Tried the Royal Era 12 m2 today

[Dr_Rosen]

I tried the Royal Era 12 m2 today. I was riding my SB2 14 m2 but tried a friends Era. I have SB2 in 8, 10 and 14 m2. When we rigged the wind was a little too low for my 10 m2, but it picked up a little later - thus we had good power.

Anyway I tried the Era. I must say it is a nice kite. It is suprisingly fast for a 12. I think its faster than my SB2 10 m2. Bar pressure was very low, but the kite seemed pretty stable. I rode it completely depowered in 9-10 m/sek (95 kg).

I was surprised how different it felt to my SBs. A very nice kite indeed.
I only rode it 15 minutes. but ask if you have questions.

[NEkitesurfing]

What was so different compared to the Switchblade? Even less bar pressure and a little faster, ok. What about upwind performance? Has it a more direct steering than the Switchblade? And offers the ERA a smooth ride?
What about unhooked riding? Did you tried it in the short time?
Thanks in advance!

[Dr_Rosen]

What was so different compared to the Switchblade? Even less bar pressure and a little faster, ok. What about upwind performance? Has it a more direct steering than the Switchblade? And offers the ERA a smooth ride?
What about unhooked riding? Did you tried it in the short time?
Thanks in advance!

I am not really that advanced - no unhooked here yet.
To me it felt noticeably faster - pretty damn fast actually. Upwind was good, once I depowered it completely. Better than SB2?..... I can't say.
Yes the steering seems more direct if you by that mean that it responds quicker to bar movements? I found the ride smooth. It's pretty stable when you park it at 10-11

[NEkitesurfing]

Yes, that's it what I wanted to know. Faster reaction to bar inputs. Did you tried the relaunch?
You had to depower the kite totally to maintain control and to go upwind? Was the size too big? In about 18knots with you weight should be no problem with the current designs. But if the ERA has significantly more power per size it would be possible to have more fun with smaller kites and that sounds good.

[Dr_Rosen]

Yes, that's it what I wanted to know. Faster reaction to bar inputs. Did you tried the relaunch?
You had to depower the kite totally to maintain control and to go upwind? Was the size too big?

Didn't feel that overpowered, but was pulled to much sideways.
My weight 95 kg. Board 135x40 cm. Wind around 10 m/sec.

I dropped it in the water once, not totally LE down though. Relaunced easy, but probably not a good indication as it was not completely in the water

[NEkitesurfing]

that the kite pulled too much sideways doesn't sound good. On the other hand 15 min is maybe not enough time to find the correct setup.

[Dr_Rosen]

that the kite pulled too much sideways doesn't sound good. On the other hand 15 min is maybe not enough time to find the correct setup.

I agree with that. The 2 guys on Era's went better upwind than me on my SB2 - but then again I will never win a championship in going upwind
But my buddy, who's kite I tried say that have a lot of power and go upwind really well. He comes from GK Trix kites, which he was also satisfied with. He says Era has better lowend than GK

[KAWIKA]

Of course the kite flys fast its on a 61cm bar any kite will fly fast on that big of a bar

[Dr.Gonzo]

Of course the kite flys fast its on a 61cm bar any kite will fly fast on that big of a bar

The Royal Era 12m bar has 2 different settings ... one at 61cm (for the 14m) and one at just 51cm ... which is what the 12m is set on.

So in fact... the 12m Era is flying on a 51cm set-up.


The 8m and the 10m also share a bar which is 44cm or 54cm.

Its also not true to say that 'any kite will fly fast' on a big bar.

The Era is very fast whatever bar you fly it on... and it belts it upwind so I wouldn't fess about that either.



Love the old thumbs up icon

[Waves-n-Butter]

Thanks for the review! Would love to hear more if you get some additional time on them. True too that not all kites will fly faster just because the bar is longer. A longer bar will make a kite turn faster but won't turn a slow kite into a fast one.

There's a few guys where i ride that just got the Era's and they all say they're really, really fast. Maybe too fast for total beginners(?) I Haven't heard any complaints about them not going up wind. Hopefuly i'll get to try one this weekend if there's wind. If so i'll write a little review here.