Nic, the sonic will fly quite happy in 10 kts for sure, I weigh in at 85 kg and ride a 125 x 38 board and can get going ok in 12 kts ish. The sonic is all about tuning and the more you play the more you will get out of the kite.

From the note you have written it sounds like you need to pull in the front line adjuster a few inches. This will stop the kite flying backwards. I usually put the kite up on the day and adjust the cleated rope b4 hitting the water, you want the kite adjusted just enough to stop it flying backwards. Play around with it on the beach there is so much must scope.

I'm really anxious to hear how it does in the snow. I would think it'll be the
perfect snow kite the way it relaunches. Except maybe when it falls leading
edge towards you, as if laying on the beach. It might be hard to turn around.

For you guys having tuning problems... remember, when the kite is tuned to
not backfly when directly overhead, it can still do it when its down low in
the window in light wind. This is because the angle of attack increases a lot
the further the kite is in the window. Just always be ready to sheet the bar
way out if this happens and the kite will shoot forward. This only happens
when you stall the kite deep in the window, like when you drop in on a wave.
As long as you keep the kite moving you won't have a problem.

Thanks for your advise guys.

(so) Nic

even with the leading edge facing you, you only need to pull one steering line and the kite will turn around so its in relaunch position. No problem really.
And my personal opinion is anything below 12 knots is really pushing the limit unless you use a big board or weigh less than me (70kg).

I agree. The low end is not as good as you would like it. For me (75 kg) with 12 knots the sonic will get me planing, but not going upwind.

It is also not easy to fly this kite near its low end, as you must keep the rear line pressure to a minimum, while sining it very fast to get some power out of it.

enrico, I think you might find that you will develop your technique and improve over time with the Sonic 11m and be able to go upwind in 12knots or so.

I'm more like 95kg and can hold ground in 12knots on the 11m ... I've seen guys your weight easily going upwind in 12 and throwing in a few tricks and kiteloops for good measure.

ok some more infos on the sonic. Sofar ive been pumping it up to 6psi (leading edge pressure) and everything worked fine. Now the bladder popped and after taking it out i saw that it was ruptured inside the leading edge. Im not sure what was in there to make it rupture because feeling by hand i couldnt find anything. Now ive patched up the bladder but im not sure i can pump the LE that hard again, so im now on 5,5psi. However, at this pressure, the kite sometimes bends in the middle when the wind reaches to 25 knots and above. Its as if the center part of the leading edge, right between the bridle connection points, isnt stiff enough and caves in. This only happens for a second or so, then the kite is back to normal. I have recieved a mail explaining how i can adjust the bridles to compensate this behaviour so ill see what this will change.

Could you send me the instructions to setup bridles properly to avoid the LE to bend in the middle? info@bekite.com thanks.

The instruction is on the Sonic kit upgrade PDF... all new kites will come with it already installed.

It is very simple.

You need 2 x 15mm pieces of line (similar to bridle line, I used q-line) with a knot at each end.

95cm from the LE webbing attachment of the KPO bridle simply make a loop.

Larks head this loop over the 15mm line BETWEEN the 2 knots and tighten it up.

The pulley should remian on the outside of course (on the 95cm length)

This stopper knot simply limits how far the KPO pulley can travel towards the centre of the kite where there will be more bias towards the bridle attachments at the middle of the kite than is needed... there is no loss of de-power ability and it keeps the kite solid and in good shape when de-powered and 'flatter' in strong gusts as well as when there is lower LE pressure.

It is a very simple thing but is very effective.

havent tried it yet, but im going to do it tomorrow and report on its success.

btw - im kiting in the taiba lagoon and today i was talking to a guy from the best team - they are now also working on a bow kite and i hope to get to try it out tomorrow. The aim is to get even better results than the sonic and by all means - if they succeed it will be da bomb.