I received my new Boardriding Maui strutless 13m kite and got a chance to ride it in very, very gusty conditions at Newcastle (near Seattle) today. Surprisingly it was a really good ride in crappy gusty 7 - 30 knot conditions (well except during the gusts when I had trouble holding it down). Indeed it is a very interesting kite as having no struts, weighing nothing and having a low AR it has an incredible low end. I would recommend people fly these kites one size smaller than their SLE. In fact, given the low end of the kite I really should've been on a 10m or an 8m.
When I launched at noon there was hardly any wind, 7 to 8 knots maybe, and once up the kite charged upwind and I was nicely powered and having fun on the Paipo . As far as flying characteristics the Cloud kites are really quick on/off with just a bit of sheeting and they turn very, very fast. I also got the chance drift launch and relaunch the kite today without a problem, once the canopy has wind in it relaunches like any other kite. One concern I had was that when the kite hit 43 F degree water the kite would jellyfish but this never happened and the airframe remained solid. On another note since I often ride at lunch and have limited time riding a kite without struts means less inflation and pack up time.
I think Boardriding Maui http://www.boardridingmaui.com/index.htmlis onto something here and in five years struts for freeride kites will be a thing of the past.
Here are some pics: