Hi Sergio,
There are no "release dates" as such with Concept Air. Benoît starts selling when he has the feeling that the kite is ready and it will be the right kite for you (or ask you to contact other riders to discuss with them before buying). The tests were positive and the new smarts are available now I think (I know at least one other smart 4.5 which is on its way to France right now -- the rider wants to use it with an hydrofoil and a surfboard).
Benoît Tremblay is a real craftsman of kite design in the sense that he masters the whole production process locally, from kite design to kite production, usually on a on demand basis. We are far from typical big major companies, and in the good sense. I don't have the exact figures, but we are talking about several thousands kites build since 1997, so he knows his job! Best thing is to contact him directly. I am neither a sponsored rider nor a dealer. Benoît was the only kite designer who accepted the challenge of designing a wave foil kite 5 years ago when I understood that Flysurfer would not continue to develop a mid/low ratio performance kite.
In summary, with Benoît Tremblay you have to change how your mind was framed by the kite industry, back to the roots, kitesurfing!
Here are a few pictures of the smart 4.5 I took for
LesFoilz.com
Construction quality is very good, very simple and reliable. Nothing is overdone . These are the usual comments you get about Concept Air kites. There are the two usual velcro at the tips to empty sand and water (you can see them on the first photo), the kite material comes from Porcher (32gr for the smarts) and the bridles are nicely done and tidy with colors to ease bridles check before launch. I'll post additional pictures when I have some free time (very busy currently).
Smarts behave very differently as compared to high ratio kites. The smart is dedicated to wave riding, but not by designing a beginner foil kite that could be used in waves as it used to be, rather by defining what should be the characteristics of such a kite (I must say rather what I think should be the characteristics as I had the chance to be in direct contact with Benoît and to exchange with him o a regular basis to improve the kites over the years). One thing that you don't want on such a kite is that the kite crosses the wind window too quickly and, consequently, delivers an extra boost of power that HR foils can deliver. The boost is not good at all for balance in the surf when one rides strapless. You don't want a thick profile as well because the kite will stay too far in the wind window with an extra grunt that you don't want (again for balance in the surf), in particular in the higher wind-range. Thick profiles are not very good for going well upwind as well. The idea is to go back quickly to the peak and not having to have to ride 2 miles upwind at sea to get back to it. So the smart is a thin low ratio kite. The difficulty was to have a very solid and stable foil kite, in particular in strong winds with this thin profile, that could also loops very well (this is uselful for down-the-line surfing). Benoît achieves this with the smart wave. Note also that there is some bar pressure because I like when I ride in waves to surf with the pressure in my hands rather than in my harness (it is along the lines of riding unhooked in waves with a 2 lines kite
>> see the interview of Top Hat at LesFoilz.com << but still hooked). This is to free the hips when surfing.
As for power. The smart are powerful for their size but they don't deliver the power of a small HR foil kite, the smart delivers very good power but it is more linear, no peaks of power / boost. As for the high end, I rode the smart 4.5 in 30/35 knots without pb, I was feeling very safe, in particular on the beach, which was very surprising with the sand blowing around me. I haven't check the low end yet for the 4.5 (I think I can go down to 23-25 knots with no strong rips), but I can go down to 15/18 knots with the 6.5 for my weight (63 kg) with my low-rocker-with-volume surfboard. This said I am sending emails to Benoît every day for a Smart Wave 3m
(think Guincho, Cape Town, San Francisco, Beauduc, Tarifa ...)
As for the comparison with the PS4 ... well, they are now a thing of the past for wave riding with a foil kite strapless, at least for me. Smarts open new horizons, they change you
Stef
PS: My PS4 4m may stay with me as I have developed a special relationship with this one-of-its-kind foilkite, even if it does not fly very much these days.