+1 and 3 Happy Birthday's for LOCO!!

It used to be cool to sell a smaller kite that had more power that was lively and fun to fly. I could fly my Speed 7 and jump high when others were flying 13m SLE's.

Now we are supposed to want a bigger kite with a depower system that keeps it sluggish enough that it won't spank you in high winds. Kami can fly a 21 when I am on my 9. Fun?

Then you need Deluxe cloth to keep the wing loading down? Wing loading is not a marker of kite performance. Power/kg, turning speed and L/D are.

HEY, Is that a new bag without zips???

Jake

Not fun, no ... but survivable without punishment.
In this case, fly a bigger kite or fly a smaller, less stable one that's slightly faster? (comparing "triple" depower vs 'normal' foil) I think I'd go for stability and ease of use!

Sure but this is a Speed. Should it be a Lotus Elise or a Jetta Sportwagen? - A Jetta is a great car that meets my needs, but not a race car.

The Matrixx comes to mind.

You can get two new 15m Matrixxes for the price of one standard fabric Speed 15 meter. I know that they're not the same, but the Matrixx at nearly the same performance at just half the price makes a compelling case for kiters who are on a limited budget.

-joedy

Purple 21 is the Bomb!! Best lookin kite i have ever owned. When you weigh 240 lbs, the 21 has got the JUICE over Any tube or other foil.

I mean NO disrecpect......but it sure sounds like a 2 for 1 Air "Matress" Sale....
I sleep very well on aTempurPedic Rhapsody King bed....and no sustitute at any half price will do
Gotta be fully rested in order to kite your best in waves
I like to feel weightless when i sleep and in mid-air during my forwards 540 downloops to toeside

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+2 for 1 on the Mattress sale!!!

I would love to try a Matrixx 15 side by side with the Speed 15. No chance for me, but I imagine somebody knows how they compare in grunt, lift, upwind performance, stability, etc.

In the light wind kites I do like the idea of maximum performance (that means a lot of different things to different people) with any more wing area and weight than needed. I would really love to try kiting on that prototype Ozone single surface paraglider someday, or read about the experience from someone who has had the opportunity.

As for air mattresses, in my own experience there was no better power to area ratio closed cell foil than the old Peter Lynn Waterfoil. A 5.7 was a powerhouse, and even a 3.6 could work nicely in about 15 mph winds on the right board. After landing the kite you really could lay on it like a mattress and not be in contact with the ground. It had super tight stitched, glued and taped seems and held air better than any foil I've ever seen. It was fixed bridle, rough ride, unstable and quite a beast, but it was the first of its kind. I would really like to see an effort to get more power per square meter since the trend has gone the other way as Jake mentioned. Currently the best power per square meter is on a fixed bridle open cell foil or a framed kite like an old C-quad.

I was testing a Neo2 once an was satisfyed with its performance.
But build quality and materials...
Just look at the bar/chicken loop. I didn't feel very safe on it. But looking at the new bar it is even without the chicken loop safety or it went back to the design from the 2003 (velcro).
And I managed to rip out one of the back bridle lines (riped out of the kite) on grass, before even geting it in the air, because it is sewn in poorly.