I'm looking at buying a PL vortex 14m. I know its lower aspect than the venoms, but does anybody know if it jumps well while landboarding? Has anybody ever used one, or knows someone whos used one, or even seen one in action first hand.

I'm into landboarding freestyle and big air. You don't really hear much about this kite. I know its meant for wavestyle of kiting, but i'm just curious how they work on land. Any advice would be nice as long as you've used one or seen one in action.

don't think its gonna comp with scorp or venom. just don't think its gonna race to the apex for super big air. quick turning and deep window power? yes. reasoned all by design...never flown or seen it in action. i remember when i started looking around at kites in general this come up just from a foil search , got the impression it was a venom with blunted performance.

the lack of presence even in a foil user crowd ??? you can do it then we'll know !

Thanks Phree....you just never see this kite on any of the forums really. I know its more for cruising waves and stuff. I've searched many of the other forums for a review, but i've come up empty handed. you rarely even see any for sale. I was just thinking about picking one up if my kite from australia fails to show up.

Peter Lynn Vortex 14m:
The Vortex is a lower aspect ratio kite than the Synergies, it is forgiving and very easy to fly with all the same stability of all PL kites.

• This kite has been used the most of our school gear and has a few repaired pin holes.
  
  
• It flies great and comes with a brand new, never used Peter Lynn bar. It would be great for summer and winter.
  
  
  
• Your choice:
  
  1. Kite only (no bag): $400 (lists at $969)
     
     
  2. Ready To Fly with kite, new bar and lines, no bag: $600 (lists at $1219).
     
     

For more information, to book a lesson or order gear, please call Stormboarding (Burlington, VT) at 802.578.6120 or e-mail: rachael@stormboarding.com

If comes down to it, and it is important to you, let me know. I can get you a Peter Lynn Vortex bag.

ATB,
Sam

Traig at MonkeyAir is the man to talk to - most of the reviews I've found on the Vortex are from him. You might be able to get a message to him at the arcusers.net forum but will probably have better luck at the MonkeyAir site ...

He seemed to think they were better than the Venom I ... but they are the lowest AR arc you can get and I want to try a 17m

The Vortex replaced the Bomba as a introductory or school type kite, or for someone looking for a more tame but very grunty and exceptionally stable kite for wave riding or just park and cruising. You can still get some awesome air with it but it will not boost near what the Phantom or Scorpions will. The Vortex came out right around the time of the first Venom's so performance and build would be around the same as that era kite.

For land boarding I think it would do fine. It has a good amount of low end grunt but you can leave it in the air tied to your bumper and go get a prime rib dinner without worrying that it will move more than a foot or two. Very strong auto zenith - similar to the Bomba but with a slight performance gain over the Bomba's. Super easy to fill and launch and the only way it will ever hit the deck is if you drove it there on purpose.

The smaller sizes were very fast turners for that era kite but they are probably not as fast as the new Chargers. You will probably want to get a larger sized bar for them, especially if you are getting sizes larger than the 14m. Great depower and very good hang time - just like all the PL kites. Still, you are not going to get quite the performance and boosting as you would from the Venom's and later models.

Hope that helps.

Vortex good for snow and water where you can hold an edge against side pull but not as much for land. It is designed to hold back in the window some to give newbies time to get things sorted, hence its popularity with schools at the time. I have to add that this is 2nd hand info to me but comes from seasoned, knowledgeable riders. I had a customer get one as a first de-power kite for use on frozen lakes and he got on very well with it.