THRUSTER kites from ECLIPSE vs BEST kite

[badass]

It is amazing how the new Nemesis and Royal kites look like the 2007 THRUSTER kite from ECLIPSE. I did try the THRUSTER and loved it, but I never had the chance to buy one, because they always sold out . But now I see the Nemesis and Royal and I was wondering how they compare to the THRUSTER. I have heard from different kiters that the THRUSTER had way more hang time then the Royal kites.
Any way, I've always been a big fan of Naish kites.
Recently I saw the new Nemesis from Best and the Era from Royal kites and I was amazed on how they look just like the THRUSTER kites. I don't know if they fly the same then the THRUSTERS. I just need to test them and find out.

I also had the chance to try the new "Helix"Kite from Naish. Very nice kite but I don't know what is all the fuss about, it felt like a bow kite. I still love my BOXER kite from Naish.

[KAWIKA]

Here is what I said back in Feb everybody is going to want a THRUSTER or other companys are going to copy them funny thing the first thruster proto looks just like the royal +HP

[zero]

there are no other kites similar to the thruster at all. notice the thruster has no bridles on the whole center of the LE? it only has them on the wingtips. that is way more fundamental to the design than whatever superficial things you are looking at. wait, all c kites look the same, therefore they must fly the same.

[Brent4336]

Royal and Eclipse have designers that are not really into copying.

The Era is an evolution of the Hyper Type. The thruster is a very different animal.

Either way, many kites look similar that are very different.

[h2odiesel]

The Royal ERA is obviously a refined development of the most excellent RRD Hyper. I'm wondering just where you saw one, I've been on the waiting list and dying to get my hands on one for months. The thruster was a decent design and got the line out there I'm sure this years will be more up to snuff. From what I hear Dimitri is a great guy. but as a kite designer he still has a ways to go to catch Simmone.

Bob

[HJ11]

there are no other kites similar to the thruster at all. notice the thruster has no bridles on the whole center of the LE? it only has them on the wingtips.

That is the secret to a C - kite feeling and a bow kind of de-power/waterrelauch... There is only one thruster

[Eduardo]

agree with brent. "look like" is not enough.

i can't wait to demo some of these and find out. each year the advances are amazing.

i'll admit i was once a skeptic and thought 2 line to 4 line was the only big change this sport would ever see.

[eastcoastkite]

I will admit at first glance the outlines of the royal and Nemisis do look similar to our Thruster... but that's about it!!

I can tell just from the pics that the Royal is more mid aspect and has way wider wingtips then the thruster. It looks like the Nemesis also has wider wing tips and might be a bit higher AR then the thruster- but I could be wrong.

There is much much more to the kite design then just the shape. Don't get me wrong it plays a MAJOR role in the overall performance BUT then you have profile, bridal positioning, panel layout, and virtually an endless amount of variations- all of which will effect the overall outcome.

The secret to designing a truly unique kite kite is setting a solid goal at the beginning and then through a lengthy R&D process achieving the proper balance of desired traits in all kite sizes. Its allot of work on the beach and long days in front of the computer. Then you have to build this kite strong enough to take the abuse it will receive in real conditions.

You can actually get sick of kiting doing R&D for months on end!!!

FYI Eclipse is a design team non of us are solely responsible for the kites design, all of us have a share in developing the kite that comes to the market. We get more done this way and see very positive results.

The goal with the thruster was to reinvent the high performance freestyle kite by maintaining the features we all liked on C kites and adding the benefits of a bow kite. I think the thruster successfully lived up to that goal and most would agree. Wait until you try 2008 we have taken this to a new level of quality safety and of course performace!!

Now the Royal seems to be going another route as an all round high performance FREE RIDE kite which is a totally different design concept. The REV also looks like the same type of concept. Both those kites are nothing like the thruster - Totally different kites for a different type of ridding.

I don't know anything about the new nemesis other then a few pics I see online. They are pushing BIG air in the promo. So I am sure either me or Dimitri will get our hands on one soon ( you have to test the competition!!!)

[HJ11]

What can you tell us about the new Eclipse Model.
Will it be more like a all round low-end mondster
Or will it be more like the Thruster

[Gibby]

I got to add my 2 cents on the Thruster. A friend of mine handed his 14m to me last week when I was having trouble staying upwind on my Waroo 15m (due to lack of wind, not rider skill ).

That thing not only pulled strongly and consistently, it was amazingly agile. I would rate the 14m Thruster as having a turning ability similar to somewhere between a 9m and 11m Waroo (I'm comparing to Waroos since that's what I ride in various sizes). It was super-responsive, but I didn't feel like it was twitchy.

I was able to stay upwind better than my 15m.

I gave a big shout out to Eclipse kites on our local forum about the Thruster, as did another friend of mine who "borrowed" our other friends 14m at various times during out trip. The thing was addictive.

Great kite Eclipse!