Interesting Friday afternoon session in St Kilda pond, gusty as hell, raining and the forecast was shit.
11m Rebel and 133 TT - liquid force recoil.
Never thought there is so much difference in performance when a kite is as powerful and rock solid as a North rebel. Once you learn to harness the power then it's a beauty. Compared to 3 struct Reo and 1 strut Mono this one pull like a 2$ hooker. Main problem with this type of kite is when the wind is gusty you have to actively fly the kite overhead rather than just park it. Kite doesn't fall back in low winds like a 3 strut so you should always maintain line tension and make sure kite is not dropped causing an inversion. That said this only a beginners problem.
Key takes from the session in St Kilda
11m Rebel and 133 TT - liquid force recoil.
Never thought there is so much difference in performance when a kite is as powerful and rock solid as a North rebel. Once you learn to harness the power then it's a beauty. Compared to 3 struct Reo and 1 strut Mono this one pull like a 2$ hooker. Main problem with this type of kite is when the wind is gusty you have to actively fly the kite overhead rather than just park it. Kite doesn't fall back in low winds like a 3 strut so you should always maintain line tension and make sure kite is not dropped causing an inversion. That said this only a beginners problem.
Key takes from the session in St Kilda
- Do not launch with full depower as you cannot steer the kite
- Keep both hands and line tension when self launching
- Try to park the kite once get going. Sining creates power but also pulls downwind. Strike a balance between power and upwind performance. More sining means more edging to avoid going downwind. keep the board flat when starting, once planning slow down kite movement and edge upwind
On the subject of board, new 133cm TT worked well with the 11m Rebel. Interesting to see how it will perform with 12m Mono. Now I question board size vs kite type. Is it better to have a bigger board or kite that has more pull and upwind? In some ways this session takes be back to basics in terms of rethinking kite type, size and board size.
Kite looping with high aspect 11m
Compared to 8m Reo this kite takes wide arch and generate so much more power. Reo 8m turns on a very tight circle and in fact you need to widen the circle to generate power. With the 11m Rebel you really need to crank the bar to get it loop but once looping it generate so much more power
Key takes for the next session
- Self launch with 1/3 depower
- Even pressure on both feet once planing
- Park kite at 45 - more lift
- Slow smooth sining once get going
- Twist your body and look where you are going
- Move the kite overhead with one hand
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