Ok! I used it only 2 times and I don't want to create any
HYPE around this kite that's why I was short on my review...
But if you want my opinion I can tell you what happen those two times when I went out.
I'm 1m84 = 6'1, for 86 kg = 190 lbs, and I was using a 145cm board with a 55cm bar setup with 27m lines.
The first time it was blowing 10-11 knots, and I soon as I got this kite up in the air it pulled me really hard. Actually way harder that my regular 21m Nemesis.
After 30 minutes on the water, the wind started to pick up a little beat more to finally reach 15 knots (gusts at 18 knots). I was cruising on choppy water well powered (of course my depower strap was fully down). The problem with was (exactly like all the big kites actually) was the evolution of it in the window. I had to edge my board really really really hard to move the kite to the edge of the window. Then after 45 minutes of cruising and surfing (I ride a Venice Beach – Santa Monica Beach pretty much all the time) I started to jump…
WOW! When you start to jump you realize the real power of this baby. It pulls you nicely but surely, and then you just glide…! The dangerous part of it is that you glide so much that you don’t really know where and when you’re going to land… This could be dangerous; but then we all have the same problem in Kitesurfing. After 1h30 on it I was tired of edging hard to move the kite in the window and I started to go back to the shore…; when my chicken loop broke! I lost my kite (because with the swivel bar you don’t have any leash, and when the center line or the chicken loop brakes you loose everything : kite and bar !). Luckily I was close to the beach and a friend was able to catch it before it hits a tree, a car, or worse a person! For my part, I paddle back to the shore.
The second day I used an old bar with a 10-11 knots constant wind.
I was out with my friends, and one of them was approximately my weight with a 145cm custom made board and a Naish V4 25m and 30m lines. Believe it or not, I was able to go a lot more upwind than he did! The feeling of the BFK is just totally different from the other big kites that I used to fly. Before with my Nemesis 21 in 10 knots I felt this “I’m overpowered but I can’t go upwind!â€