Spleene x19 light wind weapon

Rider: Weight,115kg
Level (,intermediate/advanced)
Style: Freeriding, race ,
Weather: 6-17 knots
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
Bar & lines: 9/10 (bar works great,safety is good ,knocked off 1 mark
Only cos I've never been a big fan of the webbing strap trim set ups ,
Saying this with a kite like this I find I rarely trim the kite .it seems to be
Set and forget).

My Comments: had this kite about a month and love it.in the past month have had about 12 great sessions on this kite ,mostly on a race board in winds from 6 - 15 kts .Once the wind gets above 15-16 kts this kite is a hand full on the race board.have been on a small twin tip and this kite in 17 kts and felt very comfortable.

.Check out this video on YouTube:

Launching and landing this kite solo is basic and what a bonus it is not to have to pump up such a big kite .Setting up is basic ,roll out the kite put some sand on the windward wing tip ,close off the 2 deflate vents on the trailing edge ,pop a bit of air in the intakes, roll the lines out (lines stay attached) check there are no crossovers in the lines.walk out at 45 degrees to the wind and next thing you know it's in the sky ,2 mins max....

The kites performance is ridiculous ,it will fly in 3-4 kts without falling out the sky,I'm riding in 6 kts on a race board , and well powered in about 8-9kts . Kite is not fast turning but you don't a fast turning kite when you have that much power on tap .

With the la nina back in town I think I'm going to get slot of use out of this kite.

Thanks to Marvin from In The Loop Kiteboarding for hooking me up with this weapon.

Not really a kite your going to get much use out of in WA but the last couple of seasons here in Brisvages have been crap for wind ,yes we have been getting some big days but on average they have been 10-15kts .in the 4weeks I have had this kite I have used it 4times as much as any of my other kites.

There is a definate technique in riding foil ,you have to let them breath , if you choke them (over sheet ) they stall ,when you sheet out you can feel the kite take off,to go upwind it is often better to depower the kite as to stop it being over sheeted. All I can say is the person you witnessed possibly has no experience on a foil . I'm 115 kg and I can go upwind on a 135x35 twin tip in 10 kts , can stay up wind in 6kts on a race board and going upwind in 7-8 kts.I've spent a great deal of time on an 18 dyno and the spleene outdoes it in bottom end ,the dyno does have a more user friendly top end though.

Not all of us get 25kts at 2pm on the dot

Saw the X-19 IN action at the 2011 Nations. No one came close to it in winds under 10Knots, in fact Not many finished with in 10 min off the X-19.

Steve I know where your coming from ,yes I agree for a average weight rider 70-80kg a 16m inflatable will do the job for most light wind conditions with a decent board.But with my size the only why I'm going to get going and have any sort of fun is on a big foil and a big board.unfortunatly with the crap season we all had last year , and the crap season they are forecasting for this year ,you need big gear to get time on the water.I remember 3-4 years ago you got teased if you owned a kite bigger than 12m.in the last couple of years all the big brands are doing big light wind kites and their popularity has increased 10 fold.

I have done a genuine review on this kite ,I've given it a decent work out in various conditions ,it's not just a kite I've demoed for 1/2 an hour,

please don't turn this thread into a slanging match on this brand is better than that ,or this type of kite is better than that......If you want to do a review on another kite it's easy ,you hit the "new topic" button at the top and go from there..

Jay...

its no fuse

I saw that too, but there were other kites out there that were close. Marvin had a good combo in the 19M Spleene and a North Race Ltd, but he could also barely keep going much beyond the bottom end of the other big inflatos, he just got into the channel when all the others had given up on the offshore side of the large bank.

Later that day there was a guy on a 19M Speed3 and myself on a 17m Zephyr 2011 were were both riding, having fun and staying upwind easily in around 10 knots (or a bit less), even with the tide starting to go against us.

There was one inflato kite that was not around back at the nats, that has since proven itself in world class competition, and thats the Ozone Edge 17M

I agree that big guys need the biggest kites, thats just plain obvious. All I am saying, (after witnessing something that amazed me and that is related to the topic of this thread - a 19M Spleene got owned by a 15M bridled c kite), is that larger inflatos also work just as well as "light wind weapons" for big guys. North make 2 Dyno sizes, Core make a 19M LW, there are a large variety of 17M inflatos and I think even Cab have produced an 18M CB tube racekite too this year. Large foils work, basically all large kites will work for large people with a suitable board and about 8-10 knots, or more, of consistent wind. Large inflatos work better IMO, without all the hassles related to a massive, complex, kite canopy shape changing, bridle, the massive weight and inertia of the enclosed air inside the foil, and the huge AR and consequent slow turning required for the large foils to work. Those 3 things do not make them better than inflatos, just more complex and expensive in my experience.

I personally own a 15M Speed 3, right now, and I only use it for land kiting, and much prefer to use my 11 foil because it turns better and is less "touchy" to fly.

I am not saying the Spleene is not fun for you Rattlehead, each to their own. I am saying something about ability of the "weapon", compared to other types of "weapons", based on something I witnessed, and thats what we do here isn't it?

In light wind,

If you want to do quadruple front/back rolls with a board off... Get a big foil.
If you want to do powered hooked in moves with the kite at 45... Get a big foil.
If you want to cruise in the lightest wind possible without working the kite... Get a big foil.
If you want to be sure you'll be able to relaunch... Get a big foil.

If you want a kite that turns quicker than a big foil... Get a big inflatable.
If you want to do unhooked moves... Get a big inflatable.

i do the BIGGEST foils in brissy [SCOOB] smooookkkkiinng ahaaahhhh what was this topic about .short term memory lose

Hopefully I'll get to the next one steve..
I think the board these days will out perform a large kite any day, specially if it is a race board, My first go on a spleene and went up wind no a school twin tip in under 8knts, and on the raceboard was lit and flying upwind unbelievable. Yet to get the same out of any Inflatable and my fav ride kite is the North Rebel..

Glad you mentioned the word hype Marvin. Saying that any large kite inflato or foil is good in 5 knots its hype, and to be clear and honest, its also bullsh1t!

You most definitely were moving, hammering you were not, and no-one else could be bothered and the race you are talking about was canned due to low wind.

I was not trying to fly a kite at the time, I was watching the "race" (if you could call it that).

Massive kites with massive complex bridles in light winds = not a good idea and not user friendly!

Richard, I wrote about a side by side comparison, thats all. The angst and aggro is not coming from me, you must not know me, I'm about 2foot6 tall and don't bother anyone. (except, it seems, when I tell it how it is).

Yes the Spleene X19 works, (but requires LARGE boards) especially if all you want to do is get out there and ride back and forward on a cross wind reach (no problem with that, I do it too). To claim it as the "ultimate" light wind weapon is just hype, and that hype is being driven by those who sell them. KP could have sold them too, but we choose not to after years of observing the frustrating experiences of my customers. Maybe we care too much for kiters and just wanted to keep the facts out there and not let the truth get buried by hype?
If some people want to turn that into aggro, good for them.

Large bridled foils work, but so do simple 4 line inflatos. Big Foils and inflatos really do require bigger and bigger boards, and especially for big guys to get around under 10 knots, they need REALLY BIG boards, otherwise just forget the hype. The board is so much a part of the formula that they should be sold together!!!
This was clearly demonstrated by the difference between the Spleene and a 15M bridled C, when 2 different boards but similar weighted riders tried the kites side by side.

To those saying they are good for racing in winds that races are actually held in - where are the results?
There are plenty of results for inflatable kites from a variety of brands, in fact they dominate racing and speed kiting (actually all kite sport variations).
One of the big stumbling blocks for large bridled foils in racing is their poor downwind performance compared to the fast turning and better drifting large inflatos. The results are public, I've seen the results in our local racing series too.

This is just a discussion, lets keep it at that, keep your chill, and don't take the threads so seriously.

^^^^^^ No one is taking this too seriously, however your were requested nicely to keep the thread on topic. His board/kite combo works for him and he wrote an honest review on the Spleene and the boards he was on. "One Happy Customer". It is his opinion and being told your wrong over and over again is actually just a waste of your time and becomes insulting. Jesus, you should know just about all very modern kites are good and the subtle differences are almost negligible. Everyone will agree with you that the kite/board combo is very important in all conditions, please leave it at that.

EDIT: not you Ewan you quick typer! After a few seasons in Bali and being heavier than you, youre spot on dont discount a foil...

Hey Dave...

Mate read my posts, I have not told anyone they are wrong over and over.
There are only a few people getting worked up over my posts. Surely the average SB viewer will be highly suspicious, that this thread is being guarded by people who have some sort of vested interest in promoting this brand of large foil?
There is another brand of large foil, it was a round way before this one and I'm fairly sure this one is even "extremely" similar to the original and the brands designers actually worked for the other pre existing brand. No that I care about any of that political, competitive, marketing stuff its just some background info.

Lets look at some facts - they are applicable to this thread, or are you saying that comments in reviews can only be glowing and positive re the reviewed kite?

The difference in bottom end between this large type of foil and this includes both main brands and even the 21M from the original brand, and large inflatos is barely 0 - 3 knots.
There is virtually no difference between a large modern 19M inflato an a large 19M foil, there could be as much as 1-2 knots difference in favour of the foil when comparing a 21M foil to a 19M inflato.
The price difference is substantial, inflatos offer much better value for money
Simplicity - inflatos win on that front again, blow out the internal ribs on a foil and get your wallet out and be prepared to wait too, there are very few people if any that are prepared to repair them in Oz.
Racing results - inflatos win again AND they won at Alva.
Speed, inflatos win again, except on land where the current max speed is held by a small (land only) foil.
Height and hangtime, biggest jumps I've ever seen personally and on the net are on inflatable kites.

The main differences that anyone can witness are due to rider skill and familiarity with light wind kiting and the size of the board used, as I've politely stated from my first post. Remember that before kitesurfing came along, there were only foils, and thats what I flew for thousands of hours, and I still love flying them and personally still own several. This is a discussion on light wind performance, I have not denied that the brand and model that is the subject of the thread works. I've just suggested that there is a fair amount of hype (and undisclosed bias in many of these threads).

On the water I agree with you, on land they are OK and definitely have better low end than an inflato but only on land would I concede that foils are better.
We all (at KP) really do prefer the simplicity, fast inflation and better overall performance of the open celled depower foils from Ozone and other brands.