ragden - 28-10-2009 at 05:55 AM
It seems that I might have been remiss in properly posting a review on this kite. I have had it a couple weeks now, and gotten two good opportunities
to fly it.
First I want to say this kite is absolutely gorgeous. I got the gold, white & black version of the kite. Everything looked great coming out of the
bag. I didnt make any adjustments to the bridle or anything, and just threw it into the air to see how it would fly.
My first flight was at Kite Point, Cape Hatteras. Winds were side-on-shore ranging from 10mph to 15mph. The day started very light with only one other
person flying. That person was flying a 15m Speed 2 SA. He was also riding a directional surfboard (Jimmy Lewis Thruster, I think). I laid the kite
out, grabbed my monster door, and headed into the water.
I had a little help getting the kite fully inflated before it left the ground, but once in the air, it flew just fine. Didnt have a lot of pull, so I
wasnt sure it was going to work. I walked out into the water, put my feet on the board, and dove the kite. First try, I didnt nearly get enough power.
Sent it back up and down again, and stood right up.
In light winds, it was amazing to me how quickly this kite turned. I was actually able to loop it downwind of me without the kite coming near the
water. I've looped my 12m Outlaw in light winds before to keep going and had it crash into the ground. No problem with the S3. Once I got rolling,
this kite very quickly made it to the edge of the window and I was easily cruising upwind. It easily turned faster than my 11m Slingshot TD2 in the
same winds.
The kite hit the water twice. Once leading edge down. Being a bit concerned about it taking on water, I immediately grabbed a brake line, just one
side, and gave it a sharp tug. The kite lifted off the water immediately! Again, this was far better performance than the TD2, which wants to move to
the side of the window before relaunching like that (unless you really yank on the brake lines). The second time it hit the water, the lines went
slack and it folder over itself. Fortunately I was in shallow water so I stood up and backed up from it. This didnt immediately get it back in shape,
so I tugged on the power lines a couple times, and it filled out again and relaunched.
As the winds came up a bit, I went in and grabbed my smaller board. This was a blast. I did a couple redirected jumps. They were smooth and floaty.
Very very nice. The kite responded very quickly, and was a total joy to fly.
Flew it again last weekend in slightly stronger winds, 20-25mph. The wind prediction said the winds were going to die, so I figured start big and then
let the trim strap out when everyone goes in. This was quite the experience.
Initial launch was unassisted, and the first thing I noticed was that the wingtips didnt immediatley unfold and take shape. The kite flew around a bit
with the wingtips folded in. Very odd. It still had significant pull, but didnt turn right. I had to fly it around a bit to get it into shape
properly. This concerned me at first, but it did eventually fill out and flew just fine.
Riding the small board with a 15m kite in 20-25 mph winds was a little scary at first. However, the kite went to the edge of the window very quickly
and I was able to scrub off the speed. The water was really choppy, so I wasnt comfortable doing any big jumps. I did use the waves as ramps to do
some upwind jumps (still getting comfortable with that). I didnt really feel that overpowered while riding though. Kind of amazing considering
everyone else was riding 7, 8, and 9m kites.
As the winds started to die down, I let the trim strap out, as planned, and had a blast. The chop settled a bit, and I had a real blast. Great day.
Amazing kite. Not sure what else to say. If you get chance, you have to try out this kite... 