Oh yes, all and more

photos and review here: www.southcentralkiteboarders.com/rebel08.html

or home page www.southcentralkiteboarders.com and click on the 2008 Rebel Rreview link

Updated review with more wind in surf and some extra photos:

www.southcentralkiteboarders.com/rebel082.html

At the end of the review on the first link I have updated the reports to include the 12m and the 14m.

summary

14m 2008 North Rebel, turns extremely fast, so much so that this combined with the extra grunt in the canopy the pop is extreme, bar pressure is reduced, very comfortable, the bar pressure can increase when you are really pulling in to get some power on longer runs but trimmed in on the strap it is fine.

turns well I was doing down loops with complete confidence that the kite was going to be completely around when I came out. In fact it turned so well it caught me by surprise with the extra grunt that produced.

12m all the rumours are true, decreased bar pressure, increased grunt and most notably with all 3 kites 10m 12m and 14m is the speed from apparent wind. this isquite marked and after some good time on the kites true apparent wind is very handy on marginal days as well as boosting on bigger winds.

Daz

30 knots plus day:
We had a huge day on 16 Sept 2007 with extreme winds. The kite performed really well, the nearest weather station (some distance with the lighter wind usually) had a max report of 33 knots, I think that we had a regular occurance of 30+ on this day and the reports are below:
it likely did not exceed 35 at any point, as it did at the end of the day when we had finished kiting.

The 10m 2008 Rebel really performed well. super steady and maintaining the canopy shape at all times, as a 68 kg rider I really felt comfortable, although intense and having to concentrate, it was a solid feel with extra boost and super flight hand time, then just depower for the wave ride and turn out again. The stronger winds do not increase the turning speed of the kite, in fact it seems to calm down a bit which is a nice feeling as you don't have to worry about it beeing too whippy, I was still doing back rolls feeling that the kite would not go into an unepxect loop at all.
Down the line of the wave you can follow the kite as it will sit there waiting for you to finish your ride, and with less wind from your down wind run on the wave the kite turns very quickly and is still responsive to bar pressure. It is quite hard to over fly it, although I did manage this from rider error.

For a light weight rider this kite gets you to top end wind with an intense feeling over 30 knots but still in confidence and total (As total as possible) depower. I would probably go to a 9m or 7m if the wind was 30 - 38 knots but would use this kite on a day providing about 20 up to 32 knots as first choice kite. (It will take more but as alight rider first choice on the beach). heavy riders would likely not blink an eye for these stronger winds. I could feel the ability the 10m would have to keep a heavy rider in comfort in the wind I was in today.

Noarlunga wind station:

11:30am WNW 18 - 30 kts
11:07am WNW 22 - 31 kts
11:03am N 20 - 31 kts
11:00am N 20 - 29 kts
10:31am N 19 - 33 kts
10:22am N 15 - 25 kts