Rider: Weight,Level (Intermediate)
Style: Freeriding,
Surf Weather: 11-18 knots
Build Quality: 8/10
Satisfaction: 9/10 so far
Disclosure: New to wave kites
My Comments:
So I talked with a fella on the beach who had a Nitro 2 and had nothing but good words to say, after a quick look over the kite the quality of materials and workmanship looked pretty good. After moving away from surfing on a TT for the past season to a SB I thought it might be a cheap way of seeing whether I was ready to make the switch, so to speak. Now for another disclaimer, I havent ridden any other wave kite so I can't give you comparitive notes in that direction, so to the hard core wave riders out there this is probably at best something to pass the time with.
My usual ride is an 11 and 9 meter 2013 Rebel which are great kites for getting around on a TT with. As Switch is a totally online shop it's pretty difficult to get a demo unless there is a team rider nearby but they give you enough info online to make an informed decison. Nonetheless I was having nightmares every night that the new method 9m I had just bought was a "parody kite" (no idea what that actually means, budding psychologists go nuts).
I based my sizing on the projected area of the kite, the 9m comes in at 6.55 which puts it inbetween a Rebel 10 and 11. I ride the 11 rebel the most so taking into account anticipated better turning speed I should get the power I'm after with better moves.
So anyway on to my review, for what it's worth:
The Bar: Nice and simple. In fact the QR and swivel head look pretty much the same as the North Iron Heart. It has the same bungee cord and gallows inside with some sort of magnesium alloy looking gate for the chicken loop that is identical in functionality to the North bar. The chicken loop is longer and the donkey dick thinner. But it all works well, the QR releases as you would expect of any high end bar.
A small thing but I really like the rope bungey straps, when you're not using them the sprin back into the bar.
The lines didn't scream quality to me and a couple of things raised my sailor hackles, like the method they use to add the line extensions in. I'm sure its fine but having small radius knots in lines screams undue stress to me, time will tell. No chemical treatment of the lines from what I could see.
The Kite: The kite appears really well made, three strut design with excellent reinforcement of all the abrasive risk areas. There is a single nozzle for inflating and deflating. Inflation is via the biggest connector that comes with your standard pump so it inflates super fast, I would say a third less time than it takes to inflate my 9m rebel. You have to put the lid back on before you pack it up but given the massive deflation valve that isn't a problem.
The bridle has a single pulley attached to the LE on both sides of the kite, not a huge fan of pulleys given how quickly they seized up on my blade. There is three attachment points for the steering lines, the usual stuff, I had it on fast turning.
The first day I got it there was only 10knots of breeze, not enough to get my 90+ kg's moving but enough to try out the safety systems etc. I had my heart drop into my guts for a bit as it proceeded to jellyfish on the top panel just behind the LE. Oh no, parody kite! I tried launching just to muck around but just put it away waiting for wind to come the next day.
Tapping away at work when we start getting some nice gusts through.. Cya's! I get down to the beach and there is a guy with an aneometer registering 12 knots but it looks better than that on the water so I decide to give it a go.
Smooth power delivery is the first thing I noticed, I didn't have any trouble getting going in what was probably 13-15 knots average. This is probably endemic to all wave kites but it's sort of weird not just building and building speed like you do on the rebels. It seems to get to it's sweet spot and that's that. The kite turns pretty quick but you would expect that with a 9m kite with only 20m lines.
I found turning on waves a ton easier with this kite, the smooth power delivery lets you arc in nicely and then transition out like it was meant to happen. I can't really say how well it drifts as the waves were too small to get too much board power going, I'll update later on.
The absolute deal sealer for me with this kite was the relaunch and recovery. About 6km into this downwinder the wind dropped a bit and the current was going with it way too much for me to keep up. There were guys coming through on 17's and 14's so I was already pushing my luck. Anyway I wiped out on a section and dropped the kite in the water. The kite just about bounced back in the air even with relatively slack lines due to the current. I kept trying to continue but the wind was done with me and I wiped out again, this time the kite dropped face down into the surf and got collected by a bit of mush. I assumed it was mangled beyond repair and prepared to eject. Next minute it is up on its wing tip bouncing on white water begging for a bit of assistance.. Coming from the five line hell that is a trust bar in these situations this was like some sort of miracle.. Fark yeah!!
On the down side the kite has a bit of flutter when you scream across the window and the jellyfishing came back in when the wind drops, otherwise pretty happy with this gamble buy, no parody kite after all
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