Hi,

I had R05 and V05 12m last year (R04 12m before). I have rode and owned a lot of kites (too many in fact .
After having and loving the 12m of last year, because i ride a lot in a wave spot, depower was my goal. So i went for a 9m bow as soon as they got out. Rode it for 6 months and got used to it. Switching Bow<->C didn't feel any good AND back to Cs made me feel at my 4y "home".
So, back to the point: Vegas 06 12m.
Depower: if my bow has 95% and a std C has 40%, Vegas has 70% without touching the depower and 80% using the depower. So much more that a std C but not close to my Nova 9m.
Power: same as last year (compared to my mates)
Upwind: amazing. Specially if you don't ride "against the know" you will fly upwind.
Jumping: huge, huge. Load it well playing with power/depower and then full power on the bar (in loaded sessions had to release bar to come down
Bar: So simple! KISS followed 100% like it should be. No signs of wear after a couple of sessions. I think that the rope has something as it left "paint" in the first couple of rides.
Speed: impressive both flying and turning.
Setting: 5th line at end, back lines at 2,5 knot from end of lines. Attachements at far end of front and back pig tails.
Quick-release: Easy to release and not even a sympthom of auto-open so far.
Now i understand the stoke around. The best kite i have flown so far.
Only had a problem: "eaten" by a couple of big waves left it with a a bunch of broken micro-battens. North sent me new ones right away and nothing else damaged. Will they keep replacing when needed? I hope so!

The 9m is very, very ballanced. I think they tuned it not to be too fast. Rode it at high 20s and with 27m bar and don't know where its top is! with 20m bar i thing i won't need the 7m...
See you!

Do the battens really help ? or do you think they are more of a pain.

Hi I ride a rhino 06 16m. The kite is amazing. battens changed the windsurfing sail i would't be suprised if becomes a standard on all kites soon. The kite is amazingly efficient and smooth...unbelievable glide...in very light wind it does'nt stall where my old R4 would have. I'm not rocket scientist but what ever North did...it Rocks

Hi,
You don't notice battens exist (except if you break them which happened to me once...). The kite feels great. If it is because of the battens... i don't know!
The V06 feels more agile than V05 and has much, much more depower. I think it is a sum of "little" things...
From what i have felt so far, if you are looking for a grunty kite, you should go for standard C shape.

See you!

Hi,

After more a couple of sessions on V06 12m:
The lowend is definitly confirmed. Even better than last year as the kite is very fast (yesterday i was asked by a fellow rider if on what size i was as he was signing and i didn't move mine - He is almost 15kg lighter than me.
Yesterday I tuned the lines: one extra knot at front-pigtails next to the factory one and 3rd knot from end of back lines. Perfect! Improved low-end because 5th line was too stretched.
Still no signs of depower line wear. Seems that finally north got it.

Riding waves with 27m lines is just not the same as with 20m. The kite is very fast but it needs to have less window to travel (maybe because that is what i am used to, 9m and 7m kites with 20m lines). I will use the 20m bar the next time. Lets see!

There where a guys with a 11m tribal and it turns very, very fast (seemed to turn faster than mine) and Wipika Matrix 13m is very fast too. Both have less lowend than Vegas 12m though. We need more wind to switch kites and test top ends and depower.
Flexifoil Fusion 12m seems to have the same lowend as vegas 06 12m.

Oh, btw, this babe jumps as hell. Amazing!

See you!

What's your weight Wawando?
Did you also try the Vegas06 7 meter?

84kg. no vegas 7m...
I have 12m and 9m vegas and a 7m yarga.

the 9m vegas has a very, very high top end

Wawando,

why did you switched back to a C shape?
which bow did you used?

It would be very interesting to get finally some negative feedback of a bow and especially from a perosn who seriously tried it.

"So i went for a 9m bow as soon as they got out. Rode it for 6 months and got used to it. Switching Bow<->C didn't feel any good AND back to Cs made me feel at my 4y home "

Hi,

The main reason was that it had too much depower
That made me had to change (and i did change) the whole way i used to ride, specially at the bottoms when wave riding.
The main thing is: if you go for bows, do it on all your kites. For me, mixing bows and Cs just doesn't work.
I went "back" to high-depower Cs maybe because i bought the bow (Nova) too soon.
If you see the last "bows" have less depower and the "all power off" when you let go the bar is being left to second plan. Anyone who loops a lot in waves in strong wind will agree with me that the "can't let go the bar" is a real pain in the ass.
So my plan is to keep the Vegas06 (that has the depower i need - or think i need) at least for a year and then will see how things are. Maybe by then i am ready to change all.
I am always trying all that i get my hands on. I tried the ION 9m for a couple of minutes the other day at it felt very good.

See you!

i recently demo's the new 14m vegas & it kicks ass! two days latter however i rode a 12m caution, the answer, & (not to busrt any vegas bubbles) but the caution slightly out performed the vegas. actually turns faster, jumps a little higher, depowers better. upwind was about the same. both awesome kites though. the caution isn't at all like the crossbow, closer to a 'c' . bit more depower than the vegas as well. caution & north both bombproof. caution packs up smaller & doesn't have those cam battens that break if you drop the kite in the surf. i was on the fence but decided to go with the caution kites instead. i also like the way they pack up much smaller which is great for travel. i have owned north, flexi, & cabrinha & am not affiliated to caution or any shop & have been kiting for over 6 years.