I had the Rise out for the 1st time today and I really enjoyed flying it.

I flew it for about 5 minutes on the beach to check it out first, but it felt so well behaved, smooth and natural that I went straight out on the water. Wind was a bit on the light side and very nearly onshore. Still, the kite cut up wind really well and I enjoyed long runs up and down Druridge. The kite is very stable - it was easy to place the kite where I wanted it and it would stay there. Turning was fast even though I had it on the slow turn setting, and power was smooth and even. For a 12m I would say it has plenty of power.

Construction looks very good, and the safety system on the bar and leash are very easy to operate and reset. The de-power/trim is down by the chicken loop which makes it easy to reach... but I'm not sure if it's actually too near.

So, after a couple of hours with it I'd say I'm over the Moon with it. It's going to be interesting to see how it behaves in gusty conditions as it's got fancy jet flap things.

b e n

Ben let me borrow said kite for 20mins today, and was very impressed with it for the pretty low wind conditions(around 15mph or so).
I'd been out on my 15waroo all afternoon, and Ben let me borrow his for a few mins. It turned very well and depowered very nicely with light bar pressure, despite Ben having it on the low depower/low turn speed setting.

Stood on the beach, with the kite static in the air, I could tell the difference in grunt between my 15 and ben's 12, but out on the water, when I had the board moving, I was ripping along at the same speed. I can only guess this is down to the rise being considerably more efficient when moving than the waroo. It was quite a strange feeling too, with the waroo I really feel like i'm being 'pulled' along by the kite, but the rise just seemed to do so without making it feel like that - hard to explain. I can see now why James seems to get up and going so well on his 14 in light conditions.