Hi Peeps,

Just finished off a quick vid on the Core Riot XR LW. A light wind day of around 8-12 knots can be fun on the right kite.

I'm no Spielberg, so be kind!



DM

I actually enjoyed the vid and watched it right through until the end which can be rare these days

The water looked an awesome colour and we all like smooth buttery perfection which is definitely an added bonus with LW riding. The kite looked really agile and easy to control considering its a big kite. Looked like you were motoring along too!!! I like your use of the sound track to include the viewer in the action and give the sensation of even more speed Re-launch looks as simple as you'd expect from any size kite these days.... EASY!

I want one now for summer back here in the UK. If only the student budget would let me!

Maybe one day i'll be back in WA

Nice Review

hey Daz, any chance of seeing a vid (or a review) in the waves with a surfboard when you get a chance?
cheers

Excellent vid, educational as well. Impressed with this kites ability to loop! What would be it's upper wind range?

Could have done with this kite all week!

How does this kite compare with any light wind north brands. Would it be your light wind choice and what other kites have you flown in these winds?

mmmm might need to get me one of those very soon. Extends the start and end of each season.

Hi Prawnhead,

I'd love to when I get the chance, problem is chances are few.

I think it could be fun in anything from 10-15 knots, after that, it may be a handful on a surfboard.

This is a hard pullin' kite and is probably better suited to twin tip freeride and freestyle type riding in lighter winds (8 to 18 knot range). Not to say it won't work on a surfy.

Problem with surfboards and light winds is the downwind turn when on a wave. The kite will get you out there in as little as 6 knots provided you are going crosswind or upwind, but as soon as you turn the board downwind, ie, to travel along the wave downwind, you will easily travel downwind faster than wind speed making the kite fall.

Although this kite will fly in as little as 4-5 knots (relative), that is the minimum wind speed needed to keep the kite in the air. If you ride downwind at 6-7 knots board speed, then you add that on top of the minimum wind speed needed to fly the kite and you get a minimum theoretical wind speed of 10 knots at the very least and more likely 12 knots to have any success at keeping any kite in the air. This is why no one makes a surf style kite bigger than 12m, there isn't any point.

The XR LW will work great from 10-15 knots where other kites will struggle as you take into account sweep or side shore current which further complicates the apparent wind problem.

If you don't understand apparent wind, come along to our free DIY bar tuning night next Thursday 31st March, where amongst other things, I will explain Aerodynamics and apprent wind as it applies to kiteboarding.

Minimum wind speeds for the Core Riot XR LW for me:

Race Board : 6 -17 knots
Twin tip 135: 9 -19 knots
Surfboard : 7 -15 knots

DM

Select to expand quote

eppo said...

How does this kite compare with any light wind north brands. Would it be your light wind choice and what other kites have you flown in these winds?

mmmm might need to get me one of those very soon. Extends the start and end of each season.

Hi eppo,

I have only flown the Core and the Ozone. Both kites are awesome fun and give me a chubby in light winds I haven't flown the Dyno yet, but I'd imagine it is geared towards light wind racing and would be similar in performance to the Ozone Zephyr.

I choose different kites for different reasons.

I love the Core for general light wind freeriding. It is massively grunty and has huge "sheet-in-and-go" power which makes it excellent for twin tips and freeriding fun. Of course, if a kite has massive bottom end power, then it will sacrifice some top end wind range. The Core XR LW isn't much fun in 20+ knots.

I Love the Zephyr for course racing and upwind blasting on the big race boards. It has less "sheet-in-and-go" power but builds apparent wind power quickly so you need to gain speed to get the power. A light wind twin tip works best for the Zephyr as a small board with rocker drags too much power out of the kite so that you'd need about 10-12 knots minimum to get going (@90kilo).

It also goes upwind a bit better and can handle stronger gusts but doesnt have the raw pulling power of the Core for simply skull dragging your arse onto the plane from a standing start. I'm comfy on the Zephyr in more than 20 knots.

On a really gusty day or if there is a chance of squalls, I'd go the Zephyr with it's ability to handle big gusts.

Core 6-18 knots
Ozone 8-22 knots

Cheers,

DM

Question for AKS. How does the 15m XR riot core differ from the 17m LW XR core?

Is the 15m just a normal XR in the range or does it have any light wind modification in terms of weight reduction.

Why ask? At 85kg riding a 148cm CB wave, reckon I might get overpowered on the 17m before the normal kite I may be using kicks in. I'm thinking of getting a 10m XR riot which kicks in at about 15 knots - 17 knots (from the demoing I have done) - can be ridden lighter winds but at this these winds the performance lifts remarkably.

Hence there may be a 3-4 knot differential, I'd prefer a little more overlap, where I get maxed out at say 17 knots, not 15.

Appreciate your feedback??

Hi eppo,

I just read the Core website and checked their recommended wind ranges. Their wind ranges pretty much mirror my own experiences so I'd call them fairly accurate. The old law of diminished return kicks in on the bottom end of the scale where weight and drag get to a point where you need much bigger sizes to get minimal gains. The Core website suggests a 1 knot advantage on the XR LW over the 15m Riot XR, and the 15XR has a 2 knot advantage in top end over the LW. I reckon that would be about right.

The LW is light. I reckon it tips the scales at about the same as a 12m Riot XR. Use of Dacron seems the same on both kites so I am going to guess they have used a slightly lighter bladder material, but hey, I'm just guessing.

The LW is made for absolute bottom end power. If you watch the video above at about 1:56, you'll see me land a front roll transition and pretty much stall the landing. The kite pretty much just grunts me up onto the plane in very light wind without the need to sine the kite or dive for power. Impressive!

All the flying I have done on the 17 LW has been including the 3m extension lines (been too lazy to remove them) so top end may be a bit better and kite will loop and move a bit quicker again.

DM

Ta daz, informative as usual. Will demo the 17m next time i'm in perth at a non disclosed spot He he he

Nothing like proof in the pudding that it's a good light wind kite.

I really liked the video, I actually watched the whole thing. The pulling the safety and relaunch was better than I thought for such a big kite.

Melbourne didn't really have seabreezes this summer and a LW kite would have added lots of extra fun days out there.

The unhooked section of the video made me smile.

thanks for posting.