I got the chance to try out the 12m Crossbow Sunday. Matt with Cabrinha and Daryl from Extreme kites got together in St. Augustine with two of them for us to put to the test. Our group had riders from in their 20s to 60s, from about 120lbs to 200lbs and skill levels from beginner to advanced. The boards we used ranged from 6’ surfboards to 125 tt. So we had a good cross section of testers out there.
The wind conditions were very light at first. Three different meters were used through the day to gage the wind. The ikitesurf.com meter on the other side of the inlet was showing between 7 and 10mph. When the first kite was put up the wind was between 4 and 6mph on the beach.
Since I teach I was interested in the stability of the kite. I was surprised to find that it would just hang on the side about 15’ off the ground. I can do that with the 23.5 Contra in 4mph wind but the 12 Nitro needs about 8mph to be stable. We all had fun diving the kite through the power and with any other kite you could have just stood there. But, if you dive the Crossbow and pull in on the bar you can expect a 15’ slide. For such light wind the power was huge.
The depower was just as huge. As advertised the kite has no power when the bar is at arms length. I think the preset on the “overrideâ€
Sunday 12m Crossbow test
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