had the opportunity to demo the rrd hypertype 7m yesterday in quite gusty conditions ranging from 20-28 knots

out of the bag the kite looks quite light weight compared to my 9m Link but still has a good amount of reinforment in all the right places, eg around the strut ends, on the curved LE tips, bridle attachment points etc.

as with the Link it's a one-pump which i now find is and abolute essential in a kite. I was a little surprised to see that it didn't have strut isolation clamps like the slingshots, so a puncture in a strut would mean losing pressure in the entire kite. this could easily be rectified though. i quite often forget to use them on my link anyway!.

i didn't use the rrd bar and lines but used my trusty link bar/lines on the kite. i just had to innovate on the connections to the kite as they didn't really match.

self launching was a snap. i just moved a wingtip upwind of the other by about 45 degrees, set myself up perpendicular to the wind and tensioned the lines. the kite immediately rolled onto its wingtip and launched almost without any sliding backwards. this is only the second
or third time i've used this technique and it was just too easy with this kite.

i initially believed the wind to be too light for this kite as it seemd to be averaging around the 20/22 knot mark on the beach. as soon as i got on the water my doubts were immediately laid to rest as i was easily planning on a 130x40 twin tip. bar pressure was a dream, light but with enough resistance for good feedback. the kite is very quick without being "twitchy", that is, turns are fast and smooth not jerky as i used to find on small "C" kites. i was also on 23m lines which sped things up a little also.

i was easily able to go upwind after riding some of the small wind waves breaking over the reef and in the gusts around 25knts could effortlessly get good height and hang time in my jumps. on some of my rotational jump transitions i got a surprise on the amount of pop
and found that i was still a couple of meters off the water after completing my second rotation.

i threw in a couple of "claytons" kite loops and downloops easily with this kite.

i have never been really comfortable in wind over 25 knts but felt with this kite i could ealisy handle 30+ knts as i never felt threatened in any of the stronger gusts yesterday. i weight 75kg by the way.

all in all a brilliant little kite that i think would also be absolutely awesome in 20knts on a surfboard. i think it is perfectly
suited to general freeriding with possibly a slight bias towards wave riding.

it is definately worth a demo if you ever get the chance.

bigs thanks to John Geyer @ SOS Surf Co. in Freo

As i have been saying to anyone who can still bear to listen on teh beach, The 7 and 9 are the absolute Dogs Testicles as kites in the surf [riding a 6' surfboard strapped] Neil, with the 9 having the best bottom end and upwind of any kite of similar size that I have ever used and the manouvreability of a much smaller kite, the turning is quick and positive and as you point out really smooth.

I dont do much jumping but they seem to have a lot of that C Pop with Bow hang time.

I have had the best surf sessions ever since i got the 'Hypers'. I run mine on 20m lines and that works really well. The kite is smoother and less on off than a C kites which helps control on the surfboard. The high pointing in the window gives amazing upwind ability and in the waves this translates into a real roundhouse cutty back upwind and an extra bit of vert on the reo.

I have a 12 too which pull like a tractor, fangs upwind in 10kts, but does feel a little slow and big in the waves after the 9, but at least your going and you will be still out when the guys with 16C kites are packed up and gone home. I reckon any EAst coat guys looking for a light wind perfgormance wave kite could do worse than take a good look.

I wouldnt steer Newbies towards the kite , at least the 7 and 9 [ butthe 12 is very well behaved in the hands of the unpracticed] as the HYPER responsive means that you do really need to know whats going on

John G at SOS will demo the kite for the genuinely interested although the may be sold out currently as all who demo seem to buy the lot, more are expected soon.

Hi Niall
Please let me know where I'm going wrong!
I have the 7 and 9, (I use an Underground surfboard 5'8") and while I have had good sessions on the Cott chop, and 3m at Margarets, I remain unconvinced:
1. My 9 m has a nasty tendency to luff and fall out of the sky with minimal provocation. This was an issue with the cross off wind at mainbreak, nearly ending the session before it started. Plus when going down the line quickly, I have not dropped the kite, but I am left wondering when it will happen. Specifically I'm contrasting it to the wave type, which just seems to hang there.
2. I don't think the depower is as pronounced as the wave type.
3. I had the 7 out today in 20kn, and during the lulls (?12kn) when sheeting in, the kite wanted to sit down, requiring a release of bar pressure.

Have I got my bar setup wrong? JG told me to put the back lines 2 knotts in at the bar. Is this your setting??

I'd really appreciate suggestions, otherwise it's back to the wave type and my Fuel!!

Ive got the 7m, 9m and 12m as per the previous posts the kites are beautiful to ride- but they DO require correct tuning. The 12m I run with alot less back line tension, than the 7 & 9 with likes about two more knots of tension. I reckon the kites all like the bar to sit in the mid point of depower range. The kite also likes bit of hand tension on the bar at all times and doesnt like to sit at 12 oclock. Get this sorted and I havnt dropped my kites in 2 months and kited them from 12knots to 30 in 1ft to 8ft surf. I love the truck 12m in 12 to 20 knots, the 9m in 18 to 25 and the 7m I was using at lancelin last week in 25 plus and it was a dream in large surf. I run all my kites on standard lines as I prefer the lighter bar pressure and larger range with more power, but I am 98kgs on a good day. If you like to kite hard and fast with huge range keep persisting, but they are not kites that you just launch and forget about....... [}:)]

Yes Gasman, Johnno has spelled it out about your falling from the sky probs, keep a bit of back line pressure on at all times when stopped or standing on the beach will keep it out of trouble. This is very different to what you will be used to from before. You are used to standing around with the kite on a full depower. Do not do this on a hyper type. I dropped mine 3 times at leighton on first demo til I figured this out but it hasnt happened since.

The Hyper type kite is faster, points higher, generates more power and has a bigger wind range than the wave type because it is such a flat profiled kite, This however translates into a tendency to overfly the wind window when fully depowered. The wave types could never overfly because they could'nt point that high in the window.

How you set up your lines is less important for this problem than keeping a little pressure on the bar, but if your kite is stalling and going backwards then your back lines are too tight and you are oversheeting. This problem is more apparent in the small sizes, loosen your back lines and the problem will be solved.

i have tryed the 7 and 12 in 15-18 and 12-15 knots respectively.
both times i was cruising upwind with surprised me as most kiters were walking back upwind in the very patch conditions (on 12) and going about the same as i was before with my C 8 on the 7.
what i liked (7)
very fast to turn
loops fast and is very forgiving
enough pull to get me up wind and enough depower for messing around with bindings ect.
what i didnt like
dies as soon as you let the bar pressure off and in the bottom end this sucks.
inverted and the bridal got tangled (did a loop and a half ending with me letting the lines have tones of slack)
to twitchy for unhooked, aven slight pressure on one side fot eh bar sent it flying across the window
falls back in the window heaps before regaining itself

What i liked (12)
plenty of power
lots of upward pull in boost (i havent got the bow boosting skills so might be just not doing it right)
upwind
pop

didnt like
didnt have many problems apart from the depower kills the kite way to quickly and doesnt smoothly return to pulling when sheeted back in.

Thanks ALL

Happy to report I'm getting on better with the new kites. I'm still a bit sad that they are not puuuuurrrrrfect, but I'm getting used to their idiosyncracies.

Now that my back is telling me NOT TO JUMP, I only use my surfboard, and they definitely work well together.

Cheers Boys

you dont find it flys to fast across the window? because fully sheeted in that kite was still mega fast 4 me.
although you probably surf the wave and i ride along it... thinking about getting a surf board for the down winders though

Puuuuurfecttt we can only dream...............