Gaastra 2003

[vp]

Anyone have any news/experiences with this beauty?

[ptraykovski]

there was some discussion on this a while ago.

phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=2393&forum=1

I tried the 16.5 GXR and really liked it alot.

-Peter

[Guest]

not meaning to be negative but other gaastra products have not made sense to me. I borrowed a friends bar once and it had a rubber coating on the chicken loop line with the hole being raised above the bar. This made for extreme sticking in its slide. The harness must be worn way tight because if it gets slack it'll pop the spreader bar. This was old gaastra gear and just read the green room in the mag and looks like a lot of R&D has happened since. So these words can be tossed or viewed as a learning process.

[marina]

Hi VP,

You know how everybody was so stoked on the new Gaastra's when they were tested in Cabarete. Their popularity is not marketing hype! We just got 15 into the school on Tuesday and they are just... well awesome! We bought 17 kites and have sold 6 just this week. The boys' kites are still holding up very well after 2.5 months of hard core riding everyday for minimum 2 hours.

Marina
Kitexcite

[vp]

Thanks Marina.

how's the wind in cabarete now?

cheers, vadim.

[marina]

Hi Vadim,

Yesterday we had our first "winter swell" day. Wind was blowing about 14-17 and waves were head high at times with excellent form. Everybody was out pulling big airs going out, and surfing (or trying to outrun at times!) the waves in. It was great fun! I was out on the new 12m GXR,Stefan was out on the 14m. Everybody was so stoked -- most riders stayed out a few minutes after sunset. Since you took lessons at our school, if you're interested in a Gaastra,let me know.... I think it will be one of the top 3 high performance kites for 2003. FYI, we also just became a Slingshot dealer so we'll be testing the new FUEL and GTO as soon as we can.

all the best from Cabarete,

Marina

[Johnny TBKS]

I've been riding the 2003 Fuel and GTO's myself. I think I am in love!!!

Marina, tell us what you think about the SS when you get them in. Sweeet kites imo. I had a 17m Fuel out the other day in 7-10 knots on an 18 inch bar, and the kite still turned so fast and was so responsive, it honestly fealt like I was flying a 10 or 12m kite with decent wind on it.

So the Gaastra's are all that you say they are eh? This is good to hear. I havent really ridden one of the newer ones yet, but the older ones didn't impress very many people much I dont think...well, anyway. I'd be interested in some feedback on the Gasstra. How is it compared to the X2? How is it compared to the SS(when you get your SS)? They are holding up ok in the surf there? Had any/many wind(that's wind as in wind up your lines, not wind as in it's blowing outside) up in the break yet, and if so, how'd they do? What's the lower end of the wind range appear to be like? Kites still handle good in light winds? Did you already write this all down somewhere that I have missed it? If so, feel free to just re-direct me to it if you can.

I've seen one or two here riding Gaastra's, and I get people coming to me inquiring about them from time to time and wondering if we sell them. We've considered it a little, but haven't done it as the interest isn't really that high in them at the moment. However, I would like to be able to tell people good things about them when they ask, so help me out a little if ya can.


Johnny

[marina]

Hi Johnny,

My girlfriend Sonja had the 10mX2 and I was on the Gaastra GXR 10m. She is 10 lbs lighter than me. Over the course of a few days, I could go upwind and jump in lower and higher winds than she could on her X2 and she is a way better kitesurfer than me:-( Gaastra was here testing in July and was so impressed with her that she got a sponsorship (she was already sponsored by Naish in Switzerland). She switched and is now hopefully happy and ripping it up on Brazil. I don't know what the winds were but estimate 10-20? Gaastra however does not have the depower of Mach1, airblast or Takoon.

RE: construction, the kites seem to be extremely well made and durable. They have this slick kind of coating on them that I haven't seen on other kites but have had on my paragliders. I think it's a UV coating protection thing. Two of our staff are sponsored by Gaastra and they've had their kites since World Cup in late June. Kites were ridden every day for many hours and they're holding up fine. None of us have crashed it in the surf yet so don't know about this scenario but I have always found that it's kind of luck of the draw in this situation... sometimes kites hold up to your amazement and sometimes they explode to your disbelief! 2002 Gaastra's were nothing special but 2003 are really sweet:-)

RE: slingshot, we are super excited to be working with Slingshot and I expect good things from their kites/boards. However, we had only one hour wind early yesterday then rain, rain, rain so hopefully today will be the day!

best from Cabarete,
Marina

[Johnny TBKS]

Mucha Gracias Marina. I appreciate your time. Looking forward to what you might have to add to it after you try the other.

Take care and keep us posted.

Johnny

[Guest]

Got the 16.5 and 12.0. Excellent power! When I once returned from riding and flying the 12.0 a few other kiters asked me about the size. I answered 12.0 but from their puzzled faces I could conclude that they had expected or hoped that I would say 14.0 or something like that - because they clearly couldn't cope with the performance when we were out

I wouldn't say that no kites can cope with the GXR's performance but certainly not the majority of the kites