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Gear Review
Sebastien Garat curent Freestyle world champion of KWPT makes a review of the new Hyper Type II from RRD on his website. Seb is training now in west australia for the new season until March. Check his review and pictures here!
Gear Review
Conditions: jumeirah beach 's choppy water.
Wind: 25 gusting to 35 knots.
Rider level: expert.
Weight 68 kg.
My point of view:
The bandit has lots of low end power and the program for this kite would be more 17 to 30 knots, however due to the very efficient depower, I never felt overpowered nor out of control which gives a huge feeling of confidence and security. Jumping was super easy send the kite up and pull on the bar. the hang time is well above average. The feedback to the bar is excellent and i always knew where my kite was in the air which allowed me to steer back and forth which extends my hang time and allows me to have a lot of control over the landing. The bar pressure and the speed of the kite was just right (some other kites are flying like mosquitos or too hard to steer when depowered ) it was easy to adjust to the kite and did not need to change my riding style, accesssibility was great, I started to have fun almost immediatly.
Pros :
- Accessibility , performance in gusty conditions and great low end (eventhough the kite never got too physical nor out of control in 35 knots ).
- 4 line kite looks and feels extremely simple.
cons:
- A bar stoper would have been appreciated.
- Color coding is sometime not obvious enough when you spin the bar or when you recover from a crash.
Tested & Written by Sebastien.
News
Look at some nice shots from the latest training session of the Top Pro's in Cape Town.
Feature: Aaron, Ruben, Kevin...For more pictures, click here.
Video
We found that you needed a good movie to motivate you before you Valentine night... Happy Valentine!
Nice compilation of kicker, slider and wakestyle/freestyle kitecrashes!
Media
For the second year running, Aaron is nominated for the Laureus awards as the World Action Sportsperson of the Year! Besides Mick Fanning and Shaun White......Click here! All good for kitesurfing image.
Web
Ruben Lenten welcomes you to his website, where you will find all info on his pro kiteboarding career, his sponsors (Mystickiteboarding...), his kitesurfing trips, his blog... Ruben (called the Dutch destroyer!) is one of Mystic Icons proud to promote his country's brand all across the globe! Check the latest movies and pictures from his current trip to South Africa...Again, Ruben proves everyone that he's the craziest rider of the planet!!!!
News
Sebastien Cattelan and Alex Caizergues were in Luderitz in January and we will talk (again) about them in speedkiting, YES, not later than tuesday they broke (GPS measurements) the 50knts speed record. The records are unofficial, but the performance done on the same spot as the latest official record has a symbolic value!. kitesurf is fast, almost too fast...
Records are amazing: Sebastien records a run at 49,2 knts over 500 m. Seb records an average of 51,46 knts over 5 best runs of 10 sec (best GPS allow to extract the best 10 seconds over a run). His GPS records a sprint at 57,5 knts (kite Genetrix Hydra 9.0). Even with the GPS error, the results are surprising!
Alex scores a run over 500 m at 48,7 knts. Average from Alex is sick : 51,26 knts (over 5 best runs of 10 sec) and a max speed of 55,7 knts (kite F.ONE Bandit 6.5).
Again, these are GPS records over 500m and are then unofficial (official measurement is done by 2 cameras at start and end). Still it's HUGE.
Gear Review
Conditions: Jumeirah Beach flat water.
Wind: 12 to 16 knots.
Rider level: Expert
Weight: 75 kg
My point of view:
Had this kite for about a week when it first arrived on our shores. I got to use it in typical dubai conditions: (11-16knts), flat water, sometimes gusty.
The moment I got on the water I realized that this aint no ordinary 12m kite. It had the pull of a dozen stallions on steroids!! Quickly depowering the beast using the neat looking pull/ pull system, I was impressed at how the kite held its shape while sheeting the bar in and out! As a result, I was heading further upwind than all of my mates! Just when I thought that things can't get much better, I decided to join my friends back downwind by getting some air time. Just throw the kite back, pull in on the bar and whooa@#$#%...
Definitely the most "floatiest" kite I've ever ridden!
This kite is made for freestylers and wave riders. Anything hooked in, this kite does it best!!
Pros:
- typical cabrinha superior construction. This kite can take some serious beating!!
- bloody easy to relaunch. just pull on a line, the rest is automatic...
- impressive turning ability
- very user friendly
Cons:
- not really unhook friendly; too powerful and hurts the arms...
- also tends to stall when doing loops (unhooked).
Tested & written by Robin.
