Kites came early this year and got to test the 6m:

Differences by my first test from 2016 are as follows:
- Faster turning on the soft setting (have not ridden it on the hard setting yet)
- Super smooth feeling in the air, absence of flutter. The kite is surprisingly smooth in the air, so much so it is quite remarkable.
- Lighter bar pressure
- Lots of power but not an overpowering grunty feel; just feels like you are hooking along with less effort

The wind was 15 - 25 knots and gusty with plenty of holes, then it would drop off to 14-15 knots. What was amazing is that I still had the ability to cruise up wind and really thought just how easy it was to cruise around in comfort with such a small kite. (70kg rider on North Proseries and small 1 ft waves on the day)

Definitely do not hesitate in ordering a kite 1-2m smaller especially riding surfboards.

- Drift is awesome as it was and its just plain better again

My mate Jim took it out first (before I even rode it) must be a good mate. He had just been on his 7m 2015 Neo and jumped straight onto my new 6m. then back onto the 7m afterwards. As soon as he came back in from his test he said "I can't believe how smooth it is, its remarkable."
Jim (no spono deal at all, just all round good guy) said he had four words:

"Smooth
Turns (quick but easy to dial in)
Light (bar pressure)
Grunty (but easy power)"

North has really improved on an already great kite. I will be testing the 9m and the 6m in stronger winds in due time and will update asap.

Dazzel

For disclaimer see my profile as always




Jim on my Ne: you can see how nice it turns and drifts and hes on a 6m in light wind as a heavier rider than me.

Yes I can confirm the kite really surprised me.

Dazza went to get a bigger board as the wind had just dropped. I had just come in off of my 7 and Daz offered a test while he got his other board from the car. As soon as it launched I could feel it was different - it went up like a rocket and felt like silk. Diving the kite to get going I nearly put it in the water (sorry Daz!) as it turned much faster than my 7m 2015. Once I dialed that in all was fine..Feels like you can direct the kite where you want it in an instant. Familiar North feel but as Daz said much lighter on the bar compared to 2015 at least.

Did I say Smooooooth!!! I said to Daz it reminded me of the feel of the rebels we used to ride in that respect.. I didn't feel gusts at the bar or any twitching like on the 2015. No flutter sending it back across the window. I notice there are now some batons in the trailing edge and a new construction in the canopy with smaller patches of cloth that are staggered and stitched. I look forward to Dazza's comments in stronger conditions..and how the bigger size goes. I'm pretty happy with the 2015's I have but I'm already a big fan of this 6m especially the consistent light pull. If its got the upper wind range I'm going to need to update. I'm 87kg with 4mm of wetsuit and was on 5'7 CSC. Wind was pretty much side-shore, You can see from the clip the wind wasn't more than 15 - 18 knots and the angle I was going upwind coming in and when I gybe to go back out.

Cheers for the feedback guys.All of the new kites feature our new segmented panel layouts, which dramatically help with stability in the air.

For the NEO we made a slightly flatter profile, smaller diameter LE and flatter tips, which aimed to do exactly what you noticed.
Give more direct steering and more stable canopy.
Stoked you enjoy the new model.cheers

Yeah I picked up my new 2017 Neo's on the weekend.
I didn't really have much of a run before the wind dropped but I had pretty much the same first impressions as above compared to my 2016 Neo's.

- Less bar pressure
- Turns a little faster and more responsively from 1 direction to the other.
- Generally a nice and smooth experience.

Cant wait to get some decent conditions to play with!

Cheers

15 to 25 knots with holes to 14 to 15 knots - on a 6m kite ??
Seems North has nailed the one kite quiver!!

Id be on an at least an 11m 'normal kite' and that's on a surfboard in 15 knots ??

So Dazza - do you weight like 30 kg's?? "For disclaimer see my profile as always"

Ok say no more ...............

Lambie, check the clip Daz posted... like I said I'm 87kg, its a 6m kite and its hardly capping. I would have chosen my 10 in that wind normally, a 6 was a bit under-powered for me but still I was still going upwind. You need good technique but it's possible with this kite, and I wasn't struggling. Hard to believe for me too.. my smallest kite is a 7m. The speed of the kite has something to do with it I think as it seems easy to generate power and there doesn't seem to be any lag when you direct the kite.

My experience with the Neo's is with the 2015 model. What I have noticed is that the smaller sizes seem to have a hell of a lot of bottom end for their size. As you get up to bigger sizes (my quiver is a 7 and 10) there seems to be less of a difference in bottom end to other brands sizes. A friend I kite with on another well known brand of kite has a 9 and an 11.. My 7 and 10 seem equally matched to his in terms of low end. Just my observation based as I said on the 2015. What I'm interested in with the new model is if there is improved wind range in stronger winds as I find the older Neo gets pretty powered up.

(BTW I am not sponsored and pay for my kites like most of you guys!)

to the North Rep in AUS. Are you going to set up a demo day in Melbourne or Torquay? ? I have the 12, 9 and 7 Neo 2015.

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castill0jf said..
to the North Rep in AUS. Are you going to set up a demo day in Melbourne or Torquay? ? I have the 12, 9 and 7 Neo 2015.

Hi mate,
We will be in Melbourne Sept 22,23,24th. With Kite Republic.
We have NEO's, DICE's, REBEL's, MONO and all the boards.Keep the day free.

good news see you then. thanks

Hey Lambie,

Yeah I'm 70kg. and on kite surfboard 2014 proseries and 2015 Kontact, to translate that to twinnie you would need a bit more canopy, but then if someone was a twini rider only I suppose pick a Rebel, Dice or Evo me thinks.

Last years 6m took me up to 30 - 32 knots no issue on Kontact, but if I was using it in constantly over 30-40 knots I would probably go 6m Rebel, however, I don't really look for that type of wind as up to 30-32 is fun and over that to me is just gusty 5-40 knots which I detest.

I was thinking about the option of 1 kite quiver when peeps are pushing for $$ and want one good kite. This is more achievable when changing directional boards rather than kites. You can go full surfboard, kiteboard large and small etc. In keeping with the reasonable wind range as also we dont tend to chase anything under 14-15 knots as we have no interest in it.

So it follows that last years Neo 2016 did hold more top end wind that 2015 and before, and this years kite will too. therefore for me for example at 70kg a 7m Neo could range from 15 knots up to 30 knots through changing from my Proseries being a bit corkier in shape (not much volume) to the Kontact. Now I am not saying I would do that as I am happy with my 6m and 9m however its all good information and hopefully helps some people out in kite and board selection.

the test will be the wind range when I start to get into some stronger winds which will be exciting to experiment with.

Dazza

Have had a kite on the 6,8 and 10 now. As I said earlier the smaller kites are nice and improved. Flew the 10 today and to be honest found it a bit of a let down.
The 2016 10 was slow and the 17 is even slower. It was on the soft setting so will try the hard which should help a bit. But am wondering if this style of kite is right for bigger kites and lighter winds. Follow the kite style wave riding on the 10 is hardly worth the trouble.
Or maybe I just need to improve my skills which could well be the problem!

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Dave Whettingsteel said..
Have had a kite on the 6,8 and 10 now. As I said earlier the smaller kites are nice and improved. Flew the 10 today and to be honest found it a bit of a let down.
The 2016 10 was slow and the 17 is even slower. It was on the soft setting so will try the hard which should help a bit. But am wondering if this style of kite is right for bigger kites and lighter winds. Follow the kite style wave riding on the 10 is hardly worth the trouble.
Or maybe I just need to improve my skills which could well be the problem!

Dave what set up have you got? 22 or 24 line lengths (I assume 4 line), bar end settings (in or out on the tip clips?), Yellow or blue knots at the wing tip pig tails, and PSI. wind and board?

Daz

Yeah for the new 2017 bar on the wide settings. 22m.
Was on a wam 2012 today, have a nugget as well which might suit the 10 better.

Will try hard settings, I know 10 will be slower than 8 but this seriously slow. She's pumped up right into the red zone on north pump.

Hey Dave

a few things I would try then:

soft setting with bar clips inside, I always have the bar clicked inside, I never ride outside, I really think this makes a difference.

also it would be interesting to trial run 24m lines, I know that Neo recommendations is normally 22 but for me with larger kites I think that 24s are effective. Although longer lines are classically for slower turning, in the case of larger kite in less wind I think the kite can lack flight speed and the little extra wind the line lengths get the kite into. The problem with marginal wind is you need a nice air speed and 'flight' over the canopy, 24s are worth a run??

I will get on my 9m asap and I know that one of my mates with larger Neos has feedback on faster turning speed and I will be having a sus and fly on larger kites asap. Will report then.

Anyway that's my thoughts

Daz

Thanks for your thoughts Daz. Think I'll stick with the 22m lines as I don't want to buy another bar. Will try the narrow bar setting.

Another thing I thought of is the 2017 trust bar has a heaps longer trim pulley than my last bar. I had it fully let out as wind was moderate. Am thinking it may have been too open which impacted the 10s flying ability. When I was on the 6 and 8 would have been somewhere in the middle.
A few things to experiment with, can't believe it's that bad. On my first run out and cycled the kite to build speed, first dip and I buried the kite into the ocean as it was so slow to turn. Haven't done that for a while!

Clearly it must be an adjustment error. Haven't ridden the 17s but 2016 10m2 is not a dud; it's not the fastest turning kite out there but for strapless freestyle it's really nice. Cannot believe North would bring a 10 meter kite so slow it heads to water?!? I am not sponsored at all, don't want to be, because I want to ride what I like, no strings attached. Very happy with the 8 and 10 Neos 2016, and then Core Section 4 and 6 for heavier winds.

Yeah I was pretty happy with my 2016 10. I mentioned the dunking kite story to illustrate that it didn't turn as fast as what I was expecting based on the previous experience. Obviously didn't do it again as I adjusted. But, yeah, have some experimenting to do. I just rode as it came setup out of the bag.

Hence my thinking it was the super long trim being fully out being the problem. Big difference in trim length from my previous 2015 bar.

Cheers for your comments

Got to ride the 6m again today in 2-3ft swell cross on 15 - 32 knots, sweet as expected, on the small Kontact 24L 5'10" 18 1/4; just really happy that the kite can keep me out in such varied conditions.

unfortunately did not get on the 9m to test that but will happen

Daz

Got to ride the 6m again today in 2-3ft swell cross on 15 - 32 knots, sweet as expected, on the small Kontact 24L 5'10" 18 1/4; just really happy that the kite can keep me out in such varied conditions.

unfortunately did not get on the 9m to test that but will happen

ps. re the turning speed of the 10m: some days the wind just does not work for any kite, another session in different wind might make all the difference anyway.

Daz