Postby OCKiter » Sun May 19, 2013 8:28 am
I love Fuels - won't ride anything but them, but Fuels are for riders who unhook, kiteloop, and/or want the feel and steady pull of a c-kite, not for people who are into old school big airs.
For boosting, you'll need very good timing whereas a bow kite is more forgiving - just pull in on the bar and up you go. If you time it right, the Fuel will rip you off the water, but it will also drop you a lot quicker than a bow kite. If you really want to boost old school big airs, you probably want to be overpowered on a bow kite. Being overpowered on a c-kite is more of a handful and isn't as pleasant.
Fuels relaunch by pulling an outside line pretty easily as long as you have your board on your feet. If you lose your board and the wind is light, it's definitely tougher to relaunch than a bow kite. If you have your board, it's really easy to reverse launch, too.
2010 - 2013 Fuels are all very similar, only minor improvements.
But my advice, the Fuel isn't what you're looking for. Generally speaking, if you don't know if the Fuel is right for you, it's probably not.