SaveTheWhales said..

NorthernKitesAUS said..

SaveTheWhales said..
Lets not forget the Ladies - A fun little video, check her jump near the end ! Dont cut your kites up

Bahahaha.... at 5:10 she says "so and so...keeps kiting"... on what do I see there in the distance!? A PANSH Aurora!! LOL... OMG... you guys pay WAY TOO MUCH for fun.

Only if your an experienced kiter who doesnt plan on doing any tricks or dropping it in the drink...

Please drop your Pansh (not pants ) for "15 minutes" in normal wind swept water and show us your Relaunch video... Theres no way in Hell Id buy a $10 kite if It cant sit in the water twisted up and then relaunch like the Soul does.

My wife took my 12m Soul out last week in just 5-7 knots. The wind was that light that it could barely stay in the air. She dropped it several times learning to hydrofoil. I said to her when the kite was down on the water and in a twisted up ball, sheet the bar out and then let the bar go.

Sure enough, a couple of mins later the kite had unfolded itself and only required a little tug on the steering line and it was up in the air again.

The Ozone Hyperlink was really good at this too.

Can't get my misses to try my 12m soul but working on it. She is still learning to get up on a board but I am sure it would help. Can't wait until she is up and riding upwind.

Bossstyle said..
What is the top end on the 12m with out bull crapping? Have only used it light winds but will it handle 20 knots plus without a problem.

I did use it on 23 knots, it was scary sometimes but the kite behaved well.

If I had the 8m I would prefer that in 20+

SaveTheWhales said..

Bossstyle said..
What is the top end on the 12m with out bull crapping? Have only used it light winds but will it handle 20 knots plus without a problem.

Up to 20knots - more than that and you start hanging on and taking up way too much room on the water.

Useable power is more Important for controlling transitions jumps tricks and Safety :)

Do you really expect 1 performance kite to do everything... most of us have 3 different kites to suit conditions...

Obviously I have lei's as well and now have a couple more sessions on the 12m. It starts to get good fun at mid teens and was fine at 20 knots but like you say 15 to 20 knots on a twin tip is great fun with lots of float.

Disclaimer - I do not recommend doing this unless your are a very experienced rider in a big open space !!!

With a winter front yesterday - I got to ride the top end of the 8m Soul 30 - 35 in gusts for a short while in lumpy choppy water.
A helper to hold onto me and one on the kite and just as well even at half my depower, i got lifted.
It controls the gusts very well and is quite stable once the correct depower is set and could hop along the beach just like any 9m, it doesnt attempt to drag you off as you would expect.
I wasnt committed to big jumps - just half baked ones but still ok - it takes me a little while to get into the groove timing after riding last week in 14 knots. by that time the wind dropped. The other 50% jump height was on tap and you could feel it.. Weighing up the offshore ocean beach wind and no rescue boat - not worth throwing my kite away , for one day.. better cross onshore storm wind direction in a few days time :)

Its a deceivingly easy light bar pressure ride compared with my Core 9m XR5 in the strong winds. Heli loops are the go with the float - even the smallest chop hops keep you floating quite a way and you do have to work the kite to keep it in front of you.

I must remind you that Im using a equal line length custom bar, that I have added very short extensions so at 25ish, knots the bar has NO depower pulled on. This in turn gives makes me feel safer that I have plenty in reserve.
With the bar full down - theres just a little bit of backstall. You dont want to be playing on the beach adjusting front or back lines with a foil kite lines doing the Tornado wild thing in that wind