your welcome..........................they work well in the buggy too...........I give you a quick tutoral on set up and launch but your flying, your pumping.........:duh::duh:

Fair enough! Lol!

How long does your 12m take to fill?

Wainmans are not one pumps so you have 3 struts then the LE......................3 to 4 minutes to pump the 12m, 2 to 3 mins on the 9m......def worth the effort though.........................:bigok:

Tridude, I would like to take the pepsi challenge! I have been flying north products, vegas' and rebel, exclusively since november. Now that the smooth thermal driven winds are here, I pulled out my speed3 15. Holy Crap! That thing is SO fun. effortless huge jumps. The most spectacular feeling is at the apex of your jump on redirect. I good hard redirect and poof, there's all this hangtime you forgot about. What else, I forgot how smooth the landings are. no more sore knees, achy back, stiff ankles. Speed 3 Baby, I'm sold. Can Wainman do that?

Ok i know I know.. its completely unfair to compare these kites. The wainman would absolutely destroy a S3 in waves, down winding, or possibly other disciplines (unhooking and simple relaunch I bet).. but if ya wanna bost huge, dangle lots, and point up wind higher than all the other guys on the beach, Speed 3 = big smiles.


PS.. im not attacking wainman.. I only post on this thread because Mr. Tridude and Ihave talked kites a time or two.

Got out on the 15m Big Mama Saturday and despite a terrible sunburn it went well. The Jury is still out on a full review pending one more session however my initial thoughts in point form are as follows:

- The lack of a one pump system was un-noticed as with only three struts this thing takes no time to inflate
- This was my first experience with a clam-cleat and I was amazed by its simplicity. Probably not great for a beginner but it is easy, simple and quick to trim on the fly.
- There are numerous points to connect the bridal, my setup on Saturday were light wind setting on the rear lines (knot closest to the wing tip) and front bridals connected to the center connection points. This was how the kite came from Rip and I believe is how Tridude suggested to try it.
- It took about 9mph to self launch and about 12mph to get up and planing. Keep in mind im no professional and probably not getting full potential out of my kites. That being said at 12mph I had a bit of difficulty going upwind...
- Leading edge/trailing edge material is bulletproof and would be hard to tear on purpose let alone by accident, however the leading and trailing edge are gleaming white and I can see that by self launching and landing as I usually do the white will be sandy brown in no time.
- I have not tried to relaunch from water so cannot comment on its ability despite the great water relaunch reviews.

I think with a bit more time I will love this kite, it definitely behaves like a smaller kite despite its size which is a bonus!

Brent

Wow, I'm just surprised that it's possible to get a sunburn in Newfoundland!

bigkahuna, you hit the nail on the head. My virgin skin hasn't seen sun since the last time I was on Westjet (or was it Air Canada?) and even then it was just my left arm since I had a window seat.

Now wind burn, or frost burn I know a thing about :p Just b/c we are an island out in the Atlantic do not confuse us with Bermuda's climate

Cheers!

I've surfed with my friend's 9 and 12m Wainman and they were great kites. He is one of the "better" kitesurfers and that is all he rides.