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Yeah, the Airblasts were the business back in 2001 - 2003. I still have my 8.4 (11.5m) & 11.8 (16m) & recently gave away my much loved 6.3 (8.5m) to someone. Delamination may have been something of a problem, but it did not effect all the kites, & let's face it, there were various problems with a lot of the kite brands from that era. As a similar story, look what happened to the original "Windsurfer" brand - a pioneer that also disappeared.

Thanks to the boys for their important part in developing our sport.

these are some precious tit bits of industry history being laid out here.

Hey Bruno, when's the book coming out. it would be a great read.

brunolgx wrote:[
- we had no delamination problems with WHITE mylar on ANY of the Wipika kites sold from 1997 to 2000.
- when they saw that the fabric delaminated, they had so much fabric in stock at LAM (our chinese kite maker) and so much demand that LAM and the japanese decided to keep producing untill they get another fabric and can replace the defective products
- Polyant never recognized the manufacturing defect, arguing that mylar can't support kite constraints (although we had proven the contrary for 3 years and that they had designed this shitty fabric for the kitesurf market !!!)
- Polyant was never sued because LAM had so much business with them (sails, paragliders...) that he refused to sue.

Thanks for the details Bruno. I don't want to seem disrespectful... your position in the kiteboarding industry is rightly legendary. But Wipika had other problems with their kites around this time, not just delamination. Larger size Mylar Wipika kites were prone to blowout along the leading edge. Polyant's contention that Mylar could not handle the physical demands of kite design was largely correct.

The industry as a whole moved away from Mylar to Dacron, mainly because Mylar wasn't robust enough. Wipika's problems with Mylar were notorious and DID contribute to the company's downfall.

brunolgx wrote:Send me a message if you are interested.
Thanks

Flysurfer for sure would be interested ! You should contact them

kookfest wrote:Wipika had other problems with their kites around this time, not just delamination. Larger size Mylar Wipika kites were prone to blowout along the leading edge. Polyant's contention that Mylar could not handle the physical demands of kite design was largely correct.

Excuse me but I can't agree with you. Some mylarized Classic and Airblast are still flying (read the posts), so Polyant's contention was wrong.
All problems were linked to delamination. A laminated composit gets its cohesion from the 3 components, fabric, glue and mylar. If the cohesion is lost, for sure the seams will go apart.
I saw at that time some brand new kites coming direct from the factory with some LE panels already FULLY delaminated, what means that Polyant and LAM didn't give a shit on what they delivered to their customers.
On a Dacron the cohesion comes from the high "density" of the weaving, the thermical treatment (if done) and the coating. We got some troubles at Takoon with LE seams going apart due to a defective Dacron coating. You will certainly remember it too.
Sure that for the larger kites, it would have been better to design a heavier mylar fabric but the needs for such composit were not large enough yet.
The shift to the Dacron was in large part due to the fact that customers associated Mylar to Delamination, so a radical change was required.
The kitesurf industry has since then undergone several major suppliers' failures such as the caps that didn't weld well. The reason is just that the main supplier slightly modified the chimics of the plastic without warning its customers.
Is the kite industry responsible for not checking enough its products ? Maybe partly but such disasters also happen in car and sailboat industries for example (polyester osmosis)

Bruno, thank you for actively taking part in this forum.

That is really one of the reasons why I love this sport! It is possible to speak with some of the people who made it or are still making it a history.

My first kite was a Wipika Freeair 13.5, and then I had a Wipika travel bag for about 2 years. I really liked the logo of the brand even though the spirit of the company was dying out.

Do you still kitesurf? If yes, do you kite on a kite you've designed yourself or which was designed by others?

mmmm Wipika logo, thanks... I designed it myself no money at that time ...
and yes I kitesurf most of the windy days when I'm at home here in DR, with my Ultraflat 10m (10 to 22 knots)

This Wipika board is still my overall favorite board for a lot of reasons...I use it for maybe 50 sessions each year. I wish I could find a couple more of these "Goldy-oldies". I would like to know more about the history of this very unusual "snow-board" shaped creation. It also shows off that great logo in the most beautiful way.

I too can not thank you enough for all that you have done to improve our recreational lives.

Bruno,

Did you have anything to do with shaping this board?

Looks like those wooden spoons you used to get with your ice cream at school...

That boards were made in CHINA. Its modle name was PARK. I recalled there were 160 and 170 2 sizes...
Thanks for the comment and support.
I do believe there exists still BIG supports from the end users to this Logo.

Ciao,

kitezilla wrote:This Wipika board is still my overall favorite board for a lot of reasons...I use it for maybe 50 sessions each year. I wish I could find a couple more of these "Goldy-oldies". I would like to know more about the history of this very unusual "snow-board" shaped creation. It also shows off that great logo in the most beautiful way.

I too can not thank you enough for all that you have done to improve our recreational lives.

Bruno,

Did you have anything to do with shaping this board?