I was trying to remember exactly how he did that, but can't remember exactly. He just seemed to tug a couple of lines and the thing rolled up and started flying. When he picked up the bar, I started to walk over to help launch, but he had it up by the time I took two steps.

Maybe someone else has seen this and can give more details. Better yet, maybe Gary or Cameron visit and can explain.

now you guys see what us foil folks have been going on about for years....sounds like these new tubes have a lot going for them....

Definitely. I fly the Frenzy as well and the Crossbow seems to have a lot of the qualities of a foil. I'd like to see how they do in the winter.

The days of having one kite dude on the beach helping everyone launch are over.

I was there with Spider and saw all of this forst hand. You see them do it and are like, "...now why the $#%!@ didn't they design the kite like that years ago?"

Old school die hards will pick up quick on this. Better yet, if you ever had a 1.5SLE Revolution in your hands you know what I'm talking about. A 4 line system that has tension in the sides to create enough resistance /lift to spin the kite on its edge an re-launch from a standing position.

You could have 20 dudes on the beach and take off everyone down the line without one guy ever helping to launch the kite.

That being said, to give this some balance, I think Cabrinha could have claimed alot more first mover advantage by having an 18m size in the kite. Best of both worlds. Also, the stopper ball is weak and the bar pressure is on the high side.

Overall, just damn refreshing to see something out in the wild where the reps and shop owner just stood back and let the riders form their own opinoins. We were all looking for the hype and don't have much to hold on to after all was said and done.

For those interested, here's the wind graph (in MPH) for that day. The demo got going at about 11am and I think they started breaking down around 5:30pm Quite a few of the people who rode didn't get there until after 3pm.

I'm guessing I was on the water from about 12pm-3pm riding the 16, 12, then 16 again with about 45 minutes to an hour on each. Again 190lbs/85k in a shorty and harness, WLF140 board and by no means the most skilled rider on the beach!