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North Rebel 2009

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dazza5172
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North Rebel 2009

Postby dazza5172 » Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:14 pm

Well I got my North Rebel 2009s and I flew the 11m in great wind today, this is such a nice kite, really smooth and refined. the constant feel of power through the window and the smoothness whilst maintaining those rebel charateristics make this kite a sensation.

for more review photos and stuff:

As I fly it more I will get some more reports up

http://www.southcentralkiteboarders.com ... _2009.html

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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby aahi » Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:02 pm

nice! looking forwards to your comparisons with the 10 and 12... as well as your review on your 8 :wink:

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dazza5172
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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby dazza5172 » Thu Sep 04, 2008 12:00 pm

North Rebel 2009 8m

Well here it is, got to test the 8m version out twice in different conditions.

The first session was 25 - 27 knots in quite reasonable consistency, on first putting the kite up it was super steady, I had still been riding the 07 7m which is twitchy and hops around with the gusts, I still love this kite (07 7m) as it is a stingy little kite that is so alive, the 8m is quite different. The smooth stability is totally consistent with the 11m characteristics, you can let the bar go and fly under this kite with little fear, the 07 7m will not be forgiving if you fly under it in gusty conditions and likely fall LE down. The 09 8m is not going to do this. It has the extra canopy and extra smooth steady feel, but it does have the quick turning you expect from a smaller kite (but that sometimes does not come with a small kite when I have tested others) the bar pressure is quite light - med and the kite can easily be steered with one hand.

there is almost no sensation of buffeting in gusts and wind changes.

the second session was serious surf in 25 - 33 knots and the kite totally excelled in these conditions. it will sit and wait for you to finish riding the wave and just settle back into the window when riding towards the kite. It whips fast enough to go top to bottom and back to the lip again whilst riding with one hand. The extra power allowed my to ride out the lulls of 15 - 18 knots and cruise back in.

The low end wind range is excellent and i can see myself using this kite a lot more than I ever used the 07 7m whcih was only pulled out in balistic conditions maybe 5 - 8 times a year. The 09 8m is more likely to hit the water starting in just high wind - extreme wind (on my rocket fish) and with my 68 kg weight.

Best things about this kite is the smooth power, more low end, ability to ride through gusts with almost no apparent change in the canopy and easy bar pressure.

awsome

Daz

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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby Morfin » Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:40 pm

Good to hear this, thanks for your review.
Perhaps you could post some detailed pictures of the new 09 bar.
GRACIAS.

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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby Wawando » Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:29 pm

Hello dazza,
What is your first impressions about the depower?
Ser you

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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby aahi » Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:11 am

so I found some reviews on a french forum

http://www.kite-spirit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=903

the one thing that was interesting to me was 2 different guys agreeing on the noticeable differences between the 11 and 12 rebel 09. The 11 was really fast (close to 9m C kite) and had noticeably lighter bar pressure, and the 12 was noticeably more powerful. they were surprised at the differences seeing as there is only a 1m gap in size... anyone else want to confirm?

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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby psa » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:50 am

In the newest german kitemagazin the test confirms the same. Clear differrence between 12 and 11 m2. 12 is more powerful and 11 is faster and lighter in the bar.

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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby Wawando » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:51 am

Hi,
Yesterday we had a great session with 1m waves, side-off wind. Started on 9m ended on 7m.
I used both kites on 20m lines north 2008 bar, outer back line settings.
The wind was very gusty with lulls down to almost zero and full power when going down the wave. Riding back side, gave great crashes :-) .

First out in the 9m. It is definitly a Rebel. Not like the Evo in bar feeling. This means It is much harder to kill the kite on the back lines than 08 but still easier than on Evo. So i had some adaptation time.

The 9m kite turns very fast and tight just as i like it. Felt better than 2008 version. The most noticeable difference from the ones from previous years is stability. It is almost impossible to make it fall out of the sky.

A very important thing for me is kite handling huge loads made by strong gusts. This is what made sell my Vegas 2006 and made me uncomfortable in radical days with Rebel. Note that all brands i saw in my spot have this problem: when hit by a huge gust, kite distorts and falls out of the sky. These two babies are super solid rock. Really great news!

The wind had great failures, so i cannot give more info about the kites in the air now. But they felt very similar to 2008, with more power.

Then we switched to the 7m. The first feeling was that there was not much difference to the 9m. Both in power and behaviour. The wind might have picked up more. In the big lulls i sometimes killed it by oversheeting but it doesn't backstall. It just does nothing.

I will definitly use the forward backline setting on the next ride.

I am still struggling with 5th line length. It must be the bar because the problem was the ame with both kites. I will check the bar line length today, but on my 2008 bar, what happened was that both kites didn't turn well. Both kites where hanging on the 5th line with both front lines slack. In this state, the kite doesn't respond to bar input to turn. I lengthened the 5th line 5cm and it was perfect.

New One pump is great to pump up when in the rush to go to the water, same time to pack. Nice to have, i hope it is as reliable as it should after so many years of thses solutions in the market.

I weighted Rebel 2007 7m and Rebel 2009 7m and 2009 weights less 70 grams than 2007 (2,660 kg vs 2,730 kg) so the strut removal + stronger material + onepump ended up in the same weight.

Here are a couple of frames from the video i did with a Oregon ATC 3000 cam (the cam was not set right, though, so even some tandem wave riding we did where not on "tape"... :roll: ).
Attachments
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rebel peniche atc3000 2.jpg
rebel peniche atc3000 2.jpg (26.79 KiB) Viewed 10821 times

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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby cRAZY Canuck » Fri Sep 12, 2008 4:10 am

I been flying the 08 Rebels and was lucky enough to have a go on the 09 12m Rebel out at the Cocos (Thanks Jen).

There where a couple things I didn't try with it one being smashing it on the water hard and then re launching it as I'm sure Jen would have shot me as I was the second person to use the kite and Jen wasn't the first.

First thing you notice on the ground:

First the obvious 4 struts and one pump the one pump looks like a copy of the Slingy and Cab ones and works well

Second thing is the kite profile at the tips is a bit narrower that last years

Third reinforced sail material, oddly doens't seem to add any weight but the kite looks tough (the accent color is where the heavier material is see Green area on picture in 1st post)

Forth the 5th line bridal is attached to 4 points (each long leg has a short 10cm bridal for two attachments to the leading edge per leg)

In the air:

the arc profile is a bit different than last years if you look at the 08's the arc is a bit flat across the middle where this years has a bit more of a constant arc (or I've got my kites tuned wrong, entirely possible).

The handling feels similar to last years with a touch less bar pressure. Jumping, well it's a Rebel last years loves to jump and this one loves it just as much if not more and jumps on it feel great.

Re launch it a couple times and it came straight off the water no problems

Low end seems good I had been out on my 08 14m before and after so no complaints on that.

In the end of the day there are a couple small refinements that North have done for this years kite and to me they seem very similar. It seems North went with if it ain't broke don't fix it, if you liked last years you'll like this years and if you stayed away from it because it didn't have one pump (well first off your soft) have a go at it this year might surprise you.

I know I'm saving my nickels for a new one

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dazza5172
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Re: North Rebel 2009

Postby dazza5172 » Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:49 pm

Wawando wrote:Hello dazza,
What is your first impressions about the depower?
Ser you
Hey Wawando

the depower is definitely slight different to 07 and 08. I have been worried each year that they would take away the best aspect of what made Rebel Rebel, the short bar throw to no power, unlike any other kite I have flown. The 09 Rebel has crept a very slight slight bit of residual power into the full depower, it is quite slight and I think a slight longer bar throw to get the total available depower, but very slight. It does as you point out take a little reajusting as a rider, but only in stronger winds. The great advantage of this is extra stability in the smaller kite. I had the 8m in coditions with such radical gusts and lulls that I would have struggled on the 7m 07 and even the 9m 07 but the 09 8m was a steady as a small kite could be. I think that the increase turing speed the insanely perfect stability and canopy stability, (As wawando says the canopy stability is quite remarkable in gusty and strong winds) the lighter bar pressure and predictability of the kite and the even and gradual power in and out of the window in combination with this very slight difference in the depower makes for a more well rounded kite.

That being said I have not tried the front pigtail setting. I will have to do this to see how different it actually is.

All in all I am very happy with the performance of the kites, they are so nice to fly.

I just hope that the 2010 kites don't crimp in more residual power left on the bar throw or Rebel stops being Rebel and becomes a great but different kite.

Dazza
Attachments
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North Rebel 2009 at Middleton South Autralia rider Moi
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