Got to fly the 12 Helix today in about 15 knots tops with a few of the boys. All were impressed and one bought one straight away. The kite turns really fast with consistant power through the arc. Plenty of power and stupidly stable and smooth. The weird thing about it is that it wont flap or luff no matter what you do. In the light conditions it definatly had more power than the 12m 06 Waroo and the 14 Vegas that we were flying also (but not mind bending). Jumping seemed quite good bearing in mind that the wind was on the light side and I only had the kite for an hour and obviouly needed some more time to dial in my timing.

I fly 07 Waroos and am happy to keep them, however if I were getting a new kite, the Helix would definately be the one.

Having flown the kite now for myself, it seems the ever-slagging whinging Waveslave has made a fool of himself yet again. I suggest he takes up kiting instead of thread bashing.

Hope this was of help, it was as unbias and objective as I could be. I am and unsponsored average kiter with no loyalty to brands. I just love kiting.

Are you bagging my Vegas.. Mr McBridle ..... I seem to remember you screaming out to me as you ripped past on it that you loved the kite and you were not giving it back ..... oh you fickle flyer.

Seriously though I was completely surprised by the bottom end of the Helix and its upwind ability in light wind. I did not really expect the 12metre kite to cart my 110kg fat ass anywhere with the nor'wester at Kurnell delivering very ordinary wind.( I was riding a 152 underground )
The kite is silky smooth and quick in the air and quite light on the bar.... not difficult at all to ride with a couple of fingers. I will also add at this point that the kite stays in the air in very light wind... a few times when the wind dropped to bugger all I expected it to drop but surprisingly it hung there with only minor movement required to keep it flying.
All up I got about an hour and a half on the kite .. the first session in wind maxing at about 15/16kn and requiring me to work the kite a bit to maintain speed. I needed to get a bit of speed up initially before parking and edging but once I got to that stage it carried me along very efficiently. I think the kite turns very quickly and there was definitely no flapping happening. As I mentioned earlier I was surprised and impressed with its upwind capacity.There is a particular location at Kurnell in a Nor'Wester where if you go past a certain point its all over red rover and you have to fight like buggery to get to shore . Whilst riding my own kite today I trapped myself in this spot twice and just managed to get back. I got out of goal a couple of times whilst on the Helix in the same location and easily got back upwind (and my kite is two metres bigger than the Helix)
When the wind picked up towards the end of my session I really got to feel how this kite performs ... it has got a truckload of grunt but you don't feel like it is ripping you ... the power seems very consistent and smooth .
Although the wind didn't get to the level I prefer in order to crack some decent air the few times it picked up I managed some reasonable jumps so I think with the right conditions its going to deliver the goods. Its also not the type of kite that requires a really big send to get up in the air. Whereas on my own kite I really give it the bejeezus and send it from about 10.30 I found the Helix performed best from about 11.30 and throttle the bar down once in the take off position.
All in all I was quite impressed with this kite and am very keen to get longer sessions in higher wind to really try it out .
Well done Naish .. I think you've got a winner ..
cheers col

Because my opinions are seen as biased, I decided to post some technical info on the SIGMA and Geo-tech, so that it might help explain why these kites fly so well.

THE SIGMA OUTLINE.
The core concept of NAISH's SIGMA kites is a radically re-shaped leading edge that moves much of the center canopy area behind the tow points. The result is a kite that delivers significant performance improvements in 4 key areas. Overall stability, bar pressure and feel, turning and relaunch.
The SIGMA design produces a balanced, linear power band combined with bar pressure that remains light but steady through a wide range of trim angles, creating a nearly perfect feedback loop between rider and kite.
With the SIGMA design the lifting surface remains in a safe neutral zone behind the tow point even at extreme de-power. This minimizes the movement of the center of effort, resulting in a very even bar pressure regardless of the kites flying position.
The SIGMA leading edge enables the rider to turn the kite at any speed with absolute control. The SIGMA leading edge produces a hinge point at the center of the kite. Unlike conventional kites that use a maximum of 30% of the kite area to generate turning forces, the SIGMA clearly twists from the center to produce a highly effective turning shape (comprised of nearly 50% of the total kite area) that responds more quickly and accurately to rider input.
The SIGMA kite offers the easiest relaunch in Kiteboarding history. This is due to the greatly reduced contact with the water from the SIGMA shape, and how the kite is able to pivot off either shoulder for relaunch with very little rider input to the lines.

GEO-TECH
By incorporating straight segments in the leading edge from strut to strut, canopy tension is kept constant. Wind pressure in not necessary to maintain the canopy profile, and at low angles of attack GEO-TECH keeps the canopy from collapsing. By Maintaining a constant aerodynamic leading edge GEO-TECH provides a wrinkle free canopy, large de-power range, and stability at broad angles of attack where historically kites with large de-power range have experienced distortion.
Combined with the SIGMA shape, GEO-TECH creates the most precise and controllable kites ever, which maintain this feeling and control through an amazing broad wind range.

By running straight leading edge segments from strut to strut, GEO-TECH is able to maintain tension in the canopy between the struts. This allows the struts to both actively maintain the tension and to more accurately shape the canopy profile from the leading edge to the trailing edge.

Please visit www.naishkites.com/ and goto the HELIX mini site and watch the video to further explain these great Kiteboarding innovations.

Hoping to get a ride today at lunch at fisherman's beach (brown water) if the NNE comes up enough.

Regards,

JB

Well to some extent I am accused of bias too, but only by a few anonymous forum kooks who have some other devious agenda.

If I don't like a kite, I will say so, and people who know me know that for sure.

I like the Helix, for many reasons, I used the word incredible to describe it, and by that I mean it has an incredible shape, and an incredibly smooth power delivery and turn characteristic.

Many other areas are similar or better to kites already in the market or ones I know are coming soon.
Things like relaunch, CB3 and Contra are the best, but Helix is close. The bar as delivered on the demo kites, is not as clean as similar 08 flat kites. However when the smart loop is available and fitted I think it will be one of the best and cleanest bars on a flat kite for 2008. The donkey dick on our demo managed to slide over the ring where s suicide leash is attached on the side of the chicken loop. A bit of tape will fix that issue though.
I did not find the adjusters to be a problem though, they may resemble CB1 design, but are not as stiff and inclined to get in the way as those were.

So the review, it was an unseasonal NE on Tuesday when I test rode the kite for approx 90mins, winds ranged in the 12/13 to 17/18, and mostly around 14/15 knots for the greater part of the test period.
Water was light chop, mixed with a small swell down near Dolls.

I was riding a 1.52 x 44 Underground FLX, I weigh approx 75kg wet, no problem going upwind at any time, and the upwind angles I could achieve are some of the best I have experienced.

Jumps in the gusts were excellent for height, acceleration off the water and for float and smooth soft landings.

Power control in turns and the rate of turn is another outstanding (incredible) quality of the kite, same as the power delivery, silky smooth. Its a kite that delivers most of the pull via the front lines (seriously unlike any other kite I have ever used!), excessive muscle on the rears just kills the speed and therfore the power this apparent wind eating kite can deliver. It likes to go fast, it needs to be ridden fast, but it is the easiest kite I have used that needs to go fast.

Normally I like to ride my 1.52 in winds/waters like Tuesday, but at times the board was just too big for the speed I was carrying, so had a couple of good high speed splats.

Relaunch is easy, and the technique is "pull the other one", basically pull one rear leader, then release and quickly pull the other and the kite will pivot on one of the "points" of the leading edge.

Octopus one pump worked well, left the struts inflated until the tests yesterday at Kurnell, then deflated the whole thing and rolled it up to see how it went back into the bag. Kite fits easily in the bag, so bag design is good, has double shoulder straps and a pouch on one side for the bar, and straps for a board on the front.

Kite comes with a "smart leash" thingy that allows a rider to ride with a fully spinning and flagging leash system. Kite depowers enough for an experienced rider to just ride with the leash clipped on the centre line above the bar. Have not used the bar stopper. There is only light bar pressure, so never felt the need for it.

Kite will fly in the lightest winds, similar to the Cabrinha CB3/Contra3/SB3, the canopy tension (Geo Tech) does seem to help in the overall balance of this excellent kite design. Will also relaunch in super light winds, well under 10 knots as was experienced during by the riders during the tests yesterday.

I also tested the primary safety - drop the bar depower - the kite falls from the sky after a moment of hovering, similar to the Cabs.

The kite must be flown to be fully appreciated, but it does have exceptional lift, stability, speed, and smooth power delivery.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

i was lucky enough to get a test ride on the helix yesterday at kurnell (thanks steve and sorry again for wetting it before coming in! :O). im not a pimp, i dont stand by a particular brand. im a relatively new rider and i like my 12m 06 waroo which i was riding on a surfboard as it was so light (just above 10knots).

the Helix really impressed me, i was up and going on a 152 board with what seemed like no where near enough wind, i had just come in and was struggling on my surfboard! this kite felt like it had a lot of low end grunt!
the performance aspect i liked was the smoothness of the kite, it turns on a very tight arc, fast and smooth even with sheeting in and out for getting going in a lull. i think this has something to do with the geotech panels keeping the kite taught, there is not a wrinkle or flutter anywhere.

i watched the guys ride it before me while i waited with my kite in the air and the helix just sat there waiting to unleash the power in the lulls, while at times i struggled to keep my Waroo in the air.

if i had the money and was in the market for a new kite i think that this is the kite i would buy.

thanks to steve for the test ride, maybe i could try it again when there is better wind? ill try not to give it a wash again just before i bring it in!

i think that anyone would be happy with one of these kites judging by the smiles and lack of wanting to give it up for the next in line!
all you haters get ready to eat some humble pie, this kite is very nice. maybe you should try these new things before opening your uninformed mouths

Mine is in my car waiting for the rain to clear and the boss to turn his back so I can sneak out for a ride. All this positive feedback on the kite is getting me excited !!!!!!

The hype has officially pissed me off. Now i am going to have to go and demo one. I better not like it cause i ain't go the cash to buy one.

Good on you guys. I enjoy reading honest reviews on products such as this. It's a shame that its becoming more difficult to find one that doesn't get slammed by people who have never tried what they are dising in the first place.

I realise the conditions were light but what are your thoughts on unhooking with this kite and using it for freestyle? I don't know if Naish have a particular freestyle kite coming out in the Sigma kites but I would be interested to hear your thoughts anyway.

fozzy,

All the SIGMA kites have similar characteristics. But there is a specific hard core or wake style SIGMA that flies with the SHIFT control system. It's called the ALLIANCE. It has the GEO-TECH and SIGMA outline, but is designed specifically round having a 5 line control system (SHIFT). This results in a slightly less dramatic depower to bar input ratio, and a slightly more direct/heavier bar input, something that some of the full on freestylers love. ANyone coming off a TORCH (or other kite of similar performance) would feel right at home with the ALLIANCE.

As for unhooking the HELIX, the kite flies amazingly well for a bridal kite unhooked (very different to the existing BOXER SLE and SHOCKWAVE), but like all SLE or bow kites, you need to be in tune with your power settings (adjuster straps) before unhooking, as the kite is quite powerful when fully sheeted in (unhooked), but once you've got it dialed the HELIX, CULT & CODE have a great bar feeling unhooked, not overly different from a "C" kite.

I would recommend the HELIX, CULT or CODE for riders that only occasionally unhook, but if your repitour relies on all your moves being unhooked, possibly the ALLIANCE would suit you better. I suggest you try the HELIX unhooked first.

I do need to point out that the feeling of these SLE's are very different to previous years kites. As said in some of the post, it is a kite that really needs to be tested by yourself to give it real credit.

Regards,

JB

Can anyone provide a wind range chart? Haven't found one yet. Thanks.

Cheers JB. Might try and give one a go when the opportunity presents.

Fozzy,

Onboard have 2 kites, 1 of which I believe is DEMO. I will be in SA next week for wed night and thursday. On the odd chance that there is some wind, I may have time to get to the beach. I will bring a prototype ALLIANCE with me.

JB

Great work JB. On the down side the forecast is looking less than great.

fozzy,will probably kite henley on tuesday morning if ya keen to have a crack on the helix 12....,note,giving up a sick waveriding session at the mid,but it'll be worth it...a bucketload of hype on this kite.

quote:

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Originally posted by JB

fozzy,

All the SIGMA kites have similar characteristics. But there is a specific hard core or wake style SIGMA that flies with the SHIFT control system. It's called the ALLIANCE. It has the GEO-TECH and SIGMA outline, but is designed specifically round having a 5 line control system (SHIFT). This results in a slightly less dramatic depower to bar input ratio, and a slightly more direct/heavier bar input, something that some of the full on freestylers love. ANyone coming off a TORCH (or other kite of similar performance) would feel right at home with the ALLIANCE.

As for unhooking the HELIX, the kite flies amazingly well for a bridal kite unhooked (very different to the existing BOXER SLE and SHOCKWAVE), but like all SLE or bow kites, you need to be in tune with your power settings (adjuster straps) before unhooking, as the kite is quite powerful when fully sheeted in (unhooked), but once you've got it dialed the HELIX, CULT & CODE have a great bar feeling unhooked, not overly different from a "C" kite.

I would recommend the HELIX, CULT or CODE for riders that only occasionally unhook, but if your repitour relies on all your moves being unhooked, possibly the ALLIANCE would suit you better. I suggest you try the HELIX unhooked first.

I do need to point out that the feeling of these SLE's are very different to previous years kites. As said in some of the post, it is a kite that really needs to be tested by yourself to give it real credit.

Regards,

JB

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JB/Steve,

which one do you recommend for waves and upwind ability.
I fly a Rebel 06 so looking for something similar - ie more of a hybrid than a flat kite. Does this mean the Alliance?

When are the other kites out, and what is the pricing?

Cheers

quote:

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Originally posted by Buschy

Can anyone provide a wind range chart? Haven't found one yet. Thanks.

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ditto

I rode the 14m Helix late Friday arvo. There was about ten knots when I got to the beach and it was almost dead onshore. I put the kite up and was able to get planing while losing alot of ground- I was on a SOL 133 and weigh 105kg. The wind picked up slightly to aroung twelve or thirteen knots and I was able to hold ground and by the time it got to eighteen knots I was having a blast. In an hour session I had no stacks , jumps were easy, floaty and big for the amount of wind. The power is smooth, the canopy super stable and the ride is fast and fun. I thought that the hype might have been just that but in the limited time I had on the kite it felt like something pretty special. Boys on the beach noted the way it flew even looked awesome. On Saturday I put it up in about five to eight knots and found the kite still turned and flew well even in these marginal winds. Take it for a test and then beg, borrow, steal or prostitute yourself to get one !

Hey Geoff, How is the 14m for turning speed and what would it be like for riding waves given its a bigger kite?

Trevor1,

If you are not a fan of bridals and pulley's then the ALLIANCE is for you, even though the HELIX, CULT and CODE SLE performance is far superior to any other Bridal kite I have flown, the ALLIANCE is very direct, and has a possitive bar feel similar to the TORCH III. All the SIGMA kites boast amazing upwind performance, and incredible wind ranges. It is really hard to make a chart for the expected wind range as it is so large. I suggest demoing a SIGMA kite, and seeing how the power feels in relation to your weight, board and riding style. I personally do not think I will need a 14m kite this year (I have always had one in the quiver, mainly for competition), the kites are much more efficient than anuthing I have flown before, and you can get away with smaller quivers. This mixed in with a much broader top end, a one kite quiver is not out of the question for many riders!

JB

trevor one,go to your local kiteboarding shop/naish retailer...they will have all naish 08' pricing....helix was released last week in australia...the rest of the range by end of august...plus,your local dealer will also be able to recommend sizes for your area...strong northerlies forecast in adelaide,probably a solid 25-30 knots,i'll ride the helix 12 and give you an''honest'' review tuesday night.

The turning speed on the 14m was just as fast, if not faster than my 12m 05 Rhino. The turning speed did not appear to alter much between underpowered and powered, ie it seemed about the same in five knots as fifteen knots. I am hanging out to try the kite in waves- the reason I went for the 4 line helix rather than waiting for the alliance, I think it has all the characteristics to be a good wave riding kite but can't be sure till I get a chance to try it.

quote:

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Originally posted by airush geoff

The turning speed on the 14m was just as fast, if not faster than my 12m 05 Rhino. The turning speed did not appear to alter much between underpowered and powered, ie it seemed about the same in five knots as fifteen knots. I am hanging out to try the kite in waves- the reason I went for the 4 line helix rather than waiting for the alliance, I think it has all the characteristics to be a good wave riding kite but can't be sure till I get a chance to try it.

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Airush Geoff did you buy the Helix?? I am all over this trying to relax for before I get to compare it with the Rebel 08 can't wait to fly the Helix.

Daz

I have bought the 14m Helix- cost me double cos now the missus thinks she gets to spend 2g on shoes and clothes, but well worth it.

The best way to describe it is a cross between the 07 Rhino and 07 Rebel, you'll see when ya fly it !!

I will be at Henley tomorrow at dawn to get a ride before work, see ya there stormrider !

Now I am excited!!! Unfortunately, I don't think we'll see a demo up here for another month...

quote:

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Originally posted by airush geoff



The best way to describe it is a cross between the 07 Rhino and 07 Rebel, you'll see when ya fly it !!

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Give ARSA a call, I am sure they are getting a demo or two?
Personally I would not compare it to either of those two North kites, its way better and much different in a smoother sense. PLUS no battens, and no problematic 2 pump system. Easier relaunch, more stable and better wind range and bottom end too.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Im not sure if this has been covered yet but what is the top end like? Im about 60kg and an intermediate rider, would a 12 be too big for me in 25+ ?

Also do all the SIGMA kites have similar kite size to wind range ratio's?

any help would be much appreciated.
cheers, Leo

Steve,

maybe I should clarify my comment- it has the easy ride characteristics of the Rebel ie you feel comfortable the minute you jump on it, mixed with the raw power and fun of the Rhino. Very true the wind range does sound like it should be better.

I bought mine without demoing it and am stoked, but the best way to understand how good it is- go ride it.

Thanks. It was actually ARSA TSV that told me roughly a month. Mackay must get to play with them first. Well... I guess that's OK, little or no wind right now anyways. If the Helix offers even a slightly better all around performance freeride package than the Rebel then hats off to Naish. I haven't tried a kite over the past 11 months (fortunate to have tried quite a few) that I thought offered a better balance of some of the things you have mentioned below. Cambattens... well... what can I say...at least they're cheap .

quote:

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Originally posted by Kitepower Australia

Give ARSA a call, I am sure they are getting a demo or two?
Personally I would not compare it to either of those two North kites, its way better and much different in a smoother sense. PLUS no battens, and no problematic 2 pump system. Easier relaunch, more stable and better wind range and bottom end too.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

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quote:

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Originally posted by Buschy

Now I am excited!!! Unfortunately, I don't think we'll see a demo up here for another month...

Select to expand quote

Originally posted by airush geoff



The best way to describe it is a cross between the 07 Rhino and 07 Rebel, you'll see when ya fly it !!

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