Yo,
This kite is sick.

Rider: 6foot, 85-90kg, Int-Adv
Style: Freestyle, Wake style, Wave
Weather: 13-18knots
Build Quality: 9/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: Through Balmoral Boards

My Comments:

1) Out of the bag - This kite is awesome, the graphics are sick, i had a pink and grey one, The kite is a top quality north build. All you have to do is stick in the pump and pump away, providing you shut the dump valve from last session.
Pump her up, only 4 struts... kool. Lock off all the struts with the clips. It is the same system as slingshot. Run out the lines rig her up and your ready to rebelll!!

2) Self land / launch - Easy. Just flips up onto the wing and your off.. Landing is even easier.. pull her down pull the 5th line.

3) Flying - WOW kick youself in the nuts and drink some red bull. this kite is crazy!! The conditions wernt perfect, bit gusty. Very fast kite. Almost as quick as a rev under power the turning speed was a big difference. She had heaps of power as well. This kite really kicks your ass. Dive the kite and you will be pulled out of the water. spin her round let the bar out and as she speeds up pull again and feel the second boost. The kite is a relatively sensative kite not as much as a rev. You will still be able to know where the kite is and little movement does not affect it that much. The low end is not what i expected. You have to have quite a bit of board speed for the power to kick in lower. The kite is best at about 40 degrees maby a bit lower. But you can easily pump the kite and set her low. The turning speed really helps. The bar pressure was not overwhelming. I was able to hold it comfortably with one hand. The de-power wasnt as good as previos years (refering to 07). But i think the conditions did not show this aspect very well because of the gustiness.
The only thing i still dont like is the de-power strap gets wraped around your safetly ine and itself. So sometimes when you need to de-power you have to untangle your strap.

4) Summary - This kite is a kick ass freestyle, wakestyle kite. It would really excell on flat water for tricks. As a wave kite it has potential but because of the bad ass power it can sometimes pull when you dont want it. This kite boosts like nothing else and is awesome un-hooked. A real negative to me is the fact it has battens (k-mon man.. seriously get rid of them)

+
-Easy you set up
-Easy to fly (if experienced)
-Bad Ass Boost
-Super powerful
-Quick turning

-
-battens
-depower strap tangles

This is a top quality kite for an experienced rider who wants something a lot of power and good speed.

Over all 9/10

I love this kite

Cheers, Al

Yep couldn't agree more, the rebel 09 is a hard kite to beat. All reports from local area and people that have demo'd 09 rebel here have got nothing but great reports from the kite.
People are stoked on it.

I've been riding the 09 9m rebel fair bit lately, and just LOVE it, such a smooth kite and the one pump is a gem!

XX angie

Hi guys had my demo kite out last sunday at the noosa river mouth, out the bag looks great, and at last one pump. I spent most of the day on it from verry light 8-10 to low 20s in avo. I've got to admit its a lot better than the 08 especially relauch and light wind ability.Didnt get over powered once had awsome hang time and lift, nice smooth feel through out fast turning, and ill be riding it in the surf thats for certian.
HAVE FUN
GEORGE

Any more reviews on the 09 Rebel?
I saw one in Kiteworld (US Edition Oct/Nov 08) and they raved about the 12m.
What is the relaunch compared to a Rev/Cabrinha?
Is it similar to a 5 line Fuel?
With one less strut is it considerably lighter, hence can drift better when riding waves?
How does the depower compare to other kites

theres a couple in the other 09 rebel Thread if you find it

Hi all first post on this forum.

Just noticed how the Rebel seems fairly popular on here, Got a 9 and 12m 09's and want to first say how much I like the Kite, seems really rock solid and so stable and forgiving when you mess up a trick and for jumping is so much fun.

Any how my point of posting is; do anyone have any trouble the the lines getting tangled when relaunching??

I have been practicing unhooked riding while attached to the 5th line for extra safety. now the relaunch seems pretty easy, but I have had a problem more than once where the outside line will come up over the canopy of the kite when it is nose down facing me. I pull on one line to ratate the kite but instead of the outside line staying under the kite it has a tendancy to come over the top and therefore when it does relaunch the outside line is crossed with the centre line. I do notice my relaunch bungees are not that tight and will slide up the pigtail a little. Has anyone else experienced this problem and also what are they like to reluanch quickly in waves.

Oh and this has only happened to me in light winds and shallow water, but wouldn't really want it happening in stronger winds.


P.S. - The only time i have ditched the kite is when unhooking, did I mention how stable it is



Cheers

Hey Pedwar pimp,

I missed a pass yesterday on one of the North kites and it killed the kite by going to 5th line.

This was all pretty nice but basically unnecessary. It relaunched without issue but after that I connected my suicide leash through the 5th line loop and also through the chicken loop.

This way I still get the benefit of suicide leash (quick and easy relaunch without the tangles you described), coupled with the safety of still being able to flag the kite by activating the ironheart safety system.

The Rebels and Vegas depower substantially so long as you don't have the stoppper set half way down the depower line.

Hope this helps.

Good winds,

Select to expand quote

Kitehard said...

It relaunched without issue but after that I connected my suicide leash through the 5th line loop and also through the chicken loop.

What leash are you using to do that? I've lost faith in the North leashes (the clip at the end is crap) so I'm looking at getting a new leash, well when I'm allowed to kite again that is

Select to expand quote

cRAZY Canuk said...

Kitehard said...

It relaunched without issue but after that I connected my suicide leash through the 5th line loop and also through the chicken loop.

What leash are you using to do that? I've lost faith in the North leashes (the clip at the end is crap) so I'm looking at getting a new leash, well when I'm allowed to kite again that is

Hey CC,

I use a custom made leash that I've had for the last 4 or 5 years. Its' made up of a heavy duty Stainless snap shackle tied to a length of 12mm woven outer sheath, that used to be rope until I removed the core to make it supple and flat. Thats tied to a 30mm stainless ring and attatches to a quick release snap shackle (not recommended).

It cost about 20 or 30 bucks and as I said has lasted 4 or 5 years and has shown no sign of breaking or even wearing out despite my lack of washing or suitable maintenance over the years. It's extremely strong and never gets in the way and most the time I forget it's even there.

Hope this helps.

Good winds,

Cheers Kitehard.

I was thinking of doing something like that.

But I just wondered if other people do have the same problem with the line getting crossed, or whether I was doing something wrong.

Cheers again