I just HAD to grab one of those cool looking Zebra kites at NABX and give it a go.
I have seen them in Euro race pictures for years but never seen one 1st hand before. They are the Red with Black and White striped kites . Very
distictive graphics.
I'm not a racekite fan and this is clearly a race kite. Tons of power down low and fast. Tricky on the turns and a potential to overshoot the window.
The normal stuff you expect from a race kite. It's like Zebra is by a drunk guy from Libre! It wants to go fast but if you don't pay attention this
one can make you look foolish trying !
If you want to take the time to become familiar with it I'm sure this thing can perform very well but it would frustrate a beginner. When it comes to
beginner friendly race kites my vote is still with Cooper.
Rip' and others,
What are your impressions of the Zebra's debut ?ripsessionkites - 16-4-2009 at 07:50 PM
fast , stable ... and a demo 5.0 is going to screwyfit
probably everyone that tried it at NABX thought the same thing.
i will point out that i fly Dutch, big kite, short lines. its not for everyone, and running 14m lines you have to use more brake input in turns.
also Fast Arie tuned it out for more speed, less pull / lift.
its a good "race kite" for people on a budget similar to the Cooper. I will say that the Cooper points UPWIND higher over the Z2.
**any kite that is too racey, you can tune it down by adding longer lines.**
last, the Zebra is copy of the Libre Bora Race. Libre owns the patent on the Bora so they have tweaked it a little and just named it something else.
Libre does own Zebra.