There is a pic of it in the water here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2375193

They are marketing it as a cheaper beginner/school kite but also great allrounder. It looks like a cross between a classic delta shape kite and the Park, imho. There will be a board to match the kite called Ride as well, which is also gonna be a bit simpler and cheaper than the other boards.

I'm not as excited about the board...the boards designated for beginners seems to be beginner boards, but kites..they can still be good.

Anyone have dates on these? No wind here now so only surfing.

Demoed a 10M in Jupiter yesterday. According to naish rep (Nick Stuart) they became available 4 days ago. I was impressed. North had a rebel from a few years back with no center strut, and this kite had none of the bad behavior that plagued that kite.

Overall I preferred the Bolt 9 in the conditions I was out in (20 gusting to 27 or so), but bar pressure, stability and responsiveness were top notch on the Ride. Bolt just handled the gusts a little better (was also flying the Bolt on 20M lines and loved the direct responsiveness).

Oh and contrary to prior posts, it is not a beginner kite.

Chris

Soundgs good. The two strut design is an interesting development. With the wind you are indicating I'm guessing.you did not have a chance to check the low end?

Tried the Ride 8 today in 20-25 knts (with lull at 15knts, gust at 30knts)
It's marketed as a school-entry level kite... but it is a very good piece of kite indeed!
We had a Park 8 2012 for comparison. The Ride was a bit more powerful (better low end) but it has to be noticed that the Ride bar is 24m, the Park was used with 20m. It was also a tad less quick turning but by a very minimal margin, with a larger arc when looping the kite (we will test the Ride with 20m bar next time ).
The Ride was used in combination with surfboards only (no TT in our quiver anymore ) and for wave riding the 8 was a very good companion .
The 2 struts structure don't deform nor flap, thanks to the mini battens on the leading edge and a very good overall design
No water relaunch neither jumping with the Ride today, so no comment on that sorry...
In short we had a blast with this new kite today .

Phil
Have Fun & Ride Safe

Looks interesting.
In the past Naish produced their school kites without the one pump system whcih was a shame because sometimes the school kites were pretty nice otherwise. What about the Ride?

CG

The Ride has the one Pump
Main difference is the bar which is 24m, has a different soft grip and has no swivel on the front lines.

Phil
Have Fun & Ride Safe

..also killer color on the kite there. I am super excited to try it.

Wind is coming back here.

Anyone know if the Flyer be a replacement for the Charger as the race/lightwind kite? Naish doesn't have any good lightwind kites for 2012 yet do they? I guess the Bolt 14 is their best lightwind kite available now? Would be strange to have a full range of race boards, but not offer a big race kite to ride them with.