vasco wrote:Hi all
I'd like to have some feedback on sizes.
I'm riding 9m&7m 08 Rebels with surfboard.
This year I will ride the 09 Evos.
Where i ride, some days i'm overpowered with my 7m.
I'm 180 pounds (82kg).
Is the 9&6 Evos 09 gap to big?
I like to ride my kites in the sweet spot.
Good 2009 for everybody.
Best winds
Vasco
Hi Vasco,
I just spent my 2 weeks xmas holidays in Brasil with brandnew Evos 09.
I do come from Evo 08 in 7/9/12m, 4-line usage only.
The 7m has improved significantly, what is less of a surprise as the 08 model
worked with 3 struts only, which was fine in waves and clean wind, but lacked support in really
shitty gust conditions. The 09 7m now is on par with the brilliant 7m Rebel. But with added autorelaunch and unmatched stability in lulls. I used it more often than the 08 one and even more than my beloved 07 Rebel 7m. Great range, starting well below 20 kts.
The 9m got a bit slower in turning speed. I prefered the 08 in this size as I move the kite with each turn in a wave. But lots of newbies to our sport will appreciate the new speed as well as the unhooked fraction I assume. I don´t think that a real wave kite will ever stoke a new school guy. Unfortunately even in a 4 model line up as North owns it´s supposed to appeal any kind of riding style.
A friend of mine took a 6m Evo to SA and was quite impressed. 6m seems not only to be 1m smaller but also eating up anything beyond 30+ kts. If you found your 7m Rebel to be too big on some days, give the 6m a try, Evos do have a massive low end !
As my girl friend used the Evos for her first steps, I can also note, that the autorelaunch works even better now. Not the procedure itself, but the stability of the kite at the edge of the wind window is very impressive: where I found the old Evo to kick into a face to face position from time to time, the 09 one now fully reliably waits for a signal to launch. We handed over the kite always from this position, irrespectable if from beach or water.
The 12m I used for 2 hours only in lowest winds. I´d say its got a slightly better low end and what is more important to me: all 3 sizes I tested have improved MUCH in terms of upwind abilities rigged with 4-line bars and without any noseline support.
hope that helps !