Test 1:

Wind: 25 - 30+ mph gusts, very gusty, very hard to kitesurf (according to my friends who range from intermediate to expert) people out on 8m's (Flexifoil Storms) and 12m's ( Cabrinah CO2 and Naish X2 (I think the Naish was a 12, it may have been 10m))

The kite flew ok. I only got a ten minute play because as my girlfriend launched the kite she caught her fingers and may have broke them... ooops... As she held it up to launch, the kite filled ok. Looked good. I flew good, a lot of power, but could take more. I was pretty much flying off the front lines the whole time. Powering up the kite was good, long drags on the beach. Jumps were floaty and nice.

The kite looked like it does in surfplan, which was cool, very batwing.

It need some back line tension, the tips loose their profile and the kite starts to loose some control, it goes a bit sluggy. But just getting a little tension on the back lines sorts that out and it turns well.

I own a 14.9 Wipika FreeAir ( a pig) a 11.8 Wipika AirBlast (great kite) and a 630 ARC. The batwing is similar to the Arc, not as fast accros the window, turns about the same. Much better power/de-power. De-powered I could stand and chat. Powered up, it just dragged me like a tractor. Jumps were floaty, it took some concentration to pull down on the bar (the Arc teaches you to push the bar out during jumps) but when I did I simply poped higher and floated longer. Sweet.

Window: Looked big, but until I get on the water with it I can't really tell if it's sitting close enough to the edge or not. I trust Saul, and hope it is :-)

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