2013 North Rebel 12m review

2013 North Rebel 12m

Rider: A Hungie kg, Ugly and bald
Style: Freeriding & Surf
Weather: Various
Build Quality: 8/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: Pay for my own gear...

My Comments:

Been off the water for a few years due to health reasons, but now all good, so I thought I would start kiting again.

I wanted a kite with a reasonable bottom end, great up wind, good wind range and nice soft landings. I was also a bit ???North curious??? as I had never owned a North kite and only ever flown an early Evo and was disappointed with the lack of up wind drive. So I saw that Jason (Briskites) was doing good deals on 2013 Rebels, so I decided to grab one.

My initial impression was that it was an ok kite and I was disappointed in the lack of evolution in kite design in the past couple of years. If I was to believe the internet hype I would have thought I could kite in 8 knots through to 30 and this kite was the most responsive do it all kite out there.

I???ve now spent about 10 hours on it and this is my views on it.

What I don???t like.

Needs plenty of board speed to access the bottom end power, which can be hard in really choppy water or short period swells.
Hard to self-land with the 5th line.
Kite is hard to fold and get back in the bag.
Kite is heavy, lots and lots of Dacron..
Sits a fraction to forward in the window.
Inflate valve is small.


What I do like.

Bar system is great.
The safety system - the QR and fifth line.
Short throw for depower.
Lots of depower.
Awesome up-wind.
Good bottom end.
Reasonable kite feedback.
Speed of kite- I can see why they use them to race.
Easy to set up because of the high Y split.
A very refined feel in flight.
Feels very efficient.
Stable canopy with no distortion under loads.
Handles turbulent winds with no nasty surprises.
Lots of float.
Only needs to be pumped to 6 psi.
Great Free-ride kite.


I would not recommend it as a "wave kite" in the 12m size, but would recommend it as an awesome all-rounder. It can be used as a wave kite, but it is a compromise and is best used for up-wind wave riding.

Apparently the "14 model has a deeper profile which would give it a bit more sheet and go and does not sit so far forward in the window and has a bigger inflate valve. I think they would be great improvement to an already awesome kite.

I am extremely happy with my purchase and would happily get a smaller one as my high wind kite, and probably will soon. Not sure if I will get a "13 on a run-out deal or a "14 model.....

B

Self landing and launching on the rebel is easy, do a search there is a video out there somewhere. You basically sit your kite on the edge of the window with your Wing tip on the sand, the key is to make sure your wing tip is down firm then grab your fith line and start puliing really fast and your kite will just come down nice (the blue line I think it's been a while). If you try it give yourself plenty of room and commit to it if your kite comes of the ground a bit don't panic you can either let your line go or keep pulling, if it does come of the ground it is because you didn't have your wing tip down properly. Hope this helps as it was really easy to land one of the things I miss about the rebel and the big boosts and nice soft landings.

Thanks for that video...I have been doing that technique and it works fine in light winds, but as the wind rises I find it is less than co-operative. I think I just have to work on the timing.

Haven't flow a 5 line kite since 2005, but no doubt I'll have the technique mastered soon..

Cheers,

B