So today I was able to demo the Park 2012 10m. I was at a new spot, quite a bit of current, and winds were predicted to be in the low 20s, gusting up to 27. A beachclub had organised a downwinder event, so a lot of brands had set up. Of those, 'only' F-one and Naish had my interest beforehand.
Arriving on the beach, I didn't even have to pump my kite as there was a Park 10m ready to go. I had prepared for the reduced bar pressure mentally but was still surprised when I went out. Coming from the Bandit Dos, I'm used to a lot of bar pressure, and mentally I equate that with power. It was just different to get such a much more smoooth power delivery with the Park.
A second thing that really surprised me was the jumping. Going out the first time, I hit a wave and pulled in the bar just a little bit, which was rewarded with a jump & hangtime I didn't have any right to have! Throughout the afternoon, I've not jumped too much without waves, but those also felt very easy. Thumbs up for that!
Another positive aspect was the behavior in gusts. Being close to 190 lbs., I can handle a kite, but I would never take out my Bandit Dos when it's gusting over 30 knots. I had those today, wind being in the upper 20s during an episode of rain, and I was riding very comfortably, not issue whatsoever. I hadn't hit the highend yet.
After that rain and wind, the wind dropped, and then I really had to work the kite to stay up. Fortunately, the Park is quick (more so than the Bandit Dos), and that helped me, but still, I could do with a bit more lowend.
The depower system still is a bit of a mystery for me, I wasn't working that intuitively. I could depower but it took me several tries. Probably user error but I think I should state it anyway.
Of course, I dropped the kite in the surf
, waves up to 6-8 feet or so. It got washed a bit, it turned inside out and then a couple of twists, but a/ nothing broke, and b/ the kite relaunched afterwards and with power & steering lines twisted, it was easy to get back to the beach and sort that out.
In the end, I haven't flown another kite this afternoon. The Park is a huge upgrade for me, I really like the smooth power delivery and the easy jumping. Onepump is nice as I want to be on the water asap. To combat the lowend thing, I'll opt for the 11 as the big kite, and get the 8 as I think I will be able to hit the very high 30s (gusts) with that.