BEST have stepped up this year with a few changes to their kites, however most noticably to their bar. The new BEST 2009 kite bar will feature a "jerk off" style release with leash attachment point. A number of brands have upgraded to the "jerk off" style release over 2007 / 2008 as a more universal approach to safety. The safety on these releases can be pulled with either the left or right hand and are easy to access when needed, no longer requiring you to feel around and find a "trigger" or "loop."
So it's freezing cold and the middle of winter... but the wind gods have blessed us with ~18-25 knot northerlies which means it's either down to Rye for an icy winter session on the water or it's time to head out to Presidents Park for a KGB session.
Anyone else up for something?
I'm thinking a KGB session would be more sensible but the wind might be too good to pass up for a water session.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008 | Written by Joel Theodore
HQ have quietly released their new website, which also features the new and released HQ NEO! The range of HQ Power Kites seems to be growing with the new Crossfire II, however it isn't about to stop there. Now that they have Tom Bordeau designing for HQ there is a new Race Kite being designed, however there is possibly a new Intermediate kite being worked on as well. The new website may be just a hint of the new direction HQ is taking, where previously it paid very little attention to its online presence. We also have a copy of the new and first video of the HQ NEO in action and use.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008 | Written by Joel Theodore
Eclipse has been producing a new bar for 2009 as an upgrade to the previous model. The new bar still features the same quick release setup on the chickenloop as previous, however from the diagrams it looks a little more refined. The new bars for 2009 are going to be below the bar depower trim, not above! They are also using a new sliding stopper system similar to the BEST stopper ball for 2009. We have a photo of the bar showing the new bar ends and below the bar setup.
Hello peoples, i am heading to townsville on sunday 20th july, and return the following friday night.
i am interested in catching up with any kite flyers in and around the townsville area.
i am also interested in searching out land kiting venues, beaches, dry lakes, paddocks, parklands, if you think its worth a look, and a fly, let me know.
can you fly a kite on castle hill???? i'm going to find out!!
I'll be staying at Rowes Bay Caravan Park, Cabin #4, and will have a great view of the afternoon kitesurfers from my cabin window, but would prefer to be flying a kite than watching.
The interview with Eric Herstens and the story of EH Kiteboarding. The Kiteboarder USA interviewed Eric Herstens, the founder of EH Kiteboarding and one of the early pioneers of kiteboarding in Caberete. Eric explains landing in the Dominican Republic, stranded without a flight home and sleeping in a board bag through to designing for companies like Liquid Force and BEST and finally his own, EH Kiteboarding. He talks about the positives of Kiteboarding and what it means to the local community and shares with us the peaks of success with one of his designs being the first "Bow Kite" to win a PKRA event and make history.
New photos of the Best Waroo 2009 and Best Nemesis HP 2009! BEST have updated their kites for 2009, with the new look being an evolution on the existing look of the past few years. The new kites feature a nice pattern throughout the coloured part of the kites giving them a fresh new look which many will appreciate whilst still keeping that BEST identifyable look about their kites. It has been mentioned that the new Best Nemeis HP 2009 will retail for 20% more then the previous model. This could be related to the price of the USD, which may result in a significantly lower increase for those who are purchasing the kites in other currencies. BEST are also introducing their new "twister" technology this year to their kites which allows segments of the cuban fibre to "twist" when you are turning the kites giving it a better feel.
Liquid Force have produced their new Havoc for 2009. The kite still sports their traditional logo through the top main section of the kite. They have some nice large 3D bumpers on the leading edge over the segmented joins of the kite. The re-enforced stitching is also quite noticable. The kite features an external one pump system. The wingtips are an interesting shape, with an attachment directly in the middle point of the wingtip. The paneling on the kite runs down to a trailing edge that runs horizontal between the last foot of the struts. Overall it seems the Liquid Force Havoc has received a very nice update for 2009.
The murmurings were that Ozone was working on a new kite called the Yakuza GT. Well at the most recent 24 hour SPO in Europe the GT was unveiled, and boy was it hard not to notice! The new Ozone Yakuza GT has similar a theme to the Ozone Frenzy FX with the "bubble" or "tear drop" type look to it, making it stand out from all the other race kites. Ozone has taken a while to make an update to it's current Yakuza, which at the time of release set the benchmark in performace. Over the past couple of years that gap has been reigned in by other brands releasing newer kites based on new designs to suit the current range of pilots and the evolution of their piloting skills and race styles.
Peter Lynn it seems has been busy working on a new Race Kite. The kite has mentioned to be similar to a PKD Combat in terms of having the "same cell count." However the similarities seem to stop there, the wingtips on the end of the new unnamed Peter Lynn race kite are very different. The kite has been flown in a number of races in Europe and has placed respectively so far. It is interesting to see Peter Lynn entering the race scene, this could be influenced by their center of operations now being conducted by VliegerOp based in Europe.
BEST have stepped up this year with a few changes to their kites, however most noticably to their bar. The new BEST 2009 kite bar will feature a "jerk off" style release with leash attachment point. A number of brands have upgraded to the "jerk off" style release over 2007 / 2008 as a more universal approach to safety. The safety on these releases can be pulled with either the left or right hand and are easy to access when needed, no longer requiring you to feel around and find a "trigger" or "loop."
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HQ have quietly released their new website, which also features the new and released HQ NEO! The range of HQ Power Kites seems to be growing with the new Crossfire II, however it isn't about to stop there. Now that they have Tom Bordeau designing for HQ there is a new Race Kite being designed, however there is possibly a new Intermediate kite being worked on as well. The new website may be just a hint of the new direction HQ is taking, where previously it paid very little attention to its online presence. We also have a copy of the new and first video of the HQ NEO in action and use. 
Eclipse has been producing a new bar for 2009 as an upgrade to the previous model. The new bar still features the same quick release setup on the chickenloop as previous, however from the diagrams it looks a little more refined. The new bars for 2009 are going to be below the bar depower trim, not above! They are also using a new sliding stopper system similar to the BEST stopper ball for 2009. We have a photo of the bar showing the new bar ends and below the bar setup. 
The interview with Eric Herstens and the story of EH Kiteboarding. The Kiteboarder USA interviewed Eric Herstens, the founder of EH Kiteboarding and one of the early pioneers of kiteboarding in Caberete. Eric explains landing in the Dominican Republic, stranded without a flight home and sleeping in a board bag through to designing for companies like Liquid Force and BEST and finally his own, EH Kiteboarding. He talks about the positives of Kiteboarding and what it means to the local community and shares with us the peaks of success with one of his designs being the first "Bow Kite" to win a PKRA event and make history.
Liquid Force have produced their new Havoc for 2009. The kite still sports their traditional logo through the top main section of the kite. They have some nice large 3D bumpers on the leading edge over the segmented joins of the kite. The re-enforced stitching is also quite noticable. The kite features an external one pump system. The wingtips are an interesting shape, with an attachment directly in the middle point of the wingtip. The paneling on the kite runs down to a trailing edge that runs horizontal between the last foot of the struts. Overall it seems the Liquid Force Havoc has received a very nice update for 2009.
The murmurings were that Ozone was working on a new kite called the Yakuza GT. Well at the most recent 24 hour SPO in Europe the GT was unveiled, and boy was it hard not to notice! The new Ozone Yakuza GT has similar a theme to the Ozone Frenzy FX with the "bubble" or "tear drop" type look to it, making it stand out from all the other race kites. Ozone has taken a while to make an update to it's current Yakuza, which at the time of release set the benchmark in performace. Over the past couple of years that gap has been reigned in by other brands releasing newer kites based on new designs to suit the current range of pilots and the evolution of their piloting skills and race styles.
Peter Lynn it seems has been busy working on a new Race Kite. The kite has mentioned to be similar to a PKD Combat in terms of having the "same cell count." However the similarities seem to stop there, the wingtips on the end of the new unnamed Peter Lynn race kite are very different. The kite has been flown in a number of races in Europe and has placed respectively so far. It is interesting to see Peter Lynn entering the race scene, this could be influenced by their center of operations now being conducted by VliegerOp based in Europe.
