XtremeBigAir KiteBoarding Products Review

Kinsley: That 7.5 Advance has SO MUCH POWER. I let my Blade maniac friend take a run on it and he said it definetly had quite a bit more power than his 7.2 Blade he'd been using all day. I was running it with four lines at fourty meters. With my small board this is probably a ten to fifteen knot day kite. My first day on it and it's a bit hard to tell. Got to play with adjustments. Maybe that other bar would make a difference. What a beautiful looking kite as well. I found the bag to be of perfect size once the kite is rolled up as per instructions. The bag also allows adequate space for the boom and the mesh material on the dorsal surface allows water to drain out. It's not the convenient back pack to cary the kite down some knarly central Cal cliff face but it does serve it's design paramater well. At the end of the sesh the wind got got very light with lots of holes and I managed to drop the kite. By pulling on the flap line (experimented to figure out which one) the kite flipped right side up and water started well. This happened three times due to very light winds and the kite wasn't able to climb verticaly due to a bit of gained water weight and the light conditions. After swimming in with the kite, there was a noticeable amount of water inside the kite. Opening the wing tip velcroes allowed the majority to escape. The kite is presently in it's bag hanging from it's convenient end strap and hopefully draining out completley by morning. Wondering if that Advance bar will effect a major change. My Blade friend who is currently the most experienced local kiter and who briefly used my kite (Got some great jumps and the kite never even started to luff like his Blade does.) said that the Advance didn't fly through the air well as he was flying in jumps. He described it as a feeling of the kite not "penetrating the air". Probably because he's so used to his Blades. He also said there seemed to be no need for four lines and I should try it two line. Obviously I would add a third BRAKE/FLIP over for water start line if I was to move away from the 4 line set up. All in all I'm totally stoked on this kite. Need to spend some more time on it and get on a proper kite or wake board rather than the surfboards with added fins and straps Frankenstein Monsters I've been creating. It's basically been, if it floats is free and is in my girlfriends garage I will glass on two more fins add straps and try to sail it. I've only kited 8times now and allready have made three kite boards this way. Time for electro-shock therapy. Imagine the Advance one size smaller than mine would be the bomb for the average guy around here. Average in weight that is cause we'd probably all be classified as a bunch of mildewed fruit cakes. Don't buy any lead kites.Traig
More notes from Traig: January 28, 2000:
Hi Kinsley: This kite rocks! Got another couple of days on it. It's has gobs of power. I got a big floater jump on the way in jumping over the back of a wave, fearing fractured bones and ligamentous damage, bailed on the landing...Looked up and saw the kite collapsing as I had too busy digging the air and not moving the kite. Then the wave caught up to me and tossed my board up in the air and over my lines with the leash. Tumbling in the rinse cycle the kite reinflated and took off down angle with allot of speed yanking the lines over my neck and nearly Vangoing my ear. Long story short, the kite rolled in the surf a bit before I could get it in. It ingested a bit of sand and water. That night I flushed the kite on an incline with the hose kite colonic methodology. Next morning as the remainning sand inside was dry it was possible to shake the majority out to the wing tip air dumping sites. Back on the water today and had a great time in very light conditions with my 195 five poun lard ass. Excess power on the 14 average plus knot days might be handled by shortening the main lines in respect to the brake lines. Would this decrease the angle of atack? Probably should decrease the line length from fourty meters on those days.. Hey speaking of which those Mosquito Pro Four Line Set looked like a great price deal. Those are 35 meters aren't they?? Well I want that Advance Bar with the intrinsic brake controls. The two flexible joint thing. Thanks again and remember what Mahatma Gandi said "Screw it, I'm going kiting." Or was that Ronald Reagan? I keep confussing my historical references.... PS A couple of guys were interested in my kite so I sent them your way. Figure you'd just love a few more Bozos calling you every five minutes to see if their kite was in. Choking on the splinters: Traig