Very nice review. I will try to get my hands on a C4 to try it out by myself.
Cheers
Olivier
Eppo, test drive a North Neo for us and report back. Cheers (i'm sure you have nothing better to do!!)
Ankle surgery on wed so can't comply. Father of two, 4 and 5 years old, got plenty to do how about you?
Not interested in the NEO, beginners kite. be my guest.
NEO is great unless you want a kite that will back up on a wave and if the wind gets up they are useless with any amount if de-power
about Neo: well well guys, slow down a bit. I was a month ago in Kap Verde, home of Mitu Monteiro (2011 KSP #2) and Airton Cozzolino (2011 winner of KSP), I saw them both riding there. They are awesome riders for either wave riding or strapless freestyle.
Both did a strapless jump, in mid air they put the board between the legs and turned their jump in to big kiteloop, and when coming down they grabbed the board from between their legs and throw it under their feet and landed. Mitu rides Bandit 5s, and Airton was on 2012 9m Neo... Beginner kite, hmmmm, not. Airton threw the biggest jumps of all the people there whether they were on TTs or strapped surfboard. I was nicele powered with 6meter kite when he was on his 9meter, and I weigh 10-15kg more than he...
A rider of that class will make a stable kite look awesome - infact having a less performing stable kite probably allows such moves - awesome stuff hey. They also have many kite sizes to choose from so when they get too overpowered they can rush in and get a different size. Also a professional rider can hold more power as well.
But I get your point.
no problem 
And it's true that a good rider can perform whatever kite he's on. However, Airton chose Neo for his riding in 2012 instead of Rebel, Fuse, Vegas... at least for now. Airton and two other North colleagues came to Kitebeach from some other place, so they were doing a downwinder and stopped at Kitebeach for a couple of hours before continuing to other place. He is 16 yrs old I believe - the young ones hey, I am almost 40 and I can feel it, damnit [}:)]
Neo was a much faster turning than Rebel, which is now wonder though, but the lift was a surprise for me, but like I said he was powered up, but even then he smacked the lip and bottom turned like no other!
EDIT: in fairness, I don't ride North, so no affiliation here.
Interesting real life observation here, will look more into these kites before I comment. Cheers.
Just tell it as you see it and all is well. Have to keep an open mind about these things as I have found out. Gonna go on north site and scour the net for reviews on the kite. Get info'd up.
Just thought i would throw my two cents in as a relative noob with a C4.
I have been kite buggying for quite a few years now and just made the move onto the water. Ended up picking myself up a 2012 12m C4 after having it recommended to me. My kite skills are fairly good so i wanted something i wouldn't get bored of / grow out of quickly.
I would recommend the kite to others at my level in a heartbeat, i really dig it. I'm only at the stage of getting up and cruising around but i found this kite really easy to work with. Have no issues getting upwind with it, feels nice and stable to me and really responds well to being flown. As eppo says there is just something about the interplay between the depower, edging and flying that really works.
A few people told me to stay away from the C4 as my first LEI, but i reckon its a great unit.
hi eppo,
thanks a lot for that review. I am searching the web for some information about the C4 and will hopefully test it soon.
At the moment I still fly my 2010 Vegas, sizes 7, 9 and 12 which works pretty well for me (75kg) in the North of Germany (excuse my bad English)
I would very much appreciate your opinion on the lowend of the 12m Vegas compared to the 12m C4.
What would be a goof quiver for me @75kg. 7/9/12 or 7/9/13 or 7/10/13 ?
cheers David
Yeh I'm not the one to ask as I only was on the 9m. Haven't been on the 12m's?
Djodjo (on this forum) best to ask for the C4 12m (I think this is his biggest kite) and search for vegas reviews and email one of them.
Totally different kites, different feel and use. The C4 to me was a real paradigm shift to say the least.
I know that DJodjo shortens his back lines by an inch or two to keep the kite a little further back in the window and with correct technique for this kite will give you a bigger bottom end.
From my limited time, Vegas loops a little faster (per size) and is a little more forgiving on the loops but the C4 boosts better, more float (stuff all on the vegas relatively - straight vertical and down). C4 much lighter bar pressure. But the vegas has more instant grunt, the C4 needs to be ridden with precision. C4 will have a much better top end. Vegas flaps/moves less in the air.
Horses for courses really. But yeh email Djodjo he has the aspects of the C4 down pat. This is really a once off naive opinion.
