Dont see any on the beach anymore.

Manufacturers aren't making them.

I think you just answered your own question...

Mine are in the garage somewhere..

I thought they were good.. Made it easy for the mrs to work out where I was being the only person with a "batman" shaped kite..

Going just be observatiom they were impossible to relaunch.

What is a sigma

Edit: never mind, Google it! My mate has a naish bolt, I don't mind it, quite a good kite

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Kamikuza said...
Going just be observatiom they were impossible to relaunch.

The Bolt was quite easy to relaunch... The shape almost helped it up onto a wingtip quite easily..

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Gfly said..
What ever happened to the 80's?

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Kamikuza said..
Going just be observatiom they were impossible to relaunch.

Sometimes you can be funny/sarcastic and witty, sometimes your posts are accurate, others like this one are just plain wrong, maybe you spend too much time on the internetiom?

Bolt was easy to relaunch being more moderate AR, Helix, if not pumped hard could pool water in a tip, but an experienced kiter could get the kite up in no time, with a bit of side to side or front/rear line manipulation.
BUT, they were a flop for many reasons other than launching. They were overhyped and under delivered at the release of the kite. They were more complex to make and contained the dreaded "octopuss" inflation system. More than anything though they were just too different and with no clear advantage, no other brand even touched on the design and that says volumes in this industry. If something really works, its copied like a xerox in the kite industry, 3 strut kites would be a good example, and no centre strut kite design would be another similar example to the "sigma" hoax.

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TerryMcTool said...

Kamikuza said..
Going just be observatiom they were impossible to relaunch.

Sometimes you can be funny/sarcastic and witty, sometimes your posts are accurate, others like this one are just plain wrong, maybe you spend too much time on the internetiom?

Bolt was easy to relaunch being more moderate AR, Helix, if not pumped hard could pool water in a tip, but an experienced kiter could get the kite up in no time, with a bit of side to side or front/rear line manipulation.
BUT, they were a flop for many reasons other than launching. They were overhyped and under delivered at the release of the kite. They were more complex to make and contained the dreaded "octopuss" inflation system. More than anything though they were just too different and with no clear advantage, no other brand even touched on the design and that says volumes in this industry. If something really works, its copied like a xerox in the kite industry, 3 strut kites would be a good example, and no centre strut kite design would be another similar example to the "sigma" hoax.

What's the difference between Kitepower Australia and Terry McTool?

My Cults are both in the bin after years of faithful service. That octopus system may have been PITA when it went wrong but never troubled me. They were a very well behaved kite , happy memories ....

I had a Naish Cult as my beginner kite. It was great to learn on, can't say I had the experience to tell the difference when I used it. I chose it based on it's look, but soon needed a larger kite for the conditions. Cost wise a second cult was well out of my budget, picked up an Ozone instinct sport (1st gen), and never looked back. Replaced the cult with a similar size sport. Easier for repairs when neccessary, and seemed to be an all round better kite. The sigmas were a novel idea, but needlessly complicated without adding any real benefits. That's without even talking about the octopus system... Valve replacement was a nightmare with those.

"We will never make another non-sigma kite again", "We will never make another C-kite again", - NAISH Kiteboarding.

Funnily enough I also remember Cabrinha touting similar marketing BS about Bow kites... oh the irony, when almost all the best kiters in the world ride 5-line C-kites.

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oldjenkins said..
My Cults are both in the bin after years of faithful service. That octopus system may have been PITA when it went wrong but never troubled me. They were a very well behaved kite , happy memories ....

Would agree mate, I used Cults in the past and was really happy with them & never had any dramas at all.

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Kamikuza said..
Going just from observation they were impossible to relaunch.

There, I fixed it.

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TerryMcTool said..

Bolt was easy to relaunch being more moderate AR, Helix, if not pumped hard could pool water in a tip, but an experienced kiter could get the kite up in no time, with a bit of side to side or front/rear line manipulation.
BUT, they were a flop for many reasons other than launching. They were overhyped and under delivered at the release of the kite. They were more complex to make and contained the dreaded "octopuss" inflation system. More than anything though they were just too different and with no clear advantage, no other brand even touched on the design and that says volumes in this industry. If something really works, its copied like a xerox in the kite industry, 3 strut kites would be a good example, and no centre strut kite design would be another similar example to the "sigma" hoax.

IRC the Sigma-shape was a Peter Lynn idea, so maybe royalties were involved. More likely, added construction costs due to complexity killed the experiment. Anyone remember the kite with the beak? Or the Hellfish?

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Spark said..

TerryMcTool said...

Kamikuza said..
Going just be observatiom they were impossible to relaunch.

Sometimes you can be funny/sarcastic and witty, sometimes your posts are accurate, others like this one are just plain wrong, maybe you spend too much time on the internetiom?

Bolt was easy to relaunch being more moderate AR, Helix, if not pumped hard could pool water in a tip, but an experienced kiter could get the kite up in no time, with a bit of side to side or front/rear line manipulation.
BUT, they were a flop for many reasons other than launching. They were overhyped and under delivered at the release of the kite. They were more complex to make and contained the dreaded "octopuss" inflation system. More than anything though they were just too different and with no clear advantage, no other brand even touched on the design and that says volumes in this industry. If something really works, its copied like a xerox in the kite industry, 3 strut kites would be a good example, and no centre strut kite design would be another similar example to the "sigma" hoax.

What's the difference between Kitepower Australia and Terry McTool?

One is used car salesman, the other is an avatar for supplying red and green thumbs to the other's posts.

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Kamikuza said..


One is used car salesman, the other is an avatar for supplying red and green thumbs to the other's posts.

Mostly red for "terry"

The one with the beak was a Globe Kite right?

For What It's Worth - No matter what angle they always look... wrong... to me in the sky. In some of the promo pics they've got angles where they look ...err.. purposeful, kinda cool, but they never seemed to match that in the sky.

Same deal with these kites? I remember being bailed up on the beach by a proponent of Advance Kites, they were the best thing ever etc etc.... but to me it never really made sense, and I never see anybody flying these at my local spot.....

Kinda like a reverse sigma.... but $hittier

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Chris_M said..
Same deal with these kites? I remember being bailed up on the beach by a proponent of Advance Kites, they were the best thing ever etc etc.... but to me it never really made sense, and I never see anybody flying these at my local spot.....

Kinda like a reverse sigma.... but $hittier

I think the Kaiman kites were actually pretty good, just didn't get the following. Much like a bunch of brands outside Europe or the U.S....

But they make no sense! It kinda seems like the most important bit of the kite is missing eh?

Too weird for people to invest in?

I had some Helix's..can't remember if they were '09 or '10 and I really liked them. I found relaunch was very quick, power was ok for size, turning was ok as well. However where they excelled was in gusty conditions, they had an unmatched wind range of any kite on the market at that time and turned well when depowered and that was what I wanted.

I never had any problems at all with the kites and the 9 is up there on my list of favourite kites.

As for the concave leading edge, as far as I knew they were paying royalties the Peter Lynn for using that idea.

B

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crakas said...
where they excelled was in gusty conditions,

Completely agree.. They were awesome in gusty conditions and had huge top end.. Still keep my 6m bolt just in case

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Beersy said..
The one with the beak was a Globe Kite right?

... yep,,, GK Sonic,,,,at least they relaunched better than the Sigma thingy's, and had more pizaz,,, mind you the Sigma's were super steady so you never dropped them but that was its achilles heal too,,,, kind of boring kite,,,,,, for me anyway.

If you want one, I've got a brand new, never used still in the bag 2008 Naish Cult 15m.
No bar.

You can have it for $90.

Send me a PM. Can send photos if you want.

For what it's worth, I had a 2008 (I think) Naish Cult 9m and it was pretty good actually. Super stable kite.

my first and fondest memory of a naish sigma was one wrapped around the top of a mast on a boat at st kilda, haven't seen many since then

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Victoria/West-St-Kilda-Beach-Final-Score-Kite0-Mast1/

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patto1987 said..

crakas said...
where they excelled was in gusty conditions,

Completely agree.. They were awesome in gusty conditions and had huge top end.. Still keep my 6m bolt just in case

I've read that a lot too.

They were only good in swimming pools....

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HighzaKite said..
my first and fondest memory of a naish sigma was one wrapped around the top of a mast on a boat at st kilda, haven't seen many since then

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Victoria/West-St-Kilda-Beach-Final-Score-Kite0-Mast1/

Haha, yeah tat was great... it was stuck up there for a while too!