MikeBirt wrote:They joys of reviews..
The zero is unlike any other big kite I have tested, that's for sure, and being unique does bring problems if you compare it to the way everything else works.
80kg, with a tiny board, in full power conditions, you are asking for pain...
I'm 84kg and I cannot physically ride the thing after 8-9 knots.
The zero's most amazing quality is that, in the lightest of air, it doesn't fall out of the sky. In winds when all other kites simply will not stay above your head, and certainly not climb out of a power dive, the zero does. This are the kind of conditions that it is designed for, for it will not fall forwards, and is so light that it not only climbs after the lightest wind power dive, but it's also responsive enough to throw around.. You can start using this kite 2 knots before anything else will even stay in the sky (maybe a massive flysurfer excluded)
Pair it with something that has a good rail length, a big twin tip, or some fins, (like a sector), and you have pushed the lower limit of possible riding conditions right down to stupidly low. The kind of winds you would have previously thought impossible.
When it gets windy though, unless you are really heavy, it won't push forward in the window to take you upwind, and if you do not have a board with enough rail or fin then regardless of weight you will not produce enough resistance to push the kite forward and get upwind, it certainly won't jump and you'll have exactly the experience you described. You are not wrong, your review is not biased, you are not malicious in your writeup, you just don't understand what this kite was designed for. You took a hot air balloon to a aerobatics display.
On that day you needed a 13/15m vantage for such a small board and so much wind..
Next time you can barely feel any wind, like 2-5 knots, borrow a big board and try again. You'll have a completely different experience.
Ahhh . . . the voice of reason
