Power Kite Forum

Libre Spirit 3.9 Review

buggydanny - 10-10-2009 at 06:20 AM

I got a chance to try the Libre Spirit 3.9 m at the Wildwood buggy bash. I want to thank Jon Ellis for passing and Todd bringing this wonderful kite and allowing us to try it. I totally enjoyed my time with it.

The build quality on this kite is great. It is a high aspect race kite that has a thin profile. I has internal bracing and a very minimal bridle. There are not many bridle lines, and most of them are incredibly thin. I believe the thin profile and bridle bring drag to a new low.

I few this kite Saturday with smooth winds that started from about 12 and built to perhaps 20. The direction started around 60 degrees of onshore and shifted to around 25 degrees onshore. These were perfect winds to try this kite in.

I usually fly jojo rm kites and found this kite to have similar flight characteristics and immediately felt at home with it. It turns very quickly and smoothly. If flies through the window quickly and stops at the edge without overfly it. I found it to be an easy kite to fly and felt like a jojo rm with turbo boost.

This is a very efficient kite and makes more power than my jojo rm4 (althought my rm4 may be getting a little tired by now). Move the kite around and it comes alive; it really likes to be flown this way. Looping the kite produces explosive power (be careful). I found myself being very careful when starting out in the soft sand at base camp not to move the kite around to much so that I would not be ripped out of the buggy.

This kite goes upwind better that any kite I have ever flown. Earlier in the day when the winds were lighter and 60 offshore I could easily go upwind. When Dean was flying it he easily passed me upwind while I was flying my jojo rm4 (which is no slouch upwind).

Downwind this kite keeps accelerating with smooth power. I did some speed runs later in the day when the winds were at there strongest and the direction favorable. I was getting in the mid 40's with my rm4. I went over 20% faster with the spirit! I was not hitting the limit either, I was not a all overpowered. If there was more wind I could have easily gone faster.

On Sunday the winds were much less favorable. They were offshore over the buildings. The wind was turbulent, shifty and full of holes. I tried the Spirit in these conditions to see how it would do. I struggled with it; these are not the conditions that it was designed for. I found the kite hard to keep inflated in the lulls. I was getting tip wraps, but was pleasantly surprised that they can easily shaken out without having to land the kite. This is very different that my rm's, and must be designed into the kite. It was stalling and quickly powering up making for a jerky ride.

This was not my kite and I did not want to drop it in the ocean. I soon put it away, and went to my rm4 and struggled with it instead. I eventually drop the rm in the ocean and had a walk of shame back.

I am totally impressed with the spirit. It left me smiling for days. If you like to go fast, have smooth winds, and like to more the kite around and not just park the kite while bugging then this kite is for you. I really want this kite; but it would not be my only 4m kite in my quiver. I would have something more tame for the dirty wind days.

Dan

centex_buggier - 10-10-2009 at 01:46 PM

Dan,
How did it compare to the rm4 in the gusty conditions? Was the rm4 just as difficult to tame in those conditions?

kteguru - 10-10-2009 at 04:19 PM

Quote:
I totally enjoyed my time with it.


Thats an understatement! When you came back off your first run you were drooling all over the place with a permagrin on your face that I've never seen before. Although when I was able to pry it away from you I have to completely agree with your review :yes:. That's one sexy looking really fast kite. I couldn't beleive how easily I passed you on the upwind leg when you were on your RM. That spirit can go nearly dead into the wind!! For those who like the "Jojo feel" this kite is for you. It is one fast machine. I was very surprised when you first got on it that it was powering you quite well for a 3.9 while I was still on my 8.5 blade IV,,,,, granted I was still giving rides in the softer sand and you had made it out to the hard pack but still very impressive. I recall you mentioning hitting a speed in the mid 50's on one of the downwind runs. I have to attribute that to the kite;-) . Ok, Ok, you get credit too...... your a top notch rider my friend:thumbup: I got a look at the bridle as well and I noticed that the A row seemed like normal unsleeved spectra but the B,C,D rows were close to invisible:thumbup: , super thin stuff.

Two :thumbup::thumbup: to libre for making a sweet kite. Big thanks to everyone for letting us have a go on it!!

buggydanny - 10-10-2009 at 07:18 PM

Quote:

Dan, How did it compare to the rm4 in the gusty conditions? Was the rm4 just as difficult to tame in those conditions?


Centex

I did better with the rm4, but I have a lot of experience with it and understand how to fly it better. I still had difficulties with the rm. I think that the rm deals with the lulls better than the libre and was better suited for the challenging conditions. However, the spirit was much easier to remove tip raps and bow-ties (often in the air).

As I said earlier, the libre was not my kite and I did not want to drop it in the ocean, so I didn't fly it long on Sunday. I think the libre is a fine tuned race machine, and optimized for clean winds and speed.

jellis - 11-10-2009 at 05:39 PM

Was that the RM 4 or the RM+ 4? I was always looking for more speed, the Spirit satisfies that for me.

B-Roc - 11-10-2009 at 06:09 PM

I'm pretty sure Dan is flying the RMs (not the +s) and if he goes faster on the libre than he does on the JOJO than :wow: that's a fast kite.

buggydanny - 12-10-2009 at 11:21 AM

Jon B-Roc is correct, I was comparing the spirit to an jojo rm and not a rm+. I have only flown rm+s a few times and never in enough wind to see what they can do. I have no reference to compare the rm+ to the spirit or the rm to rm+ for that matter.

Personally I like a highly maneuverable kite and I am always happy when I can fly a smaller quick turning kite as apposed to a larger slower turning one. I was pleased that the spirit had high power output for its size and allow the use of a smaller kite for a given wind speed. This makes libre spirit a more attractive replacement for my rm's as apposed to the rm+'s where I believe you have to fly a size higher kite for the same wind level.

The spirit is definitely a faster kite than the jojo rm and I truely found it a pleasure to fly.

jellis - 13-10-2009 at 11:08 AM

Where is the Spirit now?

centex_buggier - 13-10-2009 at 05:44 PM

Jon,
The Spirit arrived back in Austin today and is going to the SLP event this Friday. Next week I was planning on sending it West.
Steve.

Taper123 - 18-10-2009 at 04:21 PM

Kite was a blast to fly... very efficient and fast!

Thanks for the opportunity Jellis/Centex.