At last i finsally had two sessions on my 12 rebel that were note worthy and i can finally give a decent opinion on the kite.

Construction. Its fkn well made looks solid. lots of panels in the canopy about 20 or so if my memory serves me. Small le small struts with "kinks" in them that are the same as another North but cant remember which one. Valves are great one ways on the struts, on Le is a normal valve, and a dump valve at the end of the LE. Crap place for a dump valve IMO, why not have it in the centre of the le??

Bar. I'm using the 06 bar, its simple and sweet. like that you can adjust the cleat thing to wherever you want it. Adjusting this cleat though affects the line lengths and ultimatly affects the kite trim. Not a drama, just something to be aware of when setting the cleat. Bar pressure is not an issue for me, light and nice. Direct feel to the kite, responsive immediatly, no delay whatsoever.

In Flight. First thing i notice is it turns quick, a lot quicker than what i am used to on my 12's of past. By moving the pigtails to the other setting on the kite adjusts turning speed noticably either faster or slower dependant.
This kite boosts, i was out in decent wind and about shoulder/head high waves sent the kite quietly to see and ping up i went, higher than i have ever been before (would love to see a booster boost large on this kite) and up i stayed. The hang time is phenominal, keep the bar in (which is no hassle) and you glide for ages and ages. A delicious feeling.
It loops nice and tight, havent done this in high winds cause i have a mortgage, but it loops nice and tight in light wind.
This kite has lots of power too, feels very grunty. Lots of depower on the bar, or on the cleat. I set my cleat close to the bar so i can ride against the cleat and not loose all my power and then use the cleat strap to control my power.

Relaunch. Piece of piss, if LE down, in decent wind just pull a back line and up she comes. If canopy down its a different story, like any other bow i have tried, they dont like being on their backs. It is possible to relaunch it though by keeping a bit of tension on the fifth/cleat, pulling a back line slowly she goes to the edge and eventually up she comes. Its tricky and takes a while but its possible. I think with time it will be mastered.

Overall....So far i am into the kite, there are a few niggly issues like the relaunch when on its back, but nothing that you couldnt get used to or work out in time.
I like the responsiveness, simplicity, turning speed and boosting/hang time.
In fact if my wife is feeling happy i will buy another for those special Nuking days.

quote:

---

Originally posted by poor relative

Valves are great one ways on the struts, on Le is a normal valve, and a dump valve at the end of the LE. Crap place for a dump valve IMO, why not have it in the centre of the le??

---

Having the dump valve on the end of the LE makes the kite far easier to deflate and pack up as you just roll from the furthest wing tip up to the tip with the dump valve. No more having to roll each tip inwards while the already rolled tip rolls away !

It takes a bit of getting used to - at least once you will find yourself pumping up the kite with the dump valve still open.

quote:

---

Having the dump valve on the end of the LE makes the kite far easier to deflate and pack up as you just roll from the furthest wing tip up to the tip with the dump valve. No more having to roll each tip inwards while the already rolled tip rolls away !

---

ahhhhhhhhh

i can smell my 10m it's so close.... hurry up WSP

Yeah I like the dump valve on the tip! At first its weird but now that I let go of it standing upwind it's GREAT!

Has anyone found the Rebel Kite bag a bit of a Pain? it's too small to me. I have a 12m and Im taking out the 2 cam battons on each tip of the wing because I am having trouble folding it away small enough to fit in the bag. Im worried about bending the noodle battons on the leading edge. Can someone tell me that if its ok to fold those bits? they wont break but will they bend out of shape if you store the kite away for longer periods of time?

How are you folding it away?

Have now had two sessions on my new 14 (15-22 knots) and one session on the 9 (25-30 knots). Weight 68kg, 126x37.5 board. I previously owned a 12m Vegas 06. First impression was that they are not quite as stable in the air as the Vegas. However, once you get sufficient back line tension, the kite(s) stop flapping around and do exactly what they’re told and hold a very nice shape in the air. Easy to under sheet, given the extra long throw on the bar if you’re not used to it. I found both kites flew better by moving the rear lines one knot closer to the bar from factory setting. I also chose to attach the kite pigtails to the back or ‘outer’ attachment point. Hard to gauge turning speed compared to the Vegas as they are different sizes. However, the Rebel does likes to pivot & “dip”. With both sizes I found I was oversteering coming out of my turns and the kite(s) skirted across the top of the water on more than one occasion. I even managed loop the 14, unintentionally, after a crash. Something that never happened before with the Vegas.

Once I adjusted to the different feel of the kite(s), I really started appreciating the extra depower they offer. With the new stopper set in the right position, you can be fully lit one minute, then just cruising and taking a breather the next. You’re completely in charge of how you want to ride. If I had to summarise the difference between the Vegas and Rebel in a couple of words I would say “more relaxing”. Yeh…I guess I’m now a flat type kite convert.

Only tried a couple of small jumps. It doesn’t take much at all with this kite to pop you off the water. Will comment more after I’ve had more time on the water with it. Oh… the new 07 bar and thicker lines are awesome! No more messing around in heavy wind trying to untangle your lines during setup.

Buschy did you ride the 9m through that gusty wind we had around Townsville on Saturday? I was out for 30min at Nelly Bay on my 11m matrix and it was crazy, surging from 15 to 25 knots every 20sec or so, with some higher gusts. Gave up and went surfing at Florence instead. Was thinking though whether a high depower kite would have made much difference in conditions like that?

Yup. There were three of us out there bouncing around. Me on my 9m Rebel, Max_Ob on his 8m EH Ripper and another fellow on his 9m 04 Yarga. The fellow on the Yarga looked pretty lit thru some of those higher gusts! I was able to smoothly depower just using the bar, and the rough conditions weren't really an issue. Had a ball! I reckon that 9m paid for itself in just that one session.

Hey dude, are you ridnig rebels or vegas' this season?

I'd say he's riding rebels as I shall have his vegas when it eventually gets here Good to here you having fun mate, post some pics if you get a chance
Thanks
Matt

hey buschy

"I found both kites flew better by moving the rear lines one knot closer to the bar from factory setting. I also chose to attach the kite pigtails to the back or ‘outer’ attachment point"

I noticed that there were about 3 knots on the bar pigtails. When I got the kite brand new it was set on the furthest knot away from the bar. The second knot after that which is closer to the bar is only say 2-3inches away. I have moved the back lines to this knot and noticed it did turn a bit quicker. But I found that right towards those 'floats' near the bar there is another knot with a yellow coloured band around it.

Do you know if this is another setting that will make this Kite turn like a demon? It just seems odd if it an extra setting because it's about 8 inches from last knot.

QF

i think you'll find that your centre lines near the cleat have the same markings, Red Green and Yellow as the steering lines, for when you adjust the length of the chicken, hence the amount of depower available the steering lines are the correct length. ie. not over sheeting, when the colours match.

P.S. It's a sick F$%&ing kite.

Glad to see someone else failed the colour matching thing. I f&%ked it up and it wasn't until I read the manual that I realised the error of my ways. Its a good idea for a special needs guy like myself.

Camo

thanks for that information.

so does anyone know what setting is best for the Rebel to make it turn faster?

will having the back lines attached to the forward pigtails create more power? My understanding is that with the back lines on the forward pigtails will give the kite more power but turn slower? With this extra power does the kite boost higher and hang longer?

Im just asking all this information because I can't always try the different settings because i have to wait for the right conditions to really test the settings. I am guessing someone has already done testing to see what works best?

Hey qfmike I tried my 12m North Rebel for the first time today and I am so impressed with it! This kite is just amazing! It was a gusty SW today and this kite was so comfortable that I forgot about the gusty weather completely. It was blowing over 24knots and I didn't even depower. I landed the biggest jumps I have ever done today they were huge airs i could see the tops of roofs and trees. It is so easy to jump and there is just the right amount of pressure on the bar. I knew where the kite was the whole time. didn't get much of a chance to unhook today but I am pretty sure that when the wind isn't so gusty I'll be ripping it up. I think I will be able to get to new heights very fast with this kite. The Rebel simply ROCKS!

QF,

Re. the turn speed of the Rebel,
I take it that your flying the kite on the 07 bar? (it's a little bit longer then the 06, hence more purchase/quicker turning) you can slow it down by moving your lines so that they run from the inside of the ends of the bar, rather then the outside which is factory setting i think.

With the colours on the steering lines and cleat, effectively your adjusting the amount of De-power on the chicken, if you have the chicken set on say the red and the lines on a different colour your back/steering lines will either be short or long, giving you either do much over-sheet (lines short) or poor turning speed (lines long) although i haven't tried adjusting it in really strong winds, you might find that if the wind strength is at the point that you are flying full De-power, your turn speed may be down due to the back lines being a little slack, and by bringing them one knot closer to the bar you get that turn speed back.

I had my 12 out yesterday in about 30-35kts with the chicken out on the furthest colour, can't remember which colour that is, but just gave me the most De-power, and the back lines on the same colour and it turned plenty fast enough for me, even when i had it fully depowered on the trim cleat.

From what I've noticed with the pig tails on the kite, if you use the back ones, more De-power because the kite can get to a lessor AOA, and obviously faster turning, being you've got the greatest purchase. The forward setting will give you more bottom end grunt, as you can get a higher AOA on the kite with the same movement on the bar. It would stand to reason that the hang time comes from the most efficient AOA for the given conditions, who knows mate, it's jumping pretty big for me, i nearly screamed like a school girl yesterday when i sent it, although i think some of the gusts where hitting about 40kts, i wish I'd taken the girls 10M with me.

Picked up my new 07 bar today courtesy of Windsurfing Perth....cheers guys.
Bar looks neat cant wait to try.
This kite is sweet.....Getting very used to it, relaunch is a doddle, pull back line and up she comes can now launch quicker than any other kite i have had.
It flies sweet, boosts big and keeps you hanging on.....its pure joy.
Wanna get a 9........

Yeah but how do you reckon it goes with a slight onshore breeze when everyone is standing around with thier kites at 12 and you somehow manage to wrap your new (heaps of depower) kite around mine and send them both plummeting to the ground you f%$@ing moron.
I'm heading to Shark Bay in the morning Rellie, don't be there.
Hey, it's great to rave on about your new kite but you should learn to fly it first you firkin retard!

Sorry Laurie, broke a few rules there but ahh

Yeah wish i had punctured the fkn thing of yours.......and didnt you fly yours into mine??
yeah yeah....heard it before......go on VB's give us a kiss....and maybe a smile....
See you in sharks....

Hi guys
After reading about the Rebel on this forum I finally got the 14.
85kg's on 136 M8 board.
Past 2.5 yrs I've been a Vegas man but now I dont think I'll touch them again!
This kite far exceeded my expectations - incredible lift and hangtime even in light winds. This is a jumping machine.
The Vegas did seem to turn faster and with less effort but maby the Rebel will be easier if I use the rear pigtails?
The 07 bar is the business - especially the sliding stopper ball.
Was out yesterday at Caloundra - 11kts gusting 14 in the outgoing tide and had one of my best sessions ever.
Not used to relaunching this kind of kite - any hints???
GB

This probably sounds really technical and confusing:

push the bar out

try not to let it flip onto its back like C-kites - try to keep the kite on its leading edge.

if the kite is dead downwind of you on its leading edge (not on its back) pick a side for it to launch and grab one of the back lines and slowly pull it towards you. if you do it too fast it flips over and tries to go up like a hot launch downwind of you. - its just TOO easy to water relaunch.

if the kite is on its leading edge and not on its back in the water BUT to one side (not directly downwind) grab one of the back lines slowly and help it go to the best side for water relaunch.

If the kite does flip on its back grab a bit of the 5th line hold it and launch it like a C-kite by using a little bit of back line.

From my experience ALL kites SUCK when it comes to Water relaunching in really REALLy light winds they do dumb things. In stronger winds it's easier.

flew my 10m rebel for the first time today.
awesome kite had heaps of fun except when i was sitting in the water trying to release the depower a bit and not realising it a big wave came up behind me and smashed me and i crashed the kite in the wave breaking zone no damage though so all good.
one question i have though is: should the 5th line have a fair bit of slack in it or should it be lightly tensioned? striaght out of the bag it had about 10cm of slack (which is easile adjusted) but is this right? or should it be tight. i haven't flown 5 lines before so wasn't too sure.
it flew fine anyway in gusty conditions so it's probably not an issue...

I've flown the Rebel now for 3 weeks and I really really like it. I got the water relaunch all figured. It's so damn easy! never inverts!!!!

quote:

---

I've flown the Rebel now for 3 weeks and I really really like it. I got the water relaunch all figured. It's so damn easy! never inverts!!!!

---

Me Too....i smile every time i unwrap her.

For those of us who are sooooo COOL and lucky enough to have a Rebel....what colours do we own??? What colours do you have? and did you get much choice?

will get my 12 next week.
got a white (better against WA sun) with pink LE (for security reason!)

I saw the pink and black on the weekend. Looks amazing.

black and pink
only colour wsp had in a 10m but looks pretty cool!

Had my 12 in decent wind with the new bar at Leighton today with a waist high wave.
Its such a fkn great kite...i try to fault it....but i cant
.....and mines yellow (ish) and black....the only colour Windsurfing perth had at the time.

Black & Pink 10.

Sounds like all first 10's came this colour?

Rolled out on the floor I hated the colour & nearly didn't take it. Happy I did now. It looks HOT in the sky

There's a notable improvement in my ride style with this kite.

Love it!