Rider: Advanced - 95kg
Style: surf, freeride
Weather: crappy 10-15knts
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 7/10... could be 9, needed some set up changes.
Disclosure: Ocean addicts gave me a demo... (I normally ride Cab drifters)
My Comments:
I got a quick test ride of the new park yesterday in pretty ordinary 12-15...but there were some 10Knt lulls. wind was coming around from NNW to NE, so it was pretty gusty (Sunshine Coast QLD).
Out of the bag build quality looks sensational. The leading edge felt very robust and well made. Kite fabric also was great. its a three strut and pumped up really firm and solid.
Lines are bar feel good, I hate rope chicken loops, they break and wear.... so why have them?? I still cant work that one out.. but it functioned really well and the front line flagging was very effective and easy to recover.
The bag was on the small side IMO and it needs a front pocket for keys. the only pocket was inside and it was a velcro ...so keys ended up in the sand...petty yes...
The kite, I feel, needs to be tuned a little before flying. In light wind the front lines were too short (or back lines too long), needing to be ridden with the bar pulled right to the stop against the loop. Once it filled in it was slightly better, but I think the rear lines needed to be on the lowest not. If the bridle is more than 1:1...ie the moving of 1 inch on the back lines gives effectively 4 inches to the front... good. I reckon in light winds like yesterday I'd say the front lines felt at least 6-8 inches too short. . (they weren't, so its a bar or bridle thing). in the vid below you can see even on a surfboard the bar is almost right in the whole time
I liked the swivel for front line twists, however I'm 6'3 with arms like a gorilla and I had trouble reaching the swivel to unwind...again the vid will show finger tips only... I prefer the cabrinha system where you can easily spin the chicken loop to untwist lines.
As mentioned the wind was very light, and the line set up was not spot on, so i don't want to comment on low end power, I think the set up robbed it somewhat. however the kite was very stable and flew quite quickly. The kite had a tendency to stall when wave riding, but that again was due to the line set up. With out de-power strap at all, the kite performed nicely on waves unhooked....
Bar pressure was extremely light, almost vague, but I think that was because of 1. the line set up, and 2. cabrinha's run a bit of bar pressure so I was used to that.
Anyway. Im going to grab the kite again when its stronger (the wind) and set it up better and give it another rap in surf and freestyle environments... I think it could be a really good thing.... but I need a second test. : )
I put a very short vid together that shows the kite features.
Love the upwind jibe... doesn't look super windy at all! You'd struggle to call that 15 knots haha :)
Someone has messed with the setup, all parks are set up out of the bag so that you are fully sheeted with the bar 50mm off the quick release. Check the knots under the floats it should be on middle one if set up for unhooking it will be on last knot
