Rider: Imtermediate/72kg
Style: I just love boosting and carving around in the surf
Board: 138 08 Hammer
Wind day 1: 15-18 gusting to 22kn SW (cross on shore)
Wind day 2: 18-22kn gusting to 27kn W (on shore)
Satisfaction: 9/10
Demo kite from SOS Fremantle (I only went in to get a bladder repaired) bloody salesmen!
First impression on getting the kite out of the bag down at the beach – Bugger no pump. Know one else around and couldn’t wait so decided on the 20min round trip home to get a pump. But it was all good news from there on.
Build quality – Looks good to me but in my experience you won’t know for 3 months or so on just how well it is put together. The demo kite was only 1 month old and looked solid.
Bar - Must be the cleanest bar set-up possible, 4 lines, safety below the bar, depower cleat up the top, end of the depower line looped around the main line so doesn’t flap around, main line is in a plastic sleeve and running through a neoprene insert in the bar which gives almost no friction making for a very smooth operation and no wear on the main line. Steering lines are also in plastic sleeves which I assume are to protect the lines if they run along the edge of the board during a water launch.
Just one tack out and I was in love with this kite (I'll fix my own baldders from now on), it is just so smooth. Bar pressure I would describe as light to moderate. Plenty of feel but light enough to fly one handed.
Turns fast and smoothly but I wasn’t game to really test how fast.
When jumping I would often send the kite too far but on every occasion I had time to fly the kite forward. On a good day I’d land half of my jumps but after just 2 sessions on this kite I was landing 75% of them. It is fast yet controllable.
Finally came in on day 2 with the wind on shore, made a real mess of it and came off the board in 5’ of water. With my head under and I could feel the kite was in a dive, looked up, I only had one hand on the bar so I just cranked it in and the kite looped beautifully and I let the bar go and it just sat at 12 oclock long enough for me to get myself together.
If you’re about my weight and after a kite for 15-25kn this is one worth considering.
Hopefully Santa will be putting a grey/white one under the tree for me.
Have both 10.5 and 7 i have gone away from three kite quiver as the 10.5 takes me from 15 knots to 25 and the 7 i can ride from 18 knots to 30 plus.
These kites are simply the best not many reviews of them as they dont need them,
every one who owns them are on the water not the computer,(had spare time to write this as waiting for wind ).
Rider:intermediate/76kg
Style:waves
Boards:6ft dahlberg/underground-firebird/rrd 127 poison
Satisfaction:10/10
If your looking for a new kite try one of these before you buy and you wont be disappointed .
Demo'd the kite aswell from sos, loved the kite but hated the bar, there is a round ball/stopper about 2 inches above the chicken loop which stoops the bar hitting the chicken loop. This makes it difficult to hook back in as the chicken loop dangles and sways around under the bar instead of being held firm. Used the 10.5 in about 15kn breeze, perfect set up as im ~75kg, other than annoying bar great kite, solution would be to use naish bar, which is slightly shorter but very clean as have smart loop.
