I am a newbie.I have had one lesson and am thinking of buying some secondhand gear and have be told I should try and get a kite with a fifth line.I am not sure if the Cabrinha recon bar is as good as a fifth line.Any feed back would be appreciated .
IMO the Cabrinha recon system is not as good as the fifth line for relaunch purposes, but it is good for safety, although I'm not sure about the "RECON 2" upgrade. I have the 2004 model recon, and it is not easy to water relaunch. It's OK in the rigth wind, but in stronger winds it is often difficult to get teh bullet to release, and again often if the wind is too strong or too light the system doesn't really help the relaunch anyway.
The recon release system is great for safety though. Instant, is in a good place for instinctive release and is quite easy to reset.
I have a 12m recon 2 and I find that when ur stuck in the water and the kite hits the deck, it's not too much trouble to relaunch it and back onboard. Though I haven't used a 5th line, I'm not tempted to either as the recon 2 relaunchs quite easily. I have noticed that the recon can loft out of the air in low winds if it hits a pocket of still air. Apart from that good set-up. Just looking forward to getting out of work and on the water.
