Hi,
I had my first session with the Nova 9m. My goal is to do wave riding and huge air. Some freestyle in the middle and some kiteloops and downloops but nothing radical.
My current gear is Yarga 7m, Yarga 9m, Vegas05 12m and R05 16m.
The kites i use the most are the Yargas.
I ride in choppy and wave spot with very gusty wind that tends to be very strong with very strong gusts (10 to 15 + knots).
So a very depowerable kite is what i have been looking for a while.
Between the Nova and the Crossbow, i went for the Nova 9m because: it was the second release of the Nova, i have been reading the reviews, they have been working on it for quite a while and the takoon guy here is always available for support.
No, out of the bag:
- Very nice build quality
- One pump as promissed
- 55cm bar
Pumping and rigging is as simple as you would expect. No tunning required. (NICE)
The bar system is very simple. The only drawback is that the bar stopper releases too easy for my taste. With time (only one session) you get used to it. But i still have in mind that i must fix it for big wave days. Lets see what time tells.
Riding:
- Very easy to ride kite. Unlike what i expected, no time to get used to it
- Jumping is what most surprised me. In the chop, no more "i can't go too fast" thoughts! Just go full speed and when you turn the kite, depower a bit and then full sheet-in the bar. There you go for a long jump. With only a couple of sessions on it, jumps height feels the same as on std kites (though a mate a t the beach said i was lower tha usual ). hangtime is really much better.
- Wave riding: no comments. Do you know those face rides whe you just got pulled away form the wave? Gone.
- Wind picked up from 16 knots to about 20 and i did not use the depower (can't precise the wind speed but the Fuel 13m guy went out).
- Turning: it has a slight delay to start turning but then turns at least as fast as my yarga 9m (Nova migh turn a little tighter).
So, resuming:
- Very nice feeling when riding.
- Depower on demmand (end of death runs)
- Very practical to land on the beach (just go to the edge of the window and let go the bar) super for line tunning and self landing. Huge improvement over 5th line systems.
- For self launching requireds a little more sand on the tip.
- Seems to have less power than my 12m and felt like having a really huge top end.
- Goes upwind like no other kite i tried so far
- One pump is great. When packing i would like not to have to open the valves. But you can't have it all
- I am still learning how it flies. It is interesting and the kite behaviour when you pull/release the bar is completely different from the Yargas/Vegas05/Rhino05.
Let's see how it goes with heavy sea and more wind. I have already sold my Yarga 9m
It is the only kite i carry in my car so it looks like a good investment
See you!