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RRD Type 9 depower mod
2007-12-13 05:48:00
I've had my 9m Type 9 for a little while now and had a good few session on it. I didn't feel as is if the kite was setup correctly, because I always had on alot of depower to get the trim right. I had even moved the front line adjustment up to the third knot. Because the Type 9 is good at not back stalling, you can inadvertantly be riding over-sheeted, and then when you go to sheet out, you dont really get alot of depower.I went to the shop I got it from and they gave me some line extentions, which were about 10cm. At that length I needed to move the font line adjustment back to the first knot, so you probably only need 5cm extentions. I'm much more comfortable on the kite now, its nice knowing you've got the depower when you need it. If you feel like you need some more depower, I recommened getting some small extensions for your back lines

RRD Type 9
2007-10-12 05:29:00
The other week I went and purchased a shiny new 9m RRD Type 9. I went for the dark purple colour, which doesn't actually seem to be on the rrd website. It which looks pretty nice up in the sky. I took it to south Cottesloe for a quick christening. It was pretty onshore and the charts said it was around 16-20kts but I was pretty powered up the whole time, doing some decent jumps and a couple of kite loops. There was some swell coming through, the bigger waves being about chest high face. Compared to my other older smaller kite, an 06 Sonic, the Type 9 is much better in the lulls, it doesnt luff as much. I really like how it just floats back without the canopy fluttering. Also in comparision it has a more consistent power delivery in the turns, which is nice when doing transitions in the waves.The bar was a little different to the prototype I flew before. I cant remember what the differences were now, but I remember thinkg it was better. The only gripe I have is that I would like a l...

Type 9, Helix and Atom 08 demo
2007-10-12 04:58:00
I've been a bit slack posting my updates here, to time to catch up. A few weeks ago I was able to try the 9m RRD Type 9, a 9m Naish Helix and a 12m Flexifoil Atom 08 back to back. Thanks to SOS for providing the demo kite. The wind was blowing NNW about 20-25kts so we took the kites down to Woodmans Point to kite on the middle bay. I've tried the Type 9 before, so I started with the pink Helix. The first thing I noticed was that the bar was a bit cluttered. This is because it supports a 2:1 setup and it has extra dangly bits for the depower. I've ridden GK Sonics so I've always been used a very clean simple bar. Also the donkey dick didnt seem like it was long enough. A saw someone else post this on the seabreeze forums. I didn't fly the Helix for that long so I wont say too much about it. It did seem quite steady in the sky and was comfortable to fly. It had a good feel when moving the kite through the window doing transitions and downlooping. I was getting some pretty good bo...
More About: Demo

Cape Le Grande
2007-08-29 08:02:00
Some photos from our epic kite at Cape Le Grande in Esperance are hereCape Le Grande picsHere the green line shows where we did a downwinder. The scale show it was a tidy 15km. The wind was blowing slightly offshore which made for some pretty good waveriding, though it made the wind a bit gusty coming off the dunes.When our friends headed down the beach in the 4wd to our final desination, we didn't realise how long the bay was. When its starting to get dark and you're in the middle of nowhere it was a good feeling to see the headlights of the 4wd.

Blown away
2007-08-29 07:26:00
I finally broke the dry spell on Sunday with a very quick kite in the windiest conditions I've ever been out in. I didn't check the charts till the next day, and it was showing about 25-35kts the time I was out. I don't think I've been out in more than 30kts before. I took out my 8m sonic and had it on full depower. When the gusts came through I could barely hold it down. Some other guys, who would weigh a few more kgs than me, were out on their 7m kites.Before I headed out I was sitting in the car waiting for a front to pass. I noticed a kite out of control and thought someone had let it go onto one line. But it kept getting higher and coming closer. I realised it was loose and jumped out of the car to try and catch it. Fortunately the bar and lines got caught on some wood bolards and the kite stopped in the middle of the road in front of a car! When I was talking to the other kiters later, they said it happend real quick. Two kites were on the beach and the lines from one were...

Naish info night
2007-08-13 08:37:00
On Friday evening SOS hosted a meetup to learn about the new Naish Sigma series kites. Two of the Naish reps were on hand to talk about the new technology in the Sigma series, and had a couple of kites to show as well. They gave a good speil on the kites, and the couple guys that had been able to have a quick ride on them during the week rated them as well. Interestingly the Aussie distributor guy said they weren't even going to import the new Torch, they thought the Allicance kite would more than fufill the needs of kiters wanting that type of kite. They also discussed how the different models relate to each other. The Helix, Code and Cult are basically the same kite design aimed at different price points by eliminating some features on the cheaper models, and the Allicance is the odd one out, but on the same level at as the Helix, being a 5-line system aimed more toward the freestyle guys.
More About: Info , Night

RRD Toxic Wave review
2007-07-24 05:41:00
Last week I tested out the RRD Toxic Wave . Its looked like just what I wanted for a more wave orientated board, yet still keeping the twin-tip ability to ride it switch without gybing. The toxic wave is 148cm long, which gives it a bit more length and volume to actually ride the waves without being to bulky for the some basic tricks and boosts.The toxic has a thruster fin setup at the back end of the board, which aid in doing real nice big carves compared to a twintip. If found it a little hard to get a real hard edge at times, with a bit more time on the board I'm sure I could improve my edging technique for this board.My biggest dislike of the board was with the footstraps. I normally ride Airush board which have some of the best footstraps in the biz. Admittedly, the straps are symmetrical so you can gybe, but as the board rides still rides well switch, I would rather setup some more comfy straps each session depending on which way you would mainly be riding the waves.I'd reall...
More About: Review

2008 RRD Type 9
2007-07-04 09:39:00
A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to try one of the new 2008 RRD Type 9 kites from the guys at SOS Surf, my size of choice being the 7m. I bailed work early that day and took the kite down to Melville where the polies normally go. The wind was a bit on and off, and I thought it might be too light for the 7. When it picked up little bit again I quickly setup and got a launch.I took off, sined the kite back down, and oh crap, I almost crashed it into the water! The kite just flew across the window before I even realised. I took a couple of tacks to get a feel for it, then started with some basic jumps and front rolls.It had been a while since I'd done any (intentional :P) kiteloops, a few hard spankings takes the fun out of it a bit. With this tight turning lil ripper, the confidence levels were up again. Get some speed, crank, load, pop, really crank it, whooosh yeaaahhhh!. splash. Did a few more, with cheering from the shore (weeeee!) and some with clean landings, this thing is...

Gale force
2007-07-02 10:30:00
Today is one the windiest day I've seen (and felt!) on the charts in Perth since I've started kiting. Normally at work I can't hear anything outside but today its really roaring at especially as the gusts hit. The graphs from seabreeze.com.au show a cranking 40+kts at Ocean Reef! A couple of dedicated kiters were out at Scarborough on their 5m's.I'll have to get a little kite one day too so I can take on the elements the next time its this wild. Check out this vid of some big boosts on a nuking day in Wales.
More About: Force