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Helium 18m (first time on water)
by jumpinjoe »The seabreeze yesterday is the very reason I purchased the 18m Helium and took it out on water for the first time. First a friend and I unpacked it and gave it a good look over...he repairs kites and knows quality construction. We both gave it the thumbs up and were impressed with how light the materials are compared to other kites. Obviously we hope it holds up like all the other switch kites which seem to be bomb proof.
I pumped it up and we decided to fly it on the beach - no problem getting and staying in the air in 8 knots. It fly's slow as to be expected with an 18m kite but it does fly faster than any other 17m or 18m kite I've flown. Keep in mind it was 8 knots so not a lot of wind to allow it to turn quicker.
I tried to get in the water as the wind increased to 9-10 knots and while I could easily water start on my 147 Glide with minimal fins about all I could do is shoot semi downwind. Keep in mind I am 205# and with my drysuit, harness and booties/gloves I am probably pushing 220. I decided this was not a good idea and waited for the wind to pick up.
The wind picked up to 12 knots and it was time to hit the water again. For a guy my size what a difference a couple of knots makes! Hopped right up on the Glide and on a breach then tacked a bit upwind. I was amazed at how much power the kite had with only 12 knots of wind. Small jumps were easy, cutting up wind on the Glide was easy. Slightly more bar pressure than my old V1 Element 13m but not nearly as much as the other big kites I've flown.
I switched boards to see how my 138 Xenon Laluz would work and it did fine, pretty much the same as my Glide in 12 knots so I stayed on the Laluz because it has more rocker and I was in small waves. Plus it's just a much better board than the flat old school Glide. The wind dropped back down to about 10 knots and this is where I had a difficult time staying up wind on the laluz. Switch back to the Glide and was able to hold my ground. My buddy was on his Helium and had no problem staying up wind on his 140 twin tip but he also weighs a good 10 pound less than me and is a lot more experienced. I learned that a knot or two here or there makes a big difference in performance with this kite.
Because the wind was on the light side at 12 knots (for a guy my size) the jumps were just ok. I could get lift but I could not get the kite turned fast enough to to get speed on my landing and would often just land flat on the water. This is partly because there was not enough wind and partly because I need to learn how to properly fly this kite and get my timing down. I was doing down-loop transitions with ease - for a 18m kite it moved very fast and smooth when doing these.
Other than my friend on his 18m Helium there were two others on the beach. One weighs about 155# and he was not able to get anywhere on his 14m Nash Cult. It's just too heavy of a kite to do anything in light wind. And one of the more experienced riders put up a 12m Wainman and weighs about the same as me. Even with the kite in a constant loop he could barely ride downwind and called it quits within a few minutes.
I rode for 3 hours and had a great session. This is exactly why I purchased the Helium for when I can't get out on my 12m Nitro and I really want to be on the water. And I can't wait to get it up in the air when it's blowing 14-16 knots as 14 is marginal for my nitro but should be prime time for the Helium. For the record, I am not and have never been a switch rider and I'm now in my 3rd year of kiteboarding.
