REView - 2009 Slingshot Rev2 9M

Demo’ed today from Choicey - another virgin bites it - fresh out of the pack - wooohoooooo. Love that.
Background.
I currently ride the 9M & 13M 08 REVs. Anyone who knows me will know how stoked I am in these kites.
(See my 13M review from last year - www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31411&SearchTerms=REV,13M. )
Never did get around to a full-blown review of the 9M but I love that kite way more even than the 13M.
I really thought that with such a winning formula last year the 09 SS REV would be just more of the same. That would have been good enough BUT believe me the 09 9M REV2 is definitely NOT a repackaged REV1. Looks similar on the beach - but whole lot sexier somehow. Bridle is same configuration but significantly shorter all round. In the sky you can easily pick a very much narrower centre strut and an even wider centre panel width out to the mid struts (which I think are also narrower?). I also think the LE may be skinnier but I will need to check side by side to be sure. There are alternative tuning connection points on the LE; which I didnt try. Bar very similar to last year; may be some minor diffs but I didnt check too thoroughly.

So .... the ROAD TEST
I’m sure Choicey will be reporting here soon - he was out on an equally new 11M. But here are the first ride impressions of an 'alternatively skilled' craftsman.
Basically - awesome awesome awesome - I am aching with pure joy.
I couldnt believe the different ride this machine was providing. It was down around the bottom end range; a variable 14>18kts; though it was difficult to pick this from the kite performance. A mate had just come in on a 9M 'other brand' complaining of not enough power to stay upwind and there were 2 or 3 15M kites doing OK. Well I was cranking right from the start. First kite dive almost pulled me off my board and, believe me, I know my 08 9M pretty well by now. Once I realised how much power I had I excitedly pulled the trigger asap and, despite some poor timing, I was gone - up'n'away, crashing hard from a great height cos I stuffed the end timing even worse. Metre for metre the 09 seems to be a far more powerful kite - well at bottom end at least it is.
The power was easy to get used to but it was the speed of the kite, which really stood out as the major difference. This kite is fast. Everyone says the 08 REV is fast but the 09 is definitely quicker. It was way ahead of me using my old REV1 thinking. Even after 2 hours I was still landing in very messy fashion because I still didnt have the kite control fully dialled. Apparently the alternative setting will slow it down a bit. I’ll have to try it - but given another session or two Im sure the extra kite speed will be a big plus.
Sheet in & out control seems about the same as last year ie fast power-up and almost instant depower. The only significant difference is how stable the kite is when you depower. It just stops dead and waits for the next instruction - awesome - I love that about the REVs - must be a huge + for wave riders. Hard to beat a REV1 for stability but I think 09 may be a step up here as well. A bit hard to tell at first with a kite that moves so fast when it does move but it can only be described as super stable – no stalling or response time lag at all.
Bar pressure is definitely up a notch. This was noticeable right off but couldnt have really been a problem as I spent the last half of todays 4hr session on the new kite; ie after 2 hrs on my 13M 08 earlier. Many may even see a heavy feel as an advantage because the first generation REVs were ultra light at the bar. One thing I guess is that if you are going get spanked by this kite you will probably know about it before it hurts. Occasionally on my 9M pain was my first hint of a mistake .
Relaunch - my timing worries gave me more than a few opportunities to test it out. Again hard to believe it could be easier but twice it relaunched itself before I was even ready . Relaunch has become pretty much a non issue with these kites, compared to my early days ie, but 9M REV2 is an absolute no brainer. A cinch.

DOWNERS
Personally I think I prefer the lighter bar pressure of the REV1 - but thats probably just me and I might change my mind on this one .
Kites still have dicky neoprene socks around the pulleys on the leading edge. IMO these were the cause of stretched bridle lines on the REV1 so I thought they would be gone. No problem though (imo) just cut them off - problem solved. Though I should probably ask Choicey about that first .

SUMMARY
A very thoughfully improved second generation kite.
Biggest plus is bottom end improvment. For me; 72kg 133TT; this takes it down to 15kts (or less). That’s maybe 2 kts below my REV1. Anything that gets me out on my 9M earlier is a big shout in my book. Interested to see top end but think it may more similar to the REV1 there.
I seriously hope this bottom end feature carries over to the 13M as bottom end was probably my only disappointment with the 13 REV1.
Also hoping the kite speed increases proportionally with the 13 cos whilst the 13M was OK speed wise more speed is always an improvement on a big kite.
Whatever - I'll tell you all when it arrives because after today I am sold. I have ordered a new 9/13 replacement quiver already.
Check the ‘for sale’ section if you are in the market for near new 08 REVs – mine will be featuring there as soon as the new ones arrive.

Thanks Choicey for making an already great day an unforgettable one.

ps. Whilst many believed 08 REVs were OK for the quicker learning type beginners I dont think REV2's are in that class. IMO way too fast to be fun-filled kite-of-choice for newbys. At least one season on a T3 or similar first if you want it easy & fun all the way thru. IMO.

awesome review puppet. I am hanging for your review on the new 13m once you get it as i have my sights set on a 13/9 combo as well.

I joined the 'I've tried a Rev2' club at the weekend and I was....very very impressed.

I currently ride fuels, have done since 04 (imo the 04's were the best kite ever made) and not tried a bow or hybrid before. I'd pretty much echo Puppet's comments, I had the steering lines on the inner setting and liked the heavier bar perssure and feedback that it gives. It didnt turn overly quick on the inner setting, unless you really yank the bar, but Im not keen on super quick turning kites so suited me down to the ground.

The thing that I loved with the speed of the kite in a straight line - super, super fast, the board speed I was carrying was awesome.

The handling was far more C-kite than I expected, I actually left the water thinking that this was really similar to a fuel, just with 'options' if the ****e really gets splattered. The depower was awesome, just let go and park it.

Very very nice, demo one if you can.

I spent the weekend riding the 9m courtesy of Choicey.

The conditions here in WA over the weekend were a little testing to say the least (see below). I was out between 12 and 3pm.



My preferences are freeriding and surf and I spent the first 2 hours on a surfboard and the last on a 130cm twin tip. I had the lines on the rear setting.

I found the kite to be well behaved and super smooth in the turns. Gusts of 25knts didn't seem to bother it at all. Sudden sheeting out of the bar did produce some canopy distortion and flutter but this is pretty typical behaviour for an SLE kite at the top end of its wind range. There were times when the wind was down around 12-15knts and I was still able to hold ground on a 6' surfboard by working the kite.

In the direct onshore surf at the start of my session there was more than one occasion that I let the lines go slack. This didn't seem to bother the kite at all and it just seem to hang for a second or so until I was able to get tension back in the lines. I didn't get much of an opportunity for down the line stuff but would expect the kite to drift along nicely if required to.

On the twin tip the kite felt really comfortable. I tried a couple of backroll kiteloops, but after the off season found I was a little "rusty". The kite had comfortable pull (for me) without being extreme. Jumps seemd to be very floatie with longer hangtime than I was used to but in the choppy water it was difficult for me to time them just right. I think in ideal conditions it would be a very good boosting kite.

I found the bar pressure on the rear settings perfect especially for surf style/freeride. The grip is nice and seems to be more rubber like than high density foam. I've been a fan of the Slingshot concept of the below the bar safety and depower for a while, however they still have not addressed the issue of the chicken rope really wedging into the clam cleat and becoming a problem to adjust whilst on the water. The chickloop rope is still the same soft grey spectra which when wet can really jam in there tight.

At the end of my session I tried a self land using the safetly. Using my usual "flip" technique I pulled in a heap of depower, unhooked and dived the kite towards the sand. When it was about 3 metres off the beach I let the bar go to find that only about 1 metre of centre line had slid through the bar then jammed on the larks head connection in the hole it feeds through on the chicken loop. This is a serious issue. Tracing the path of the flagging line this connection between the short stretchy elastic line and the centre line propper has to pass through the hole in the stopper ball as well as the hole at the top of the chicken loop before properly flagging the kite to a single line.

All in all a very nice kite suited to my riding preferences.

Talk to Graham at Choice for a demo!

Agree with you airhead. Got the new bar with last year's Rev and think that the knot is in a stupid place. Sure the knot might go through the hole most of the time, but catching a knot edge would be a fright; recon this needs a fix too, otherwise nice kite.

Hey ok well I have finally been able to really test the kite myself..
Last week i was in adelaide, awesom riding and great crew thanks boys for looking after me.
Ok the 9m.
I weigh 81kg wind cross shore to swinging offf shore wind 12 to 15kn on 5'11 surf board stayed up wind riding waves and had an absloute ball. Mark sykes was on the 13m in the exact same wind. I had the rear lines moved forward I like the extra bar pressure. Kite felt a little slow that day..
One thing I didn't do that day was actually hook the back lines a knot or two up to make shorter and power up the kite as we did on the 13m day before and found it had more grunt.
So I get home monday and have a monster westerly, 20 gusting 35. I set the kite up rear lines moved forward and power it right up front lines long back lines short..
Wow it jumps big, and handles sick. You trunit you feel it move very direct control i like it.. Squids is shallow. I actually stopped jumping as when it got really strong as I was getting a bit scared of how shallow the water is and how high I was going..
I gave a few of the boys a run and they all really liked it, one comment was after flying the new rev 2 the original rev one just felt spongey.
Thanks again to all the boys in Adelaide..
I'm in WA this weekend..

Hey Steve,was wondering if you noticed when testing the Rev 2 11 ,is the bottom end better than last years Rev?
Cheers.

Oh Dave, my heart bleeds for you.
Meanwhile poor Andy has had to make do with nothing more than his mattress protector, bluetac & some used dental floss. I think you need to share the work around a bit more.
COL

Hi Hammer
The 5th line on the rebel is still a great option but having taught using both kites in the school can assure you the Rev flagging system works excellent and reset and relaunch are too easy.
A few thing that can go wrong, but same for any kite. As long as the bridles are clear when you reset, all is good. We get better than 95% successful relaunch even when beginners have crashed it very messy. Can improve the reset from flag by adding a stopper ball to the flagging/sliding line, make sure its the width of the kite up the line though so the flag still works.
Overall the Rev has been an excellent kite and the 09 has been an improvement on a great 08 model. Adjustable turning speed and bar mods both great additions.
Slingshot crew are coming to the Coolum Kite Festival and there will be plenty of demo gear available.
Have Fun
George