Just looking at the buss for the 2011 gear, and I thought I'd see who didn't release anything for 2010... Eclipse didn't do anything in 2010, Royal hasn't updated the Era, North changed the line-up (RIP Rhino). Not a rip on anyone but the Era is a great kite... perhaps no adjustments were needed for 2010? Most companies start launching 2011 stuff in Aug/Sept. Will we see an Era update... will the Surge ever see the light of day?

I see an Eclipse Surge at the beach almost every time the wind is up in Jupiter... Haven't done business with this company, but they do seem to have 2010 Kima/Thruster/Surge for sale.

http://www.virginiapowerkites.com/Eclipse-Surge-C-Kite-5-Meter-p140.html

sorry dude... the Surge is the oly kite that was made in 2010. They haven't updated a line-up in 2010 other than that kite, so your sales site is not accurate. There is no 2010 Thruster, Kima or Nano.

That would be such an AMAZING, OUTRAGEOUS, and WELCOME change... to see kite companies only release new kites when they have a significant improvement. If the whole industry changed so that it was acceptable to keep the same kite design/model as the previous year(s), then this artificial churning of the market based on calendar year would go away. For me, it has. However, when it is time for me to buy, I can't trust that the current versions are actually improvements over a previous version.....

It might even bring down the price of kites. If you have a good model, then keep it! EH, for one, has tended to do this. He only releases kites when he thinks it's a significant improvement, and it doesn't necessarily correspond to a calendar year. Hence a "V6 Rippehr" instead of a "2009 Rippehr". Some other manufacturers have also done this. Good job, guys!

Flysurfer and Core Kites do it like this.

My Flysurfer Pulse 2 kites are almost 3 years old now and the new version is due some time this year when it is ready. Kites still fly great, had a great 3 hour surf session yesterday. No hurry to change. Just waiting for the new kites when they are ready.

Eciipse will be coming to theaters and beaches soon eclipsethemovie.com

Another question is: Why do kite companies drastically change the performance profile of a model, but keep the same name???

IMHO: It should be a safe assumption that a kite targeted for stable flight, easy relaunch, wave riding will not suddenly become the "Freestylers Dream" simply because the year changed from 2008 to 2009! One would expect that a "Model - X" would keep the same performance profile for it's life. If you have a new performance profile, then create a new name. If you can't keep both models in production, then drop the old model that's being replaced. Even the car manufacturer's try to do this... 'cept for the Ford Thunderbird... it went through some pretty crazy profile modifications during it's life.....
http://www.albeedigital.com/supercoupe/articles/tbird_history.html
http://www.edmunds.com/ford/thunderbird/history.html

Agreed on both points windrider. In my other sport, skydiving... both the wingsuits and the parachutes are only iterated when there is a need for it, which might be once every 5 years before a specific model goes from v1 to v2 or v3. And these iterations are indeed similar but improved versions of the same flight profile/characteristics. New models are introduced all the time, but these are independent of whether or not the other models are iterated (or in some cases phased out).

This "year model" trend thing reminds me of the car industry... which is lame.