2013 RRD Religion MK3 info??

search is your friend .

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Review/2012-RRD-Religion-Mk-II/?SearchTerms=rrd

I have had the RRD Religion MK3 7m and 9m for a few weeks now. Build wise they seem very good and I have had no problems with them. I have used the 7m about 3 times and the 9m about 10 times. I mainly kite in side shore/cross on with a waveboard and the kites are heaps of fun in these conditions. They fly where you want them and drift nicely down the line even in these conditions. I have only used the RRD 2012 bar and lines. All seems good and simple with the front lines coming to a V about 3-4 meters from the bar so a bit hard to yank on one when you want to self land. I am not into boosting but these kites get me out the back when the waves pick up. The kites also relaunch very well after a dumping.
I am very pleased with the performance of these kites and would recommend them to someone who wanted a more wave orientated kite.

Cheers guys for your info, maybe something to think about. mainly looking for something that drifts better than the C4 and better relaunch, i know the reo is a great wave kite, but a lil disapointed in ozone this year to be honest, colours are ****, no new bar again but they still want full price etc... so ill take my money elsewhere. and i heard the reo doesnt boost very well at all

thanks again

Hi Berg,


The new Religion is out there and I can teel that you are tempted to convert.


First let me say that I am a Team Rider for RRD but this review is not driven by commerce more by a kind of fanatical zealotry that has taken me over since finding Religion and a wish to convert new souls.

I have had the new 2013 Religions 7m and 9m for the past 4 weeks. As I have been riding religions since the Mk I I didnt really expect any surprises nor really want any as ireally loved my Mk IIs.

I did feel the Mk 1 had impressive turning but failed to impress on bottom end performance and upwind. If you read previous reviews I have been honest about that. Last year these issues had been ironed out and the kites were magnificent. The 7 was smoother but the 9m felt truly exciting. Almost as quick at the 7m but with bags of power. The 9m days were no longer a dissappointing anticlimax, as I dreamed of enough wind to use my 7m, but had become days to really love . Last years 11.5m was a whole lot better than the year before with a great bottom end better upwind and faster turning. i took that kite to Balian [Bali] in July and it really proved its worth in the 15kt trades .

3.5 years after finding Religion I dont know any more if my style was made for these kites or by this kites but we seem to gel.

So what of this year's?

Well if you have read the blurb from RRD the new kites are smoother and more stable with better drift. The tips are a little bigger and marginally more swept back. The maximum chord depth has moved slightly and the panel layout and colour schemes have changed. There have been subtle improvements to the lines too.

I cannot comment on the biggest size as i havent got thé 11.5 yet but the 7m and 9m have been everything promised.

My first feeling was that it was hard to tell the difference from last year's kite, but that could never be a criticism.

RRD been real I-talians and all, are renowned for the importance they place on ''style'' and have pulled out all the stops on these kites with panel layout, colours and finish. I have had a least 5 different random kiters, in just 4 weeks, come up to me on the beach and and say unprompted ''wow! pretty kite''.

I have the red white and black. When I pulled it out of the bag it looked like someone had designed it while stoned and looking at a lava lamp, and so I wasn't so sure. At a distance of 20m in the air, you can really see what all those 1970 psychedelic sworls are all about, and viewed out on the water it gets even better. In a pack of 30 bobbing kites at your local this one is really going to stand out.

When you analyse what RRD designers have done you can see why it is so different. RRD are on a whole new level of cleverness [or perhaps CAD development]. Look around the beach and you will sees that most, if not all, kite companý's still have large monochrome panels laid in long rectangles along the shaping seams. Colour is often provided by screen printing on logos and colour on top of the base material colour. In time the printing can wear ald look daggy. RRD has however completely deconstructed the entire canopy shape into swirling shapes of different coloured cloth. There is not a straight seam in sigh. It looks... well .....organic. All this is stitched to together to construct the whole image..... a giant RRD insignia. All of this also incorporates curving Dacron reinforcement panels too and not just on the trailing edge which everyone else does.

These kites are the whole package made not joust to perform but also made to survive in the waves. As far as I can see, and looking around at the competition in the wave kite market, they are the only manufacturer to incorporate significant extra panel reinforcement.

Does it work?
Well ask Neil Taylor of ''Hold the Line Kites'' Kitesurf repairs. He repairs more kites than anyone in Perth or possibly Australia, and I think he has yet to have to fix a religion despite serious West Australian wave use. He also has a happy tale to tell of how some other brands keep him very busy. Thank god they are not all reinforced like Religions!

There is a slight weight penalty to pay for strength of course, but I cannot say it translates into significantly less drift although in theory it would. There is absolutely no back flying even with the back lines way too tight. Certainly the balance is superb when drifting with the kite falling back down the line but keeping just enough line tension on. Personally I think drift is a bit overrated anyway and it is in fact speed of response that will keep the kite out of the drink.

This years religions have lost none of that controllable feel either, tight turning and smooth but with the same 'Zap' or 'Pop' in the turns. None of that slack-arsed pivotal delta kite turning thank you very much, but more of a proper, tight, powered arc C kite feel, without the sudden Jerk and subsequent punishment of a C. This one is going to accelerate you 'smoothly through a bottom turn and then snap you off the lip if you've got the timing. Those who may have seen me out at the recent state wave titles or at Scarborough will surely have noticed the extreme turning speed and how the kite can do a virtual dance in the sky throwing arabesques in time with whatever is needed on the wave

Do they jump and perform as an allrounder? Well on 23m lines aimed at control for wave ridng they are never going to boost as high as the obsession but they do have a really exciting feel with the tight powered arcs. In many ways the feel has gone a little closer to the perennially popular Obsession, just with more bar feedback and tighter turning.

My advice is if you are into waves and before you buy any other kite get down to John at SOS Fremantle or to DS Surfin Qld and at least Demo one and find Religion for your self. I am a convert.

Hi, like nails I have been riding RRD fort 7 years , I have had both the mark1 and 2 religions but this year I have gone to the visions mk2 .
Just returned from a trip over to Mui Ne in Vietnam and had my 7/10.5 with me , the visions are slightly slower than the make 2 religions but excellent in all other areas , I ride waves a lot still and these kites do well in the surf drifting down the line , very good up wind and excellent hang time, the complete all rounder .

Call John at SOS surf for demo