. Lovely not to have the wind ranging from 15-30mph in a split second. If only SE was the prevailing!
It was the second time I've been out on the 7m 2008 Waroo and the first time I had a chance to ride the Skywalker Dimitri Pro 130x40 2008 board so I thought I would write some of my findings. I am biased as I do have affiliation with both of these brands but if I didn't like them I wouldn't write a review. I've quite a bit of experience on the Waroo's from 2006 and 2007 but no previous experience of Skywalker.
First the kite:
In a nutshell, I love it. I've flown it at the Gare in Northerly winds gusting to 40mph and it handled superbly and then yesterday at Druridge 25-30mph. In strong winds and messy seas with some kites I've flown it can feel like a survival session but with this kite I felt totally in control. It is so stable, much much more stable than the 2006 7m and noticeable better than the 2007 model. Apart from that, all other differences from the 2007 model are quite subtle except for one which I'll come on to. It does turn quicker, but not massively quicker. When flying a kite this small, too quick can be an issue but I always felt like I knew where it was. Low end? I'm not really sure of the difference, I've never flown a 7m in anything less than 20 mph. Top end, again, after only 2 sessions, I'm not really sure but it was not even close to it's limit for me at 30 mph, 12.5 stone, 130cm board. In this wind I had it on the 3rd knot and had it half depowered so still some way to go. It still felt very d
irect. This brings me to the biggest difference - the power / depower and general feeling whilst in flight.
With the 2007 model, it can feel quite on / off, especially when in it's upper limit with the kite quite / fully depowered when you end up with slack back lines. The 2008 model has a 2:1 pulley system on the bridal. This allows for a 2:1 depower without the increased bar pressure as there are no pullies at the bar end. Yes - more pullies will lead to more wear but the bridal that runs through the pullies is a seperate component to the rest of the bridle and can very easily be replaced (less than a minute to do). This 2:1 depower makes a massive difference to the way the kite flew for me on both occasions. When a strong gust comes through there was no need to fully stretch your arms out (i.e. kitesurfing poo stance!), just a few inches away from the bar and you get the equivalent depower. It takes a bit of getting use to but you end up loving it.
I also found that the kite is very difficult to stall. When teaching with the 2006 / 2007 models I would have to have the kites pretty depowered (i.e. so that even unhooking would not stall the kite) as students would instinctively pull down hard on the bar when body dragging and board starting no matter how many times I told them to try not to. If not set up perfectly this would result in the kite stalling, particularly if the wind was light and I would have to teach them to react to this by letting out the bar a few inches to let it climb up the window again. Now with the 2008 model, I can pull down right to the chicken loop and it never showed any signs of stalling. Now the winds where strong so this is less likely anyway but I could make it happen with the 2006 / 2007 quite easily and this improvement has been reported on other reviews I'd read before delivery. Time will tell but if this is true, this is a great improvement and will make my life a whole lot easier when teaching.
Jumping - I need a bit more time, it was bang onshore yesterday so I was keeping it fairly tame and trying to improve my along the line wave riding. The session at Gare ended up with jumps that felt very high and floaty but it was very very windy so most kites will do well in these conditions.
The session yesterday had me grinning ear to ear. Partly due to not being out in a long time and nice strong winds but mostly due to the kite and board I was riding.
If you want to try any of the 2008 range, just let me know next time I'm out. I've also got a 10m & 14m Nemesis HP to try but it was too windy for me this time around.
The Board:
This was the first time out on the Dimitri Pro 2008 130x40 and first time I've ever ridden a Skywalker board. When setting it up I was amazed about how light the board was. I ride Crazy Fly boards most of the time and these are renowned for being very light due to the carbon fibre construction but the Skywalker was even lighter. I also ride Underground FLX's and these are considerably heavier. People might worry that light means weaker but I've been assured that the Skywalker 'FackNStrong' technology means the boards are very strong and was told there have been no breakages in the UK since they came out in 2006. Graphics also look excellent - this never really bothers me but nice if the board you ride looks good.
On the water I immediately appreciated the weight. It feels like there is nothing on your feet. Jumps and pop rotations where a breeze. It's got a great amount of pop. It felt good in the choppy conditions, nice and smooth - similar to the Underground FLX 2007 which in my opinion really excels in this area with it's double concave.
First impressions are great but I need more time on it for a proper review so I'll leave it there for now.
Lets hope SE winds on the 2nd of January mean there are a lot more to come for the rest of the year. It can't be any worse than 2007 which for me was truly shocking.
