My Comments:
10m Nemesis HP 2009 review
I have been kiting for about 6 years and have owned several different brands of kites. The last couple of years I have owned Best kites. Recently I have flown Slingshot Rev and Cabrina kites and both are good in fact I think most kites are very good these days.
I now have a new 2009 NEMESIS HP 10m I also own 12m and 9m 2008 Nem HPs.
On Saturday I was lucky enough to launch the 10 m for the first time and had almost 1 hour in 20 to 25 kn then the wind dropped to 12 to 15 kn it was a WSW so on flat water.
I was not expecting much improvement over the 2008 9m however I was very surprised as the 10 m is faster, more responsive and smoother than the 9m and IMO the 9m is an excellent kite.
In brief everything is better than the 9m – jumping, transitions, control in gusts etc and as you would expect bottom end. I was staying up wind in the lightest conditions similar to or close to my 12 m due to the power that can be generated from kite speed.
I am yet to test the 10m in the surf and can not wait but no wind at the moment.
The 10m 2009 Nem has the option of been able to easily shorten the lines by 3m so this should be a bonus for wave riding.
Do yourself a favour and at least have a test ride.
There was a thread earlier in the season that was questioning if the new Twister Technology in the leading edge of the 09 Best Nemesis HP was just another wild claim from the manufacturers and I have to admit that I was also sceptical. But having flown the 08 Nemesis last season and really enjoying the great stability and speed from the super stiff cuban fiber leading edge and the incredible lift and hangtime the kite provided I was really hoping the Twister Tech would improve the kites only weak point- slightly slow reaction time to steering input. The kite was fast through the air but there was a slight delay before it reached this speed. This was rectified by changing to a 55cm bar which quickened reaction time considerably.
The first thing I noticed when I rolled out the 09 Nemesis was the amount of extra work that has gone into the Twister Tech on the LE. I was expecting around 4 'twist seams' but there was no less than 12 sewn into the cuban fibre part of the LE and another 2 in the dacron part closer to the wing tips. Even if it was a gimmick at least I was getting more value for my money from the extra work required to sew in the seams. The new graphics looked wicked and the build quality top class.
My first fly of the 09 Nemi on the recommended 45cm bar on 25mt lines immediately confirmed what I had been hoping. The kite is way more reactive but hasn't lost any of the power, speed, lift and stability that made last seasons Nemi my favorite kite. It doesn't seem to absorb any steering input and reacts instantly and smoothly to minimal bar pressure, turns on a dime and has no tendancies to oversheet or stall. Exactly what the manufacturers claims were. If you liked the 08 Nemi try an 09 and you will be amazed at how Best have improved an already great kite. If you havn't flown a Nemi yet try and get your hands on one. Twister Tech definately isn't a gimmick.
If you are in the Geraldton area G-Spotxtreme have a 10mt demo.
Maybe you are referring to something I said in response in a previous post?
I did not say that Twister tech was a gimmick, I did say that it was a necessity to incorporate it into the HP design, because cuben is so torsionally stiff. Comments have been made about the cuben leading edge kites by lots of riders regarding the steering, but now its fixed and like you say, the HP this year is an amazingly good kite with very fast reactive steering.
I don't like how a single construction feature is isolated in marketing blurb and then overhyped, but thats just my opinion.
Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve
I still own a 9 and 12 m Nem HPs 2008 with the back bridles on A & B adjusted to favour A by about 2 cm. On this setting both kites are very responsive and turn at least as fast as any other kite I have used.
However now I have a 10m 2009 the improvements experienced from my first session were very impressive and considerable over the 2008 kites.
The 2009 bar is also excellent and it is also impressive that Best have responded to customer input. With everything now available on the bar its easy to have it how one wants ie if you do not want some of the additions just take them off.
Today I tested the 2009 10 m Nem HP in the surf and it was incredible.
Wind was 25 kn and occasionally touching 30kn gusty NE and the kite performed with minimal effort compared with the 2008 9m. Again not knocking the 9m as I did love that kite and if my budget was limited it is a kite to consider.
Some how the 10 Nem HP made going out through the surf significantly easier with popping over large amounts of white water easy.
Depower when charging down the face of waves at incredible speed provided full control with the ability to cut back and maximise the fun on the wave face.
Jumping - well this took a little adjustment as this kite on the setting I have makes it super fast even faster than the 2008 9m. When launching off steep wave faces I often pulled the kite back too far. However it was not long before I adjusted to this and then had to adjust to a little extra height and float. All good.
Conditions did not allow for my skill level to really try the down the line as wave shape and wind direction favoured up the line on some incredible waves.
This kite is definitely more than just a small improvement over the 2008 and if you are a person that appreciates a high performance kite that is still forgiving then this kite could be for you.
I only make these comments as I have really found this kite to be exceptional and I am not normally one to post comment.
I am not sure about the twister effect but can assure anyone that this kite is the best kite I have used in 7 years having said that the first few years were not worth commenting on and not sure how we survived it.
While the 2008 Best Nem HPs are excellent kites the difference in the 2009 is clearly obvious. I have a white one and the comments on its graphics are just continuously wow it just sets itself apart from the normal
I have a 12 and 9 2008 HP and am hoping that the 2009 10 HP will be a one kite quiver well for 90% of my kiting anyway so for the time I will keep the 12.
I just had another 3 hours on this kite and all I can say is it is noticeably better.
Jumps off waves are simple with more height and float just an easy kite to use and it will do anything you want.
try an 8mt theyre RAD every thing pete stewie says in the adds is 100% TRUE no lies there . relaunch could be better they dont like being rolled in the surf. ive found the valve on leading edge is subject to coming out half way after heavy crashes resulting in loss of air not mutch fun when your 40 miles offshore. other than that sweet is the word .8mt has usefull wind range on surfboard from 17- 28 kns . down loop bottom turn and shralp. just picked up a6mt stay tuned radman out.
