So we had the Globe Sonic 11m out at the lower end of its range (10-15knots) last week and it was all good... today we were blessed with more like 20knots. It was a gusty NE blowing in to the bay from Watergate but it was fun none the less and the Sonic handled the gusts with minimum fuss as expected...
A fella called Sam from Devon (who i believe frequents this forum) was in Newquay to pick up a new surfboard... he hooked up with us for a test flight.
Here Matt is explaining the simple safety system .... ie: just let go of the bar and the kite drifts down the edge of the wind de-powered...
unconcerned about the kite Matt continues to explain what's happening at the C-loop... Being used to a classic of course, I think Sam found Matt's disregard for the kite in this situation quite un-nerving...
... no worries, the Sonic was just patiently sitting there ready to go...
I think Sam was pretty stoked on the kite... his first words coming off the water were " when can I have one " and " I flew the Crossbow last week and there's no comparison " ... a nice touch but horses for courses as always of course
All the talk about simplicity, safety, de-power, re-launch and wind-range to one side... today we found out that this kite has some serious potential for lift and incredibly smooth, not to mention extended, HANGTIME.
As it was pretty gusty, almost onshore and a new style of kite we weren't even really trying for fear of landing on the beach... non the less ...
Sending this thing off the lip fully lit will be insane... we may have to consider including an oxygen supply with the kite.
Boosting aside ... being well powered up, Matt did initialy comment on how different the feel and timing was for advanced freestyle riding... and how he was maybe missing a bar stopper for the first time, something that hadn't bothered him first go in lighter winds.
Rigging a stopper will be easy... there are lots of potential ways to rig it with varying effects... one way would be to add a thumb screw stopper ball on the main line to taste, then run a short '5th' style line through the bar just a few feet to the main bar stopper... attach a handle pass leash to that line and you still have the same 'let go' de-power and easy recovery when unhooked... although for riding hooked-in you would need to pop the quick release on the C-loop to do the same.
Having said that, Matt settled into the session in usual style ... I think much of it is just a case getting used to the new 'feel' and 'style' of the kite...
As the 'average joe' kind of rider that I am these days ( read: I like the idea of staying in one piece ), I really like the kite and the simplicity/safety of the bar set up just the way it is... never the less I will be keen to experiment with the different set-ups and systems that will no doubt be developed for it.
So... the really outstanding element today has to be the HUGE lift and float... the timing and technique is a little different for sure but straight off the bat I found it easy to extract the hangtime and landings were silky smooth... land at speed, bail and wipe out and you just sheet out the bar to arms length and you don't get dragged up the beach... just let go if needs be.
Again though.. I'm fully stoked with how the kite just handles the gusts and power allowing you to ride the board exactly how and where you want... keeping those smooth lines on the carve without so much need to compromise the ride by edging hard to tame power.
There wasn't much wave today but see a lip and you can just sheet out and fully shred it... bring on a big wave session
source:
http://www.airjam.co.uk/
Rapporteer
