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You should definitely give a try (some sort of a 2nd try in fact ) to your AB. I still have one AB 6.3, which is roughly a 9m2. I had also amazing memories of that kite. The day I put it back on the water, in 2006, just made it very clear how far new kites had moved fwd. I had a SS Fuel 9m2 to compare at that time.
It does not mean that the kite was not good. I also loved my AB. But they belong to the past and cannot be compared with actual ones.
I did the same test with a Cab Nitro 2004 (with Recon) 14m2 in 2008 that I loved back then. Absolute piece of sh... Pure jelly fish.

My thanks and respect to Bruno

kjelleren wrote:The Wipika Airblast 8.4 2001 is certainly a hall of fame kite. I have a relatively crispy one stashed away. Haven't ridden it in 7 or 8 years. It would be interesting to pull it out again to see if my recollection of titanic leaps is based in reality.

I agree. At that point in time, that was the best kite made to that date.

Oh, the tragedy that was Wipika. Back in 2000-2001, Wipika could have owned the world. They were the first company to make really great kites and dominated the market in the early days.

They were let down by poor quality control. Back in 2001-2 they kept selling Mylar leading edge kites, despite knowing they had major problems with blowouts and seam tears. A lot of guys from the early days vowed never to ride Wipika again and told their friends.

If only Wipika had not tried to offload poor quality kites onto riders in the early days. If only their marketing had been better.

I doubt anyone will want to buy the name. It has been too tarnished by dodgy practices in the early days and there are too many "cooler" brand kites out there.

Anyway, SALUDOS Wipika. You deserve kudos for your efforts in 1999 and 2000 as much as you deserve to fail because of your efforts with Mylar.

What is interesting here, is that Bruno appears to have the trademark to sell.

I was under the impression he left Wipika to set up Takoon, thus severing ties.

what was the chain of events that led to him now having the trademark for sale??????

Ral - you are sort of right. The trade name "Wipika" was sold to a Japanese company who subsequently went bankrupt and defaulted on rights payments to the Legaignoux brothers. You only have to go to http://www.wipikakiteboarding.com/ to realize that Wipika, as a company, has gone under. Hence the rights have once again defaulted to the Legaignoux brothers and they are seeking to recover what little is left of the goodwill associated with the name "Wipika" in $.

i used to travel with an 8.5 freeair mylar leading edge - ssoooo awesome to travel with - packed down in base of my day pack -nowdays kite kit bags tend to weigh about 27kg. I used to have an old windsurfing ahrness with no padding too that packed down to nothing - just what you need when there may be wind - but not for sure - makes it worth lugging it around

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Any guesses what the price is ? Someone ? Would be a shame if this part of history gets lost !

Hey, that sounds like an very interestting subject....
Defintely, the name of "Wipika" is very NICE as well as its logo. These are no questions.
Another possbility is, probably there are some candidates already wants to buy, however the owner of this message hereby just bring us to talk about the "price".. Yah,, could be a way...

Anyway, I personal love it, as I used to work in that family for years too.
Good luck....