My Comments: Ok I've had the 8m cat for about 2 months now but its had sporadic use. The last couple of days have been 8m weather so the cat has had a work out.
My first session on the cat was a let down. It was slow and borring. I thought dang i've bought the wrong kite. But the kite came set in the slow setting and the wind was at the bottom end of its range. I change the bridle to fast and then went out in cranking 30 knots on average with wind spiking to 38. This is were the cat shines in manic conditions. I started to reach for the trim around 33-35 knots and was plesantly surprised that it flew super sweet when trimmed.. Its very stable and predictable. It makes for a great storm kite. Lift is reasonable. Its definately liftier than the reo lift but not as good as the c4. I was grinning like a school kite that just found his old mans stick mag collection. The kite just goes about doing its work without fuss. which leaves your to shred.
Wave riding is ok but it did have a tendancy to back stall with slack lines riding down the line. The reo is definately better here. It tends to drift back were the cat stalls and falls. So tension in the lines is required for lown the line action. I ended up looping the kite to keep it from stalling.
So who would want a the 8m cat? Someone who likes to jump and do some wave action at the same time. Storm chasers, beginners looking for a stable no suprises kite.
If your a surfboard riding down the line junky then look at the reo. (but you already knew that.
If you have clean wind and or want to loop like crazy wind then look at the c4 its more dynamic and fun in clean winds.
Plummet
> 9 months ago, 5 Sep 2012
