KiteATB.co.uk

Manufacturer:

Flysurfer

Model:

Pulse

Sizes:

10M

Type Of Kite:

Closed cell bridled depower foil (water re-launchable)

Introduction:

The basic reason for me getting this kite was mainly because of the hype. I didn’t need another kite as I had 4 that covered every wind range that I would venture out in but the concept of the so called “Full depower” and gust munching ability of a kite that was unlike any other attracted me. So after a bit of digging I managed to get an ex-demo along with a new speed system chucked in for free.

Packaging, Style + Construction:

On unpacking the delight the postman had sent me I was first presented with the new flysurfer bag which was highly disappointing! The only thing that had changed was the colour and an additional extra pocket. The bag is one of the main things that I dislike about this brand. They are uncomfortable and impractical. The bag has a pocket on each of the sides of the bag and a small key pocket on the front flap. There is a full length zip that expands the bag out to make it easier to get your kite away and a set of net vents that are really too small to do anything ample. There are a few bits of webbing that allow you to attach your snowboard/kiteboard to your back. Your board then slips into a nose pouch to stop it from falling down.  This is fine but the problem comes when you place the bag on your back.

Lugging this bag around is damn uncomfortable. You can feel everything that’s in your bag sticking into your back whilst the straps cut into your shoulders. Not good for those long hikes.

The worst thing is if you store the bag away. The zips on the bag react with the atmosphere and produce a white powder that stops the zip from working. I am so glad they didn’t use the same zip on the kite as well.

Now for the kite itself.
The kite is very well made. Beautifully designed with all the stitching internally so the stitches don’t get caught against debris on the ground. The bridle points are reinforced and the whole kite looks bomb proof.

This is a water re-launchable foil so it has no cell openings except for 2 one way cells that allow air in but limits its escape. This makes the foil apparently float on water. I think flysurfer were having a joke with the air intakes as there a big warning signs on them with a caution notice. It’s as If they can intake in so much air that small children can be sucked up. I was a bit disappointed that the air inflation handles have disappeared as on previous flysurfers series this used to make pre-inflation a breeze.

If you trap air in a kite then you need a way of getting it out when you pack down. This is when you notice the deflation zip. It’s huge, the biggest one I’ve seen and placed the full width of the kite directly in the middle. Deflating the kite is easy. Open the zip and fold the kite in two with the wing zips into the wind and air gets pushed out.

The kite looks bomb proof and care has been taken in each step of the canopy making.

I feel that flysurfer instead of taking a step forward have taken a step back in the material selection for this kite. It feels heavy, quite soft and waxy but very strong. It is a totally different material that is used compared to the psycho 2 and doesn’t seem to hold in the air as well when you have landed the kite. I know my P2 stays inflated until you walk over and undo the zips. The pulse on the other hand looses quite a bit of inflation just sitting there. To me, I can’t see how this material would be beneficial on water. Also when this foil gets wet and is landed on the sand the sand sticks to it like glue. This happened the second time I flew the kite and it just wouldn’t take off. There seems to be no proofing on the material. My P2 which is almost 3 years old doesn’t have this problem and seems much lighter.

The bridles as with all flysurfers look like they are prone to tangling. And defiantly are. During the whole time I have been with flysurfers I have had more tangles during setup than what I have with other kites. The main reason is that the bridles and speed system lines are so soft. There’s no stiffness to them to stop them from tangling up. The problem is resolved by the correct packing technique of the kite, lines and bar after use but sometimes you may be in a hurry to get out of the rain, or if you are out in high winds and it’s too awkward to pack up. This is when tangles can occur.

With the pulse there is a steering mutation setting for the bar pressure. This works really well, the lightest setting allows the kite to be control by your little finger. The hardest really works the arm muscles and of cause you have a series of inbetween settings.

Bar
The usual beautiful bar the flysurfers come with. Colour coded so you know when you have the bar upside down and usual trimmer. From the original flysurfer bars the pulse bar has been simplified. The cross brake handle has gone and has been replaced by two handles that the back lines connect to. Believe it or not, they are called “oh sh*t handles”. These handles can be used in many ways. To land the kite by pulling on both like a normal foil, to use as an alternative safety, or to flag out the kite during a landing so there is zero pull. A kite with plenty of safety features, I’m starting to like.

Lines
Older flysurfers had the lovely 3 line system which was simple to untwist and untangle. The pulse is a bit different. It has the traditional 4 lines and an extra one what is called a “full depower” line which is a 5th line that suppose to work as a safety that folds the kite back on itself. Nice idea…. Shame it doesn’t work in high winds.

You also get a detachable leash, which confused me as all other flysurfers I have flown the leash is permanently connected. There must be a reason so I had a look at the manual and found that the leash can attach to one of the oh sh*t handles for activating the alternative safety or it can be attached to the chicken loop to use as a suicide leash for advance users who perform handle passes at high altitudes.

The lines connect to the bar via traditional larks heads but the lines are unsleeved and become tatty very soon but don’t loose their strength. Connection at the kite end is done via metal connectors called “easy line connectors” which are a really good idea, until you loose one. The loss of a connected would mean you would have to loop connect the lines. A simple figure of 8 larks head attachment point would have been much better. This would also allow the lines to be sleeved.

The kite is defiantly packed full of features along with a number of flaws. Now time to see if it stands up to the hype with the so called incredible depower that some people have also marked as “total depower”. I was already a bit disappointed as I now found that the “full depower” tag was just a safety line feature and had nothing to do with depowering the kite in the air so it can still be flown.

Setup and Flying:

When you get the kite the bar is connected to the lines and packed correctly so no problems with tangles. The day was a gusty 25mph, not the best day to fly a new kite in but I am experienced with flysurfers so I wasn’t too worried.

I unrolled the kite and zipped up the huge deflation zip. I sanded the edge and laid out the lines. Attached the safety to the 5th line clip and set the trimmer to full depower. I walked back to the kite to get some inflation in the kite via the air intakes. Grabbed the cell openings and held the LE into the wind. The kite inflated very quickly. I gave the kite enough inflation to leave a nice bubble of air along the LE and left launching to do the rest.

I walked back to the kite and attached the safety to my harness and then clipped into the chicken loop. I decided to go for a direct downwind launch to see how much it would pull.

I did the usual technique that I use with flysurfers and that is to take one step back to raise the LE slightly off the ground and into the wind and held it there to get a bit more inflation before fully committing to the launch. I was amazed as the kite sucked in all the air it needed for almost full inflation. I have never seen a closed cell kite inflate as easily as this one.

I then went for the launch. The kite went straight up through the power zone and took in the last bit of air it needed to inflate. I never scudded! I hardly felt the kite go up. I made a few pass of the kite and let out the depower strap so it was fully powered. It was creating little scudds when the bar was out but not much. I then passed the kite through the window with the bar in and found where all the power was! This kite has so much depower it’s just silly and it turned so quickly but very smoothly.

I got on my board and had a couple of runs and just laughed like a girl at how easy this kite was. I tried to go as fast as I could and as quick as I could. The kite accelerated fast but not too fast to be a problem, working the kite was a piece of cake, no stalling, luffing or any instability. The turns were quick and constant power throughout. The kite felt like you could really chuck it about and with all that depower it wasn’t going to spank me when things went wrong.

I was flying in 25mph and felt I could easily take on more. The depower is extreme but it is not “total” depower. I would think this is impossible for any kite.

The ground handling of the kite ranges from poor to extremely good due to the many ways of landing the kite.

The worst way is landing in high winds is with the “full depower” 5th line. The idea is that the bar is released and travels partly up the 5th line which results in the kite folding back on itself and comes down, eventually. Almost five minutes I had to wait for the kite to come down. It was like flying a big one liner pita bread. It would fall on the ground then lift up again then flip over and back up again. In the end I wheeled the kite in via the line.

The best way to land in high winds is to hold onto both “oh sh*t” handles and land the kite like any depowerable foil by pulling on the brake lines. Now from here you have three options. Place a stake through the handles and the kite will stay there. Hook the handles on the side of the bar to keep the brake tension on, or unhook and release one handle whilst keeping hold of the other. This will flag the kite out like a Peter Lynn Arc with zero pull.

The stability scores top marks in gusty weather but only when a small mod is done to the pully lines. This is a very annoying thing with the pulse. The pulse on it’s own without the mod will work fine in clean winds but get it in the turbulent stuff then it’s a right handful. The mod s easily done and involves adjusting length between the pully and the figure of 8 knots by a set amount. This is repeated for each of the pullies and takes 2 minutes but has to be changed back for lighter winds as the backstall is increased. This has turned out a pain and I have set about doing what flysurfer should of done in the first place (and which they did with all their other pre-pulse kites) and that is to make up a WAC line for each of the pullys with a number of knots so you can just move to a knot for the wind conditions. It’s easy enough to loosen the figure of 8 knot and move it but sometimes I fly in very cold and wet conditions and the last thing I want to do is faff about trying to loosen a knot to move it a set amount.

An outstanding feature with the kite is the ability to reset the kite back to factory trim. This means any stretching or shrinking in the bridles can be removed and the kite will be in pre-mod perfect trim (yes, the bridles will shrink from the heat produced by the pully if they get jammed with sand). This is done by what is know as a mixer test and is fully explained in the manual. But it does involve moving the same figure of 8 knot that you have introduced the mod with. This means the mixer test is completed then the knots changed again for the mod and everything rechecked.

Jumping:

This came to me as a bit of a shock as the previous day I was flying arcs. Normally for me to get good height on an arc I have to commit and really yank in the bar. I made the mistake of doing this with the pulse. I sent it back fast and then slammed in the bar and immediately threw the bar out as I thought the kite had just ripped my torso from my legs. I seriously shot up at break neck speed! Throwing out the bar spilt all the power from the kite and I cam down quite fast. Bar back in and I hovered! This is a whole new ball game.

The second try I had it sorted. Sent the kite back less aggressively and pulled in the bar not as far and the kite pooped me off the ground. I kept the bar in, redirected and floated gracefully back down.

This kite can lift and the pop is amazing (pop = acceleration and ease of lift). The best kite I have flown for the job but keep that bar in otherwise you coming down hard and fast because you can “dump” all the power out of the sail. Maybe there is a downside to having all that depower.

Final Summary:

All in all a lovely piece of kit that replaces the wind range on 3 of my 4 kites. Lifty, floaty (with correct technique), super quick turns, amazing depower and good stability even without the mod (far better stability that is getting on to being quite close to an Peter Lynn arc with the mod) but seriously falls down on the finishing.

Making the mod a WAC setting like the bar pressure settings would be a good start. Getting rid of the metal line connectors and sleeving the lines and connecting via larks heading to a conventional knot would be another. Changing the chicken loop as it has a habit of popping off the harness in low winds would be beneficial. The final bit would be to use the same material as the psycho 2 and to redesign the bag.

Flysurfer have made a kite that would seriously test other kites but lack of detail holds it back in beating them. We could solve the majority of these for ourselves but why should we when we have just shelled out on a kite that is similar in price to a second hand car?

To me it is a step forward in technology but a step back in quality.

Reviewer:

DaZZa-S

Manufacturer:

Flysurfer

Model:

Voodoo/Spirit

Sizes:

10M Reviewed – 4,7,10,14M Available

Type Of Kite:

Closed cell bridled depower foil (water re-launchable)

Introduction:

The Spirit is a freeride kite, which can be changed to a freestyler, wakestyler, waverider and even to a beginner kite, because of his many trim options. I bought this kite in place of my Rookie which was far too unstable for me and I needed a kite that wasn’t going to luff every 5 seconds inland and to sit nicely under my 13 meter Psycho 2. (The Voodoo and Spirit are almost the identical in characteristics, the only difference is that the spirit has a different paint job and is built with a heavier fabric.

Packaging, Style + Construction:

The spirit comes with the usual flysurfer bag which I don’t rate too highly because it’s really uncomfortable to wear for any length of time due to the lack of back padding. It comes with 2 side pockets which are way too small to be any use really. Just big enough to get a small bottle of water in one side and your mobile phone and keys along with a spare pair of socks in the other. The main compartment has a zipper the full length of the bag which allows you to get the kite back in very easily. The Bag is big enough for 2 kites. I would say you would be able to get a 7 and 14 in the same bag with careful packing. The zips of the bag corrode over time and can stick and seize. I’m glade they didn’t use the same zips for the deflation pockets on the kite itself.

Setup and Flying:

The kite is setup on 3 lines, 2 back lines and one main line. This setup is far better than the newer 4 and 5 line flysurfers as tangles are reduced and laying out 3 lines is so much quicker than 4 or 5.

The kite is flysurfers usual bomb proof quality. The first thing you notice is how wide the kite is. It reminds me of the frenzys but with more of a curved front. I also noticed how wide the air intakes are and how easy it was to inflate the canopy ready for launch.

After pre-inflation that was quick and simple it was time to hook into the bar. The bar hasn’t really changed throughout the flysurfer range. It has the usual rotary leash and chicken loop. The chicken loop is ok for the normal wind range of the kite but trying to fly the kite in low winds will cause the chicken loop to sometimes pop off. This can be extremely annoying.

Flying the kite puts a smile on everyone’s face. It has massive of depower and grunt. The low end is quite poor. It won’t get off the ground until the wind gets around 12mph but once it starts to fly it starts to pull. The turning is smooth and the power stays on throughout the turns. The speed of the turn is nice… just right.. not too fast and not too slow. The characteristics of the kite seem quite chilled out.

I was amazed at the high end of this kite. I weigh in at 85kg and flew the kite in a constant 30mph and felt like I could take even more.

Getting upwind couldn’t be easier like all flysurfer kites.

The next thing I found absolutely amazed me. I took the kite out on quite a bad wind day. Very turbulent and gusty along with a mate who had a Peter lynn Gurellia 2. What I can remember is that my mate who was flying the arc had his luff and fall out the sky a number of times. The spirit was rock solid and just seemed to lap up the conditions.

Jumping:

The kite jumps well when the wind gets into it’s top range (which is above 20mph) but I found it hard to really achieve any height below that range with the kite no matter what WAC setting it was on. I was talking about this to another Spirit owner of the 7 and the 10 meter sizes and found that the 7 was a total different beast. Quicker, more stable and lifter. The 14 on the other hand was not liked as much as the other sizes due to its sluggishness characteristics. This stands the same for the pulses. 7 meter is the best of the lot closely followed by the 10. The 13 is more for heavier riders around the 90kg mark. I found the float from the kite was massive and resulted in soft landings all the time.

Final Summary:

A top kite for the turbulent stuff. Depowers great and handles well with jumps getting good in the higher range. Then I found out something. I checked the speed system and found that the rigging of one of the pulleys was wrong and one of the bridle lines connecting to this pulley was on the way out due to it being over stretched. On replacement and re-rigging I found that the kite had a bit more to offer but didn’t have time to fully test before I sold the kite for a newer flysurfer model. My view is if the kite flew like this when it wasn’t rigged incorrectly with stretched bridles just think what it would fly like when everything is correct!

Landing the kite was easy and there was a small amount of pull at leash. To kill all the pull you just grab one of the back lines and reel in around 2 meters to flag out the kite like a peter lynn arc.

I think this kite would really suit a snow kiter and was backed up when a pro had a blast. Get some speed up on the kite and it really starts to come into it’s own.

Reviewer:

daZZa-S

Manufacturer:

Flysurfer

Model:

Rookie2

Sizes:

4 & 9 M

Type Of Kite:

Open Fixed Bridle Foil

Introduction:

The Rookie2 is one of the few Flysurfer open foiled kite that is intended for land and snow use. It comes in Four sizes – 2,4,6 and 9 meters. The kite can also be flown on handles.

Packaging, Style + Construction:

The kite is one of the first kites to come with the new flysurfer bag which, if you read all my reviews about flysurfer you will find that I don’t like it. The only thing that had changed was the colour and an additional extra pocket. The bag is one of the main things that I dislike about this brand. They are uncomfortable and impractical. The bag has a pocket on each of the sides of the bag and a small key pocket on the front flap. There is a full length zip that expands the bag out to make it easier to get your kite away and a set of net vents that are really too small to do anything ample. There are a few bits of webbing that allow you to attach your snowboard/kiteboard to your back. Your board then slips into a nose pouch to stop it from falling down.  This is fine but the problem comes when you place the bag on your back.

Lugging this bag around is damn uncomfortable. You can feel everything that’s in your bag sticking into your back whilst the straps cut into your shoulders. Not good for those long hikes.

The worst thing is if you store the bag away. The zips on the bag react with the atmosphere and produce a white powder that stops the zip from working. I am so glad they didn’t use the same zip on the kite as well.

The build quality itself is the usual bomb proof design. The kite is open celled instead of the usual closed celled foils that flysurfer produce. Each cell opening has a stiffener that keeps the cell open in light winds. The cells themselves are massive and aid in the kites low wind ability.

The material is light and somewhat different from the usual material that is used. Somewhat waxier but still feels crispy instead of soft. It’s though a coating has been added.

The bar is the usual flysurfer bar used on the Psycho2’s and Spirits/Voodoos for the 6 and 9 meter sizes but the 4 meter has a smaller pulley bar. And when I say small I mean “small”, this thing is dinky and the pulleys on the bar help increase the speed of turn for such as small kite.

The kite is 4 lines and is supplied on 18 meter lines so you have to buy the 5 meter extension if you want to fly on longer lines. I personally don’t like this as for the price you pay for these kites, though the rookie2 is a budget kite and is relatively cheap, you should get at least a full length line set.

Buying the extension is a must. The kite fly’s so much better especially the 4 meter. On 18 meter lines the 4 meter is too quick but extensions slow it down enough to be more fun.

Setup and Flying:

The rookie2’s have the quickest land to air time I have experienced with a kite. It was up in literally seconds. It is so easy due to no pulleys to tangle up the lines. This must be the same with the Extacys models they use the same speed system.

The first kite to go up was the rookie2 4 meter in a gusty field at the back of my parent’s house when I was visiting them to pick up the kite. What a lovely little kite. Conditions were around 15mph and there was enough pull in the kite to landboard. Nice and stable and very quick. The bar pressure was high due to the pully bar but everything else was great. Stability, speed, upwind ability was one of the best kites I have tried. You can really dig in and literally go back to where you started in one go. Jumping ability is ok for a small but the bar really lets it down as the kite is far too responsive which can cause over redirects and unwanted face plants.

Landing the kite was excellent but it did tend to sit on its back end and bounce a lot. Nothing a good stake will hold. The solution is to grab a back leader and pull in a few meters to flag out the kite. The kite will lay there with zero pull. This feature is called PS or Pull Stop by flysurfer but I couldn’t find it listed as a feature for the Rookie2 in its manual.

I did find that the kite had a bit too much back stall. When the wind drop it would backstall into the centre of the window which can be interesting when the wind picks back up and the kite surges forward!

The 4 meter would be a perfect kite if they dropped the pully bar and put it on a normal depower bar.

With this in mind I decided to buy the 9 meter.

What I expected was the same as the 4 meter but benefits of a bigger size.

On receiving the kite it had identical feature in everyway but came supplied with a normal flysurfer depower bar.

The first flights were in the high 20mph mark. Not a good idea but was a good test of its safety. Basically I had no way of keeping on the ground even fully de-powered. I was being very careful so decided to put the kite down and put up something smaller. I pulled the safety and the kite came straight down and sat on it’s TE and wouldn’t stop bouncing. The rest pull in those conditions was massive for this size. The kite was slowly dragging me with each bounce towards the cliff and I weigh in at 85kg! Luckily enough the pull stop feature worked a treat.

The next flight was in a comfortable 15 mph and I totally enjoyed myself. The 9 meter kite was quick and responsive and went up wind well. Again the kite had quite a bit of back stall but no where near as much as the 4. I soon got used to this.

In light winds in around 10 mph the kite can still pull and landboarding is achievable. A few loops of the kite to get a bit of apparent wind then you can just work the kite normally.

All was going well until I took the kite to the Skypark at Monkey Tree in Cornwall. The kite was really let down by its stability in inland conditions. Get the 9 meter on the beach its fine and rarely luffs. Get it inland in gusty conditions and the kite becomes such a handful that I found it became dangerous. Head height lofting coupled with re-inflation in the power zone is not. The 9 meter is so different in stability to the 4 meter that I wonder if the 6 has the same problem. There is a small mod that can be done that will increase stability but the difference is marginal.

Both Rookies don’t use pulleys instead they use 2 rings positioned right up against the canopy to control the angle of attack. To the delight of all previous flysurfer owners this results in no bridle tangles no matter how much you scrunch up your kite. Give it a shake and the bridles come loose. I find that the bridles used in the flysurfer range lack stiffness to stop them tangling when you have speed packed the kite (in other words rolled it in a ball and chucked it in the bag to get out the rain). Pack the kite correctly and no problems.

Jumping:

The jumps from the kite are nice and smooth and are sufficient enough for the average user. People wanting more lift should go for one of flysurfer closed foil kites such as the Spirit or Extasy.

Final Summary:

For the 9 meter I rate it highly on its ease and simplicity of setup and flying but the safety and stability are it’s main down fall. I would say inland the 9 meter is too dangerous to be flown when the conditions change. One session I had constant luffing and lofting that resulted in me pulling the safety whilst I was in the air before I smashed into the ever nearing wall of the Skypark boundary. The pull on the safety is far too much in anything above 15mph. All in all I enjoyed my experience with the Rookie2 9 meter but more lift, stability and less rest pull would make this an awesome piece of kit. I later swapped the kite for an older model, a Spirit 10 meter and the stability was far better along with much more depower. Only thing that the Rookie had over the Spirit was more low end and quicker turning speed which made jumping a little more easier but not to the same height as the Spirit.

The 4 meter is such a different kite. I have flown this little thing in over 30 mph conditions and it defiantly is a high wind weapon. But due to it being so quick it can become a handful in a blink of an eye.

How can flysurfer make a small kite that is so good but make the same kite bigger that it becomes dangerous when the conditions become testing? It’s such a shame.

For the 9 meter… if you fly on a beach with nice constant winds then yes. Inland, then a big no no. How flysurfer can sell this as a snow kite with those mountainous gusty conditions I don’t know.

The 4 meter on the other hand ….. Very pleased.

Reviewer:

DaZZa-S

Manufacturer:

Flexifoil

Model:

Sabre 2

Sizes:

5, 7, 9.5, 12M (Review based on the 9.5)

Type Of Kite:

Non – Water Re-launchable Depowerable Foil

Introduction:

This is the second generation of Sabre to come from Flexifoil, and it seems that Flexfoil have listened to the feedback generated by the original model. With this new kite comes a new safety feature, simpler bridle and also a set of bridle adjustments to alter the kites performance.

Packaging, Style + Construction:

As to be expected a new kite means a newly designed bag, now as one person commented ‘it’s like the Ipod, all the kids are going to want one as its white and trendy’. I’m not too convinced on the white look, it does look amazing fresh out the packet but i’ll report back next season to see how it fares, there are enough adjustments to allow you to place the bar on the inside or outside of the bag along with a few pockets for keys and the such.

What makes this bag useful to actual have with you when riding is the port that allows for a hydration tube to pass from the inside of the bag through the back to you, without getting tangled. Nifty, but we’ll move on to the kite as after all thats the reason you buy a Sabre 2, not just for the bag alone.

The kite has multiple reinforced points throughout the canopy and the traditional gauze over the air intakes, it appears as though there is more internal ribbing throughout the kite to allow for it to keep its profile well even in some of the light winds we tested it in.

As with the BladeIV’s there are rings on the wingtips, part of the bridle that runs through this section goes to a bridle adjustment set of knots, which alter the speed of turn and also the apparent stability of the kite (note: we never found an issue with stability but I’m assuming they are saying that a quicker turn can have the possibility of reducing the stability of the planform).

The Bar is ultra grippy, with the usual features such as elastic on the ends and such forth, what makes it different from most the other contenders on the market is the 5th line running through it, but more on that later. Also the old clamcleat system has been replaced by the trimstrap as seen on Flexifoil’s kitesurfing range, the primary safety has changed to a simple push away safety – no more fiddly loops to set back up!

Setup and Flying:

This kite was setup on the shores of wales on a ‘no wind’ day of KiteJam, so plenty of time to ensure things were tiptop. The kite itself just needs the lines attaching to it, so once the lines which are preattached to the bar and then sorted (remembering we now are dealing with 5 not 4 lines as last year) it’s simply a matter of rechecking then hooking in and in my case running! Even in a nonexistent breeze the kite managed to keep it shape throughout the turns.

When flying the kite in more wind I can certainly say once you give it a tug on the centre line to get it off the ground(or walk back) it likes to stay in the air, the turn can seem slow at first before you get used to where is best to position the bar for the current trim.

So now, I was up and flying for a while, it was time to properly checkout this ‘total’ kill safety, 5th line on a foil. At first I thought surely this would be a disaster and the kite would spiral, here I was all hooked in, and leashed in. One push of the red primary safety and the bar flew away the 5th line attached to the leash the bar travels and stops part way up the 5th line. Meanwhile you see the wingtips of the kite collapse behind the kite and the trailing edge fold up too. In all of my tests the most that occured was the kite did one full twist (I.e anticlockwise). To reset you just need to pull the 5th line back in reset the safety walk backwards and unspin the bar if required. Also a there is no big crossover bridle to worry about the chances of anything catching at the kite end are very low.

Overall I was impressed so far, the traditional and still a recommended method to bring the kite down to land is to use the back lines and pull on a landing line. This seemed to bring it down gently too with not too much effort. However on doing a reverse launch you need to use this line, and in that situation I did on a few occasions have trouble trying to coax the kite to turn over once it had reversed up the window, and the line was pulling with more force than I expected.

Don’t forget it’s easy to go unhooked too as the kite comes with the leash so you can clip on and start working on your muscles!

Jumping:

So we know that we can get the kite up, land it, use the safety all fine. How does it perform when you want to be in the air, thats what everybody wants to know. The word from the designers is that they had given the kite more stability, (which from earlier we know is true), they said it also gave more hangtime (I.e float), and also height.

I was an ex-sabre owner, so I was looking forward to getting tuned back in with these kites as I had been away to the darkside of the Arcs for a little while.

The timing felt totally different to my old kite, and I admit I got spanked by it a few times. The kite has been giving me more airtime than I’ve expected (I’m not going to specify this into seconds or height as thats all dependant on many factors), it was treating me nice after a while. It still took some time to get the redirect ‘dialed’ and I am certain that I was going higher than before on my old Sabre, someone has asked me if it has ‘aggressive lift’ and I would reply no to that comment, and personally I don’t think it’s a factor I would look for in a kite.

Final Summary:

Now, I personally think that the only negative I can find with this kite is the force that the reverse launch sometimes needs. Though I’m compelled to say that the ease of using the trim strap, the safety systems etc negate that as factoring in as a major negative, instead i’d call it a minor personal issue with how I like my kites.

As with all kites, I’m an advocate for believing its not whether a kite will do the things you want it do do, it’s more will you get on with the kite. You must seriously try and find a local flyer with one of these, or a shop. Once you have done that then you will know if it suits your flying style.

Personally I’m glad that I went for this kite, from say 7mph to the high 20’s are easily covered for me now, and that’s just right for me.

Reviewer:

rasga @ KiteATB.co.uk

Pictures:

Manufacturer:

Flexifoil

Model:

9.5m Sabre

Sizes:

7.0m, 9.5m, 11.5m

Type Of Kite:

Non – Water Re-launchable Depowerable Foil

Introduction:

Flexifoil are well known within the kiting industry, some people have seen this kite as their first foray into the foil depower market, whereas in fact looking back in history the Blade II had a retrofittable VPS (Variable Power System) for sizes 4.9 and above. So with that in mind they obviously had some concept of where to start. One thing to note is that unlike most depowerable foils this particular kite has a X-Over within the bridle (this is also piece of Blade II technology on it -another kit) this helps to both improve the sabres turning, and also improve stability of the kite in turns.

Packaging, Style + Construction:

If first impressions count then this bag certainly helps, but what is more important is what is within it. The kite comes with the bag, bar, lines, and handy instructions. The setup of the bridle may seem daunting, but the kite leader lines are already attached after a few larks heads the kite is ready to fly. Yet before that I took a look at the construction of it, the kite has taped seams, an open vent, the “usual” but more interesting is the bar, this has a spinning leash safety, and also some grips on the end of the bar to help keep lines in place once wound up. The depower strap is one of the best I have used, on par with the Peter Lynn it grips well, and it’s the little details that count! The kite itself is Chikara, with taped seams and a bridle consisting of sheathed dyneema, the lines are colour coded and very nice. The standard of lines used in all kites has improved over the last few years.

Jumping:

One thing that did take a while was the technique for jumping, as it’s not the same as jumping on a blade obviously, but like every depower kite you need to tune the timings of the bar input. After a few times of misdirecting it came together, though I did find myself doing a few downwind drifts during the jump (more-so than other kites) but believe that was due to an overaggressive steering which meant I translated the vertical lift into more horizontal pull. That was me not the kite, once dialled in with the settings I found it to be floaty, and provide enough stability for rotations and some other nice tricks. So if you are looking for a jumping kite then that’s one tickbox down!

KiteATB’ing:

The main reason for wanting a depower kite is to be able to adjust the power needed at certain points, and this kite does that very easily through depower strap control, and the bar. As a laid back freeride kite this works well, but it has all the trimmings for freestyle, nice lift, and a great turning speed, the bridle may look complicated but it certainly works well on the kite! Now this bridle has caused some people some “issues” within their mind, but once you see it up-close you realise the simplicity of it, the simple reason it is there is to help increase turning speed, but another side-effect of this is in fact to keep the two sides of the wing stable, and prevent “stepping” of the kite when turning (if you ever owned a Viper you will know what I mean). The kite performs how you would expect when moving around, place it where you want and it will pull you along, send high and you get lift. One key issue for most boarders is stability, and most will “slag” off other kites for the odd luff, or wingtip. Yes this happens on the sabre in certain light wind conditions, but that’s life. It will still perform well though in light winds, and taking advantage of the depower control right up to the stronger winds.

Final Summary:

The depower market is starting to get saturated with so many different brands available its always hard to know which one to choose, but this kite is definitely up there in the top three, I personally say that this kite would be my choice of preference over all other “normal” depowerable foils. Why, well it is honestly a nice kite, it flies well, is nice to board with, easy to setup and pack away and has a nice wind range too. We are not at the one kite bag yet, but at least one of these will help reduce its size. Though as there are so many kites out there it is totally personal preference, if you can then try one it may be what you are looking for.

Reviewer:

Rasga @ KiteATB.co.uk