Yes I did. 2,5 Hr session mostly flat water, bit choppy sometimes.
Disclaimer!! : The wind was 32-34 knots with gusts 40, I was waaay overpowerd (87kg, 9m, boots) so this 'review' is for highend only. Everybody was riding 7 or 8, some C-kites 9. C4X bar 55cm with 24m lines. Default settings on the bridle, and full power on the backline leaders.
Bad things first:
Ok first thing: When I launched, I pulled the entire trim strap just in case. What I noticed is that the kite steers very wel when fully depowered (better than previous models), so that's a good thing. What i didn't like is that when I just started, there was a gust and the kite fully collapsed to a flat shape and bounced back. I wasn't planning to try that again, so I put the trim halfway and never had the kite collapsing again during the session. Just something to consider when overpowerd.
Second thing: I didn't find it particularly stable in those gusty winds... it responds pretty good when a gust hits, not too agressive, but when the gust is gone, the kite falls back quite a bit and powers back up. The backlines sometimes went slack in those moments. You don't really feel the gusts in the bar itself, but you can definitely feel a lot of yanking on the front lines. All in all it feels a bit like you're on a seesaw sometimes. I've flown my 10m Legacy a few weeks ago in similar winds, and it behaved much better. Older Elements behave better in their extreme highend too. At the end of the session the wind had dropped a few knots, and the kite behaved better but still not as good as the previous models.
Now that's out of the way, it's time for the good and neutral things:
Neutral:
- Barpressure is not high, but not low either. Just medium, and that's fine. Comparable to the V3-V4 Elements.
- Upwind performance when overpowered is not great, but not bad either. Bit middle of the road. I felt my older Elements were just slightly better.
- Leading edge is thicker than the previous models.
- There is a slight lag in steering response, but nothing bad or anything. Comparable to a F-One Bandit or 2017 North Evo. Previous Elements responded quicker.
Good:
- Good power to size ratio. Better than previous models.
- Jumps very easy. Just bring it up and pull the bar. Better than previous models, those require more technique.
- Jumps very smoothly, comparable to an Ozone Edge. No big yank, but nice lift.
- A lot of hangtime, more than previous models. Was a lot of fun to be honest, with an extra little boost almost every jump thanks to the gusty winds. You have to work the kite though, because you land with some speed. Downloops are comfortable.
- Pretty fast turning kite. Not as fast as the V4 though. Turning feels smooth too.
- Bar pressure is pretty linear along the sheeting distance, even fully depowered.
- Relaunch is very good, though it will wobble on it's tip in those high winds.
- Overhead stabillty is very good. Will try again in lighter winds.
Again the disclaimer: This was near the upper limit of the kite. So keep that in mind.
Friday should be a 17-20 knots day, so I hope I can do some unhooking, looping and wavekiting then. Couldn't really throw the kite around today. (No way I'm kitelooping 30+ in that cold weather)
I'll try fridaynaishdude wrote: if you try bridle wrap....sent it in a downloop and let the kite touch the water....tip over and...
Thx
Dude