Winds have been light and I was able by some luck to fit in a quick session yesterday with my new 2014 Velocity VMG kite. You can read more about the Velocity on the Cabrinha website at http://www.cabrinhakites.com/kite/velocity.html . The Velocity is described as a highly efficient, lightweight racing kite. Well, Rick doesn't race, much, so what is he doing with one? Sometimes kites end up doing more than designers thought they might in the development phase. This is the case with the Velocity. I spoke at length with Damien LeRoy before and after getting the kite. Damo describes the Velocity as the "ultimate free riding, boosting kite" beyond any consideration as an excellent race kite. Kent Marinkovic with Pryde Group Americas said "It is my all-time favorite Cabrinha kite. It's not for everyone, but for super speed, light wind performance, and huge airs, it's perfect!!!." Oliver Butsch of Maui said, "Biggest air jumping kite ever produced by cabrinha. Its a modern crossbow with very little barpressure. If you liked crossbows you will love this kite." Steve Gunn of Long Beach, CA said "been saying this for some time now...not only hugh jumping but hang time to boot! and loops sooooo smooth. Cabrinha's Race Kite; the Velocity is my everyday go to kite. Ultimate hooked in freeride/freestyle kite!" Brian Miller of St. Augustine said "I had a got to test the 18m last week and it was impressive to say the least. Not for everybody but if you like this style kite you gotta try it!" Ty Luckett of OBX said "I have a 9 m, that thing is so ridiculous. Yup huge wind range and mega jumps!"
The Velocity brackets Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse
In developing the kite for the demands of racing other advantages have come out of the design. It is light, very stable with lots of thrust or lift for the demands of racing ... and free riding. Cabrinha has worked to reduce the weight in many ways in the kite from thinner battens, lines, lighter materials and a good deal more. I picked it up after the session and noticed it was significantly lighter than my 2013 Switchblade kite. There are no pulleys on the bridles either. The kite has a high aspect probably higher than any kite I have used in sometime. This comes out in the photo below. Despite that the kite flew easily in my first session, like a kite with smaller aspect ratio. Damo tells me the Velocity is not a good choice for a new kiter but for someone who has been riding for a while with good control and "kite sense" for a performance oriented kite. In reaching for higher efficiency the kite may be a little more demanding in control inputs. I only have one session on it and there is some truth to this but I don't think it is that demanding a kite really. I understand in lighter conditions you do need to sheet out a bit and let the kite "breath" in turns to maintain speed through the turn.
Dave Daniels with http://sfwindsports.com and https://www.facebook.com/sfwindsports, gives me a hand, again. Thanks Dave! Dave consistently turns out some amazing imagery from throughout SE Florida, posting them on his website and Facebook page. A great example appears below.
Dave Daniels took this nice shot of me ripping along upwind.
Heading out. This is the first time I mounted a GoPro on this particular kite. Given the high aspect ratio of the kite it often captures the kiter far below in the imagery whereas usually I am cropped out.
HERO3+ SHOT WITH MINIMAL PROCESSING
NB - This article is about two firsts, my session with the Velocity AND my first time taking the new GoPro Hero3+ kiting. The new camera is full of new features and capabilities. Some excellent ones in my book include the 30% longer battery time and improved white balancing. Most of the images in this post are from GoPros however I usually do a fair about of processing of images that I use in these write-ups. To allow folks a better idea of the image coming out of the camera I have labeled certain photos here with "HERO3+ SHOT WITH MINIMAL PROCESSING." This means nothing was done to alter color, contrast, sharpness, etc. with processing limited to adjusting size, orientation and putting © info on it.
Heading offshore. HERO3+ SHOT WITH MINIMAL PROCESSING
The remarkable control bar that only comes with the Velocity. This kite is not equipped with the normal Cabrinha IDS depowering system but flags the kite off of one line instead. It has an amazing 30 cm depowering throw resulting in exceptional trimming ability of the kite on the fly for variable wind conditions. Damo says the kite takes wind range into a whole new level. I had jam cleats way back in the day with old Airblast kites if memory serves. The cleats were awkward and not real reliable. Cabrinha has really dialed this system in with easy, rapid one-handed cleating and uncleating. I capture this process in the video below, it is impressively easy.
Here is a short clip of riding with the Velocity from yesterday.
I mentioned the battens are a lot thinner on this kite. In pumping it up, I noticed the leading edge became quite hard before the battens stiffened up a lot. I asked if the battens needed to be rock hard? Speaking with Damo, no not necessarily. Damo said that you could also clamp off the battens and bleed off some of the leading edge pressure to reduce it, if you wanted the battens a bit stiffer.
I'm going to have to get used to seeing myself in these images. HERO3+ SHOT WITH MINIMAL PROCESSING
Checking out the Whistle Buoy off the channel at the 90 ft. contour.
A crop shot passing by the inlet. Winds were about 12 to 15 mph sometimes a bit higher out of the NNE most of the time. This means I am riding pretty much upwind to make the lighthouse from the launching area. I was impressed by how well the kite pointed upwind. Usually, with lighter wind out of this direction I take out my larger twin tip (150 x 48 cm larger!) to be able to navigate point to point more reliably and rapidly. Today, I decided, I see how I do on my preferred lighter, moderate to high wind board. The choice worked out surprisingly well, with the board ripping upwind nicely. I was at the lighthouse in several tacks in no time.
The reef south of the inlet can be exposed in places at low tide. Also it has lots of rock to carve you up given a chance. It does look nice in photos however particularly at high tide!
The kite has more bar pressure than I had in last years Switchblade but not unduly so. The way it powers up is interesting, it is less "hard" or perhaps more "elastic." It just kind of eases on instead of building a lot of hard firm bar pressure.
Ripping hard with that nice clean control bar.
This kite is stable or when you put it someplace it usually stays there, for a while anyway. Case in point, when I kite, I frequently shoot images. So, I may be placing the kite or helmet-mounted camera for a certain framing and as such it can be easy to slide the kite into the water at times when close, whoops. I noticed with the Velocity, even though I was running fast with the kite low to the water if I eased up on bar pressure or meticulous control it didn't immediately fall off or descend into the water. Also, when I came in to land, I pulled all the way in on the trip line. Usually in lighter winds the kite dives to the ground immediately or soon after. The Velocity continued to fly stably with no indication of diving which is unusual.
HERO3+ SHOT WITH MINIMAL PROCESSING
Working around the inlet, dangers here so have a care.
HERO3+ SHOT WITH MINIMAL PROCESSING
HERO3+ SHOT WITH MINIMAL PROCESSING
HERO3+ SHOT WITH MINIMAL PROCESSING
So, those are some early impressions of the 2014 Velocity in a lighter wind session. It is a smooth, stable, powerful kite even in lighter winds, that points close to the wind and a good deal more. I am really looking forward to taking this thing out in some stronger stuff and checking out the excellent boosting qualities. Until then, good winds!
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