Day after Xmas and at my door was a box with the new 12 m Peter Lynn Swell wave kite. I have been asking them for years to augment their water kite line with a powerful for size, quick turning, big range three strut surf oriented kite. They had been working on this design for a long time now.
Mother in law on way to airport with my wife and baby driving, so stepped on the gas peddle heading up the coast to a lightly thermaling point break. Only ordered the 12 to test without the new bar as this is the most used size locally and the new bars most significant change is to conform to the pull or push away style of safety most other manufacturers use. The old bar worked well. Used twenty meter lines on a long throw bar for this first quick test. Wind started in the 13 to 18 mph range and quickly decreased to the 0 to 15mph stuff that drops kites out of the air like stones. The swell is a light kite with very good balance and it never luffed in this hickup and gust wind session. Used stock settings on the deep (long center srut of the three) shaped kite. Build looked great and the kite looks powerful with its broader center profile. Sometimes kites like this flutter like mad and don't seem very solid. Not the case with this kite which held a very solid shape. Not super chubby like a certain W kite from HI but a cross between that and another wave kite that starts with R and ends with D. Wonder if they will make a 15m version?
Looping the kite and drifting down the line with the strapless surfboard felt very natural and the power/size to turning ratio was much better than expected. Knowing the local crowds weight, boards, kites, it became evident that this 12 was far more like a 13 in the power department. Fortunately it still snap turned like a smaller than 12 kite. Drift was good and the kite handled gusts well with easy modulation and power kill with depower motion.
The kite has a grunty feel but the bar pressure can easily be modulated to nada with the depower cleat or attachment point adjustment. Water start when down in light stuff in the surf was immediate. A rider forty pounds lighter and also on a surfboard and other 12 m brand wave kite was out there with me and a 17 fat lady rider. I was hucking the Swell around providing good apparent wind generation and smooth power production on kite looping.
At this point with nada wind, it became upwind wave cruising mostly, rather than the down the line stuff we prefer. The occasional down the line hits did not have the rear lines going totally slack or a plummeting kite as would be expected. Tossed the swell kite a very small amount to grab the board on a closing wave and was surprised by the good pop with a bit of sheeting in the crud conditions. Many pure wave kites are designed with no pop or float understandably. The kite develops very good speed through the window and in concert with the profile provides for surprising lift on demand. Did not spend time jumping it so can't comment on hang time, etc.
Just the first test but very happy with the session on the new ride. Paid for this kite out of pocket and though do sell PL products as well as a bunch of other brands can give an unbiased report on the gear its all the other jobs that pays the bills.
PL seem to have come up with a nice three strut wave kite that will also work for a heavier guy like me with good grunt, range and turning. I like a very efficient fish surfboard and total depower is needed as well as instant power up in our often gusty winds. Lots of nice three strut kites out there and look at all of them when giving advice to friends or dreaming about a new one for myself. The swell 12 m fortunately has grunt for us heavy guys while doing the other good stuff us wave heads demand. Now how do I talk my family into letting me keep this 12m and also getting a nine and a seven meter?
Oh Yeah, the bag looks great blah, blah, blah and the kites leading edge has a nice not to large or too small diameter. Instead of jamming pully, a very cool looking brass slider is used on the bridle. As per PL practice, the usual paraglider like extra sheets of stick on color coded sail repair cloth is included.
Happy New Year of great surf and wind for all.