Waroo vs Sonic part2
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mark van haze
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I had another chat with peter, the designer who told me more than i could see with my eyes. This new proto which is pretty much final has more than only the v-line at the back attachment points changed. The profile also has been changed as well as the bridles. Those changes werent obvious to me so i didnt write them up before. All these changes make this proto that much more responsive and direct feeling.
Trying the v-line at the sonic could be interesting except that the sonic would then also need slightly different wingtips. Lets see what GK does next. But the knots on the v-line really make a big difference - when you see the kite in the air, you also understand why. The knot is where the backline pulls and by changing the position of the pull you shift the tension a little more to the front or a little more to the back of the wingtip. Its difficult to explain but it works.
Now the max depwoer thing: I didnt explain it correctly. When you let go of the bar, the kite depowers just like the sonic - im sure even in 50 knots it will do just the same as the sonic. What i meant by limited depower is that you cant just keep shortening the depower line as much as you want because the depower system is a conventional pull-pull system. It might become a little longer on the final bar (info from peter) but it wont be "limitless" as on the sonic. Is that clear enough - its really difficult to explain.
The flapping on the sonic wasnt there in the first weeks. I only got that after my second week of riding. Remember - im riding everyday 3-5 hours and often in winds around 25 knots. Thats a pretty heavy load and by now my sonic clocks in to about 120 hours of usage in those conditions. Ive seen one more 11m sonic at quebra mar (thats close to where i am kiting) and it is showing the same flapping. However, it doesnt affect the flying characteristics - its just not nice to look at. What still sucks is that when pulling the kite through the powerzone, ie. a kiteloop, the kite has to be well powered because if the backlines arent well tensioned, the kite has too much load on the bridles and the wingtips start to fold in - the kite gets a squared shape. This is still happening after i already modified the bridles as told by the gk manual to prevent the caving in of the center of the LE.
The waroo doesnt show this behaviour. Ive only managed to get the waroo to cave in when the LE wasnt pumped up properly.
Im not pimping - dont worry, and im also not at any best sponsored hotel - i pay all myself. I try to give you an objective review - as well as i can. But i have to thank alex for letting me ride the waroos cause my sonics LE popped open at the seam and so im without a kite for 2 days. (dont worry, that seam bust is probably not usual on the sonic - its more up to my immense hours of riding in hard conditions).
Now the 12m. Ive been flying it but its a proto and its not tweaked enough yet. All i can say for now is that it feels too slow for being a 12m kite. Seems to me anyways, that the 9m waroo is pretty much the golden staple kite you need - its range in the lower end is pretty good. Ive been riding it around 18 knots well powered up (70kg and at 30 degrees celsius airtemp.).
Ok, more infos tomorrow.
Trying the v-line at the sonic could be interesting except that the sonic would then also need slightly different wingtips. Lets see what GK does next. But the knots on the v-line really make a big difference - when you see the kite in the air, you also understand why. The knot is where the backline pulls and by changing the position of the pull you shift the tension a little more to the front or a little more to the back of the wingtip. Its difficult to explain but it works.
Now the max depwoer thing: I didnt explain it correctly. When you let go of the bar, the kite depowers just like the sonic - im sure even in 50 knots it will do just the same as the sonic. What i meant by limited depower is that you cant just keep shortening the depower line as much as you want because the depower system is a conventional pull-pull system. It might become a little longer on the final bar (info from peter) but it wont be "limitless" as on the sonic. Is that clear enough - its really difficult to explain.
The flapping on the sonic wasnt there in the first weeks. I only got that after my second week of riding. Remember - im riding everyday 3-5 hours and often in winds around 25 knots. Thats a pretty heavy load and by now my sonic clocks in to about 120 hours of usage in those conditions. Ive seen one more 11m sonic at quebra mar (thats close to where i am kiting) and it is showing the same flapping. However, it doesnt affect the flying characteristics - its just not nice to look at. What still sucks is that when pulling the kite through the powerzone, ie. a kiteloop, the kite has to be well powered because if the backlines arent well tensioned, the kite has too much load on the bridles and the wingtips start to fold in - the kite gets a squared shape. This is still happening after i already modified the bridles as told by the gk manual to prevent the caving in of the center of the LE.
The waroo doesnt show this behaviour. Ive only managed to get the waroo to cave in when the LE wasnt pumped up properly.
Im not pimping - dont worry, and im also not at any best sponsored hotel - i pay all myself. I try to give you an objective review - as well as i can. But i have to thank alex for letting me ride the waroos cause my sonics LE popped open at the seam and so im without a kite for 2 days. (dont worry, that seam bust is probably not usual on the sonic - its more up to my immense hours of riding in hard conditions).
Now the 12m. Ive been flying it but its a proto and its not tweaked enough yet. All i can say for now is that it feels too slow for being a 12m kite. Seems to me anyways, that the 9m waroo is pretty much the golden staple kite you need - its range in the lower end is pretty good. Ive been riding it around 18 knots well powered up (70kg and at 30 degrees celsius airtemp.).
Ok, more infos tomorrow.
ouch, that's not the news I wanted to hear Mark, I mean the slowness of the size 12 
It really is a shame if they managed to build a truly nice 9m2 kite but aren't able to transfer these characteristics to the 12meter. I was really going for the 9 and 12, perhaps 14, but this has put me off and back to considering what my next quiver should be like.
The 9m Waroo sounds really good kite, but it's different than c-types so I can't combine these two by having 9m waroo and then 12-14 meter c-type since the jumping technique etc. is different between the two
It ain't easy.
It really is a shame if they managed to build a truly nice 9m2 kite but aren't able to transfer these characteristics to the 12meter. I was really going for the 9 and 12, perhaps 14, but this has put me off and back to considering what my next quiver should be like.
The 9m Waroo sounds really good kite, but it's different than c-types so I can't combine these two by having 9m waroo and then 12-14 meter c-type since the jumping technique etc. is different between the two
It ain't easy.
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Worldtraveler
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First of all i'm really amazed how some people can waste their energy in arguments about brands and material?! It seems to me that they forget about the main thing - being on the water!!!
secondly I have to admit I'm confused to! Why the hell can you order a kite on the Besthomepage if it is still not finished yet?!?
Hey Mark - like your review - wish there would be more posts like yours!
please BEST let us know how this works...?
secondly I have to admit I'm confused to! Why the hell can you order a kite on the Besthomepage if it is still not finished yet?!?
Hey Mark - like your review - wish there would be more posts like yours!
please BEST let us know how this works...?
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solo flight
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Big C,small bow.That's the drill for the coming season,if you need swift
turning kites.All bows above 10 mtr.are a bit slower than modern C kites
of the same size,maybe it's because of their bigger wingspan.
However Xbow 12 is wider than Sblade 12 yet swifter in the turns.
I personally found the Xbow 12 a bit to slow in the waves to my liking,
only had it a couple of days though and it did give me my best cutback ever kitesurfing ahhhh dillemmas
turning kites.All bows above 10 mtr.are a bit slower than modern C kites
of the same size,maybe it's because of their bigger wingspan.
However Xbow 12 is wider than Sblade 12 yet swifter in the turns.
I personally found the Xbow 12 a bit to slow in the waves to my liking,
only had it a couple of days though and it did give me my best cutback ever kitesurfing ahhhh dillemmas
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UNSAFE
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I acctually found the 12m Switchblade to turn alittle quicker than the c-bow, even though the claims have been that the C-bow turns faster. The S-blade made more power in the turns as well.solo flight wrote:Big C,small bow.That's the drill for the coming season,if you need swift
turning kites.All bows above 10 mtr.are a bit slower than modern C kites
of the same size,maybe it's because of their bigger wingspan.
However Xbow 12 is wider than Sblade 12 yet swifter in the turns.
I personally found the Xbow 12 a bit to slow in the waves to my liking,
only had it a couple of days though and it did give me my best cutback ever kitesurfing ahhhh dillemmas
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Worldtraveler
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Waroo Release
Isn't this funny?! After hearing from Mark about flying a prototype just a few days ago I wondered about the availability of the kite. So I wrote Best and here's their reply:
"The waroo isnt still in development. The larger 20M is still being tested, but the other sizes have been approved. We wouldnt sell it if it didnt. We dont want another hellfish problem. thanks "
"The waroo isnt still in development. The larger 20M is still being tested, but the other sizes have been approved. We wouldnt sell it if it didnt. We dont want another hellfish problem. thanks "
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