And what a day 14°C in the winther, perfect.
I was out with the 14.5 m2.
First impressions:
Build quality is like the Wook - thoroughly and good details, but nothing exceptional either.
Stronger than the 2002 Skoops.
And the outer struts are a bit thicker than last year - which is really good, and will prevent any tip folding.
Contra vents in the outer strut only - this is good.
And velcro locks sewn direct to the struts.
Hint: Remove the velcro at the outer strut from the valve "top".
This way it is very easy to close the valve, without letting air out.
Two vents in the front bladder.
The Dream Bar supplied has got a plastic tube on the depower - and it works....
Because the carbon center piece with a metal hole is very narrow, and the hole a nice diameter - the plastic moves freely without sticking.
Great - on the Airblasts we always cut the plastic tube away instantly, because it made the depower move very badly, on all types of bars.
It comes fully assembled with lines and safety and everything setup from the factory - and the front/rear lines are polarized so there is no risk of setup mistakes or anything.
Works excellent.
The bar comes in a zipper bag - very convinient for storing, without line mess.
Only problem is, that because the fixed trapetze loop has been stored inside the bag from the start - it tends to hang a little angled, and a bit difficult to catch....
I'll put the line into the bag in another way the next time, to avoid this.
There is a fine front line safety leash, which attaches via a plastic buckle to the spreader bar, so you can have it inside the fixed loop.
It fits perfectly on all std. bars.
Well, regarding flight characteristics.
It is (luckily) still an "Airblast" type kite with more low end, and with even more depower range than the Skoops from 2002.
Turns a notch faster, and feels very direct (2002's a bit smooth/soft).
The most impressive fact though, was the jumping.
Huge lift when going up - you could definitely feel an improvement.
The best thing is, that even when you don't really plane or have any speed (feel stuck in too light wind) - then if you set up for a jump - YOU GET HIGH IN THE AIR !
Don't know how they have done this - but believe me, it is awesome to jump in subplaning conditions, where normally nothing would have happened.
Direct kite, good depower, insane takeoffs in jumps - excellent height.
Too early to say anything about the low end, as it was very gusty today - and difficult to compare to the other kites around.
But we were two out with Skoop2 14.5m2, and we had the same impressions.
I prefer a long bar myself - the supplied is 55cm - enough for this size of kite.
But I am used to using 65cm on kites bigger than 12 or 13 m2 - so I took my own 65 bar again - so I did not change my "normal" feel for the kite.
It is only a matter of getting used to of course - som likes small bars, other want long ones.
The 9m2 Skoop2 is supplied with a 47 cm bar, which fits for this size.
And then the kite worked even better for me (because I am used to this bar length) - takeoffs from almost a dead stop without moving forward
And when fully loaded speeding away with bar sheeted fully out - you got insane jumps when taking off and pulling the bar in.
Wow !
Tried it with a small 140cm wakestyle board, and a bigger 175cm TT also.
Both boards were lifted good in all jumps, more than usually.
In short again, my impressions: Very direct and agile, good depower, and more extreme lift in jumps (better acceleration and power in takeoffs - you feel like a "rocket man").
I have no idea of the low end and relaunch capabilities yet.
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Peter Frank
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