after a sesh on Saturday in roughly 15-25 kts of pretty cr@ppy gusty conditions I am stoked! Now I know how good hybrid/SLE riders have had it!! I had to laugh, later, when a couple of guys complained how gusty and bad the conditions were.. not a problem on the Nano for sure, it ate the gusts nicely, rode through the lulls (with a little sining) and was super stable at all times. This kite really is confidence inspiring to say the least. Compared to a few SLE’s I have tried the ‘feel’ of the Nano and awareness of where the kite is and what it is doing is great. The bar is not super light but definitely not heavy - just right I think. Safety seems really good too. The mini 5th line is a winner, and bar depower (on the 08 bar) is pretty good, killing about 70% of the juice.
BTW - the only other SLE I have tried that I felt so familiar and confidant with immediately, was the 09 Ozone Sport and that is a good kite I reckon. Possibly the Sport boosts a little better but I tried that kite in much stronger, ‘cleaner’ winds. Boosting on the Nano is not as awesome as my C kites for sure. I need some more sessions to dial in the jumping to get the best out of it but the feeling is more sedate and drifty as opposed to “Going up!!” again, the behaviour of the Nano, even when I stuffed the timing/landings etc was impeccable. Having said all that, I did get some nice height and great long floats out of my 1st real session. More time on the SLE will be good for me to dial it in. I would say boosting is good but not a core strength. Not surprising as the kite is pitched as an all-rounder, which it is.
Grunt. So far this kite feels like it will be wicked in strong steady breezes. When a good gust came along it was cool fun. I was riding cautiously though, due to frontal/rain conditions and lack of familiarity. In a good steady summer breeze i am looking forward to tapping this and getting more oomf in boosts. I think this will be a nice grunty kite for sure though.
Turning on this kite is nice. As a comparison I think the turns are similar (a tad more tighter/pivotal) to the radius of my 9m C kite, but less grunty and (maybe) with a very small delay. I won’t pretend that the feel is just like a C kite, but it’s not that far removed either. As for the grunt through the turns, it is good, and with a bit more practice (and less bar movement from me) I will be fanging through some nice smooth slashes on the piddly Perth waves. The agility of this kite is great and certainly fast enough for nearly everyone. Experts may lust for a bit more speed in turns but I think the amount of stability and sure-footed nature, far outweigh any slightly tardiness. As a comparison, on the light wind day, I also had a quick fang on the 09 Kima. Now that is blindingly fast – too fast for newbs and most intermediates I’d say. The Nano is fast but with a sensible nature. Wave-riding is definitely do-able and great for most riders.
Re-launch, self landing/launching I have not tried yet. The conditions were not good enough to faff about experimenting. Keen to test this in decent winds though.
Well, what more is there to say? The bag is a huge backpack and a front load/zipper arrangement.. did I mention it is huge? Room enough for another kite almos.. weird? It is non-extendable so bad luck if you like to keep your struts inflated (I don't). I’m not overly keen on this bag but I don’t fly the bag so won’t lose sleep about it. A new ally stemmed, long stroke pump feels like a luxury to a poor-kid like me! Noice. The 08 Bar is clean, safe and simple, with colour coded lines and kook proof ends.
Summing up, I’d comfortably say that the 09 Nano would be a great kite for most riders out there for anyone from rank beginner to intermediate – almost expert. Awesome range, super stable, a genuine all-rounder and fun even when the conditions are average. Good value pricing was a factor in my purchase, but I liked the kite so much straight off, it was just a bonus.
Can’t wait for next summer 18 – 30 kt South Westers!!! : P
Thx for the review. I demo the first prototype but found that the barpressure was very high. What can you tell about the barpressure and the new bar.
Hi,
The kite I have is a 2009 but with the 2008 bar. This is a straps above the bar set up rather than the cleat below the bar.
On my set up the bar pressure is very light in light winds but does seem to get heavier as the breeze does. I have had the kite in the upper 3rd of power only in short gusty patches so far. It feels firm for sure but not bad I think.
I reckon on the top 10% of power it may be a tad heavy but nothin like say A Core GT for example, more like an Ozone Sport. I have had RSI issues so am cautious about this but think it will be fine. I like the feeling of knowing where the kite is and in my 1st realsession, in dodgy up and down conditions, I was rarely looking at the kite - even on the jumps. Great feel for me anyway.
Hope this helps.
Oky doky, a few updates after a few more dodgy winter sessions.
Just to correct my earlier assesment of the bar pressure - it is actually a little heavier than I 1st thought. Don't get me wrong the bar pressure is not gorrilla-like but it would sit just slightly on the heavier side of medium, definately not heavy duty though.
The 9m Nano's forward speed is a bit slower than my 9m C kite and possibly has a bit less upwind ability. It is not a slug of a kite by any means but i did notice the diff to my old Yarga. This is tricky to be definate on as my SLE technique is 'under development' and I have only really had use in difficult winter conditions and super choppy water. The Nano feels like it wants to go downwind - more so on the bottom end compared to my Cs. Given that i do downwinders 90% of the time it is no probs at all and is a bonus for down the line riding I am sure. With a bit more technique on my behalf I would say the Nano gets upwind good enough but not extraordinarily.
After a couple of basic relaunches it seems a winner and pretty easy using the grab a handful of the outside line method. I haven't had to recover from a 'let go of the bar' situation yet though but can't see any great hassles in the regard. The chicken loop release is very basic but safe enough and can be put together in the water a bit easier than most.
The bag is growing on me and actually has lots of straps etc for tightly securing a pump and bar, rather than hanging off and swinging about waiting to be lost like some bags.
On the weekend I again made use of the 9m's wicked wind range kiting in rubbish conditions that within moments were up n down like a 10-25kt yo-yo. Truly ordinary winds but being on this kite made the whole thing soooo much more fun and waaayyy less drama. Just what I wanted. BTW 10 is lower than useable for this kite but at least I could get going and keep it in the air unlike the bloke next to me who spent more time impersonating a submarine with his 9m C kite.
On build quality I have noticed a few very minor cost cutting things but still think the kites are going to be on the tough side and will hang together well. Finish is as good as most and better than some kites costing far more $$$.
Rigging etc. Not a lot of options here. A fast and slow setting for steering on the rear settings and no options on the front lines. I have the turning set on fast and think that only a beginner would want the slow settings. On fast, the turning is easily fast enough for most I reckon. It would be nice, I think, to have an option on the front settings to play with bar pressure vs depower etc but most likely I would end up in the middle of the options where the kite is permanently rigged anyway. The kite has anti-fouling doovawackies around the strut tips to prevent lines/bridles from getting caught. The pullies (one each side) are not mounted with a larks head but rather a balanced in the middle mini-loom 
which is good and should minimise pulley failure. Incidentally even if the pulley roller did jam it is well designed with enough room so that the line should still pull through fine. Nice.
Summing up I would have to say that I am still very stoked with this kite. It is limited in some areas compared to my C kites (forward speed and 'adrenalin factor' being the most obvious) but I was a bit spoilt in that regard. However the kite has more than equited itself in the areas I was seeking such as windrange, safety and all-rounder-ness (a techy term
). A good simple and effective kite. No BS just no hassles good fun. Perfect for me. 
Hi Getfunky,
Noice Review, now you make me question my last purchase.
If it is anything like my 08 Nano's, a bit of depower will lessen the bar pressure without loss of power. I found that too much backline tension did not equate to more power - there's a happy medium. On my surfboard I find I actually depower somewhere between 65 to 90%, I find I can work the kite more, but then I am not jumping.
This you will probably know but I will say it anyway - On the upstroke or when you need too shoot the kite forward fast push the bar out and pull it in on the downstroke especially in light winds. Or pull and bit more depower and work it more without too much bar movement.
The comparisons you made against your C kites is some of the reasons why I went with my decision. The new Surge sounds interesting but most probable too hard core for me.
I get great bottom end but sounds like the 09 has even better due to less weight.
You made a good choice.
Cheers
Rich
Hey Funkyman
If you are after a bit more turning speed, when the wind is up enough, try removing the four metre line extensions. Flying it on twenty metre lines will be better for downwinders in the surf, it will respond heaps quicker with only a slight loss of bottom end.
These more onshore, wintery conditions we are getting lately in the West are quite challenging for downwind waveriding, especially when trying to dial in an SLE after years of flying a C, by the time we get our normal SW's (usually around October) I'm sure you will have it sussed and be even more impressed with the kite.
As Rich has suggested maybe pull a bit more depower (or shorten frontlines/lenghten back lines)to reduce bar pressure and to get the kite to fly forward more.
It is a fine line and I maybe wrong, but I think if you are coming off a C you may be oversheeting a little, which will reduce it's upwind ability and increase bar pressure.
When flying it on the beach before heading out you should be able to sheet fully in without the kite stalling or falling backwards at all. I have flown the 9 Nano a few times and know that little movements with the bar will change the angle of attack of the kite quite a lot, and having the kite trimmed right in the first place will make life heaps easier.
Yep - good points fellas. I have probably been choking the kite a bit at times. I also noticed the disparity of power on the up vs down stroke compared to my C kites and I just need to get used to sheeting the bar to suit an SLE not like I have always done on the Cs.
The medium bar pressure is actually a good thing most of the time i reckon and was part of the "I know where the kite is at all times withought looking" that attracted me to the Nano. I do like the grunty feeling during gusts (makes me wanna boost straight away) and it seems a shame sometimes to simply sheet out and be too smooth.. Ha ha - the old C kiter in me again.
Definately very happy with kite. Every kite has pros and cons but for downwinders and freeriding with safety, no hassles and awesome wind range I think this kite is a total winner. Really can't wait for some proper steady strong breezes as I want to find out how high/long I can get it to boost. Initial boosts have taught me it is far more floaty and more hangtime than my Cs but maybe around 80% of the height? My Yarga was awesome for height so no sloppiness from the Nano there really..
Very much looking forward to fanging in small-ish, clean-ish waves too.
Roll on summer! 
EDIT: Just read about the Surge Rich. Hmm.. interesting but the grass is always greener. Took me a while to go down the SLE road and after watching good riders struggle and have heaps of hassles in ordinary conditions recently, I reckon I made the right choice.
ALSO: I wanted to correct my earlier assesment that the 08 bar killed 70% of power. It is actually a bit more like +80% power reduction and the kite slowly slides down the side of the wind window in a stable and very predictable manor. Great for stuffed boosts/tricks and I will definatly push myself to learn some 'look at moi' moves this summer. Time to push past 'roll and scratch my tummy' for this old dog.. 
