James from specialist kiteboarding lent me his 9,11 and 15m sonics for a couple of weeks, giving them back today so figured I'd say a few things.

There me is little doubt this is a serious wing and must be a dream kite for those that like to race.

Wind started at only 10-12 if that and both my master blaster demo man (87kg) and me (76kg) were cranking upwind on our regular 134 TTs. The angles of attack even on the inefficient TTs were hard to believe. Wind was from the SSW but I swear the master blaster was kiting on a South East the angles he was poiting at. I can only imagine what it can do with a race Board Or foil.

There is no doubt this is a highly technical kite, relying principally on apparent wind build up (as you would expect). Put too much load on her and she doesn't like it, let it loose and off she goes. Gybing requires a little more finesse to than a normal run of the mill wing, but hey you all know this.

Jumping, well you got to let her breathe, have that bar pushed out, get a gust, send and wang up she goes. In the air the throw requires quite a bit of attention. You can't just pull in and hold, she will stall (we tried it across the entire trim throw). You have to let the throw out...then she lifts well past 12 o'clock ..if you look straight up you won't see her...lol...quite disconcerting at first. Was hilarious watching someone else jumping...but this flight trajectory gives, as been said before in other reviews, exceptional float.

She goes quite vertical to...when the wind hit 15-18 we actually scared ourselves a bit, considering the technical nature of the wing (of course you would adapt over time) and the fact we were jumping in stuff all water. Timing the redirection (as well as working the throw) was also quite technical, you needed to redirect quite late (and at this time the kite is well past vertical) otherwise she accelerates too quick across the window and you come down hard. But after a while as I said before one adapts.

this late redirection, with the kite past the vertical was a weird feeling, I swear the lines were nearly shearing off my nose as the kite moved back through the window...

was only game to try some simple board offs in such shallow water and I suspect for more advanced moves the technical nature of the wing could prove a handful. maybe not for pros riding everyday with little consequences if they crash or bust themir kite, but I do suspect I'd be thinking twice about pulling any hero moves out...this is one damn powerful kite that requires good flying or it will punish you...especially adding rotations and going more vertical.

But as always if you want incredible hang beyond most other kites this is the price you pay. The vertical trajectory was also impressive.

Didnt get get out on the 15, once on the 9.... Which as you would expect goes even more vertical. Those with huge bull balls that just wanna go as high and as long as possible the 9m would be hard to beat. But you better be on your game.

i have a few quick vids was only 13-15 if that...on an 11m. I'd need to be over 20 to get that height and hang On a normal Lei, eg a rebel let's say.

But not sure how to load them up...anyone know? Can only do pictures right? Do I need to put them on YouTube or something? Rather not?

Good review man. Sounds so similar to the chrono. To fair I don't expect the chrono and sonic to be much different at all.
Your right they are a technical wing to fly. You can't just be ham fisted like flying an lei.

But once you lock into the goodness there's some crazy height and float. Because you have to actively fly these race foils I guess it would make some airstyle moves more difficult.

A couple to show the float etc...note these were taken 5 minutes after being on the kite, there's a whole lot more to this kite as we found out, but bro and camera had gone. He's no video expert as you can tell in the second one...lol.



Rp8__

Heh... Toldja. So fast across the window too eh.

I think the best technique for jumping them is to keep them loaded and hold your line (rather than carve upwind), then a quick flick with the tail of the board, rather than a wake style load n' pop. Gentle tension on the bar, but the more aggressivsly you send it the more violent the upward pull.

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Plummet said..
To fair I don't expect the chrono and sonic to be much different at all.

Given how different the Sonic is from the Speeds, I'd be surprised if that was the case.

Wicked Race kites

11m is the pick of the kites.

Has a huge wind range and can be easily adjusted for more depower.
I find the sonics to be a very forgiving kite, if I fly it to far over head it will stall and just drop back then power up again.
Heaps of lift which helps with tacks and gybes.
agree with previous comments; you def need to let the kite breath and it will keep driving forward.

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Kite247 said..
Wicked Race kites

11m is the pick of the kites.

Has a huge wind range and can be easily adjusted for more depower.
I find the sonics to be a very forgiving kite, if I fly it to far over head it will stall and just drop back then power up again.
Heaps of lift which helps with tacks and gybes.
agree with previous comments; you def need to let the kite breath and it will keep driving forward.

I know it's a race kite, but what is it like compared to a Speed 4? If it has more lift and boost than a Speed 4, then wow

faster turning/flying and higher aspect= more lift. I haven't compared directly to the Speed tho.However, the race bridles and lines need to be treated with care when boosting!

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Loftywinds said..

Kite247 said..
Wicked Race kites

11m is the pick of the kites.

Has a huge wind range and can be easily adjusted for more depower.
I find the sonics to be a very forgiving kite, if I fly it to far over head it will stall and just drop back then power up again.
Heaps of lift which helps with tacks and gybes.
agree with previous comments; you def need to let the kite breath and it will keep driving forward.

I know it's a race kite, but what is it like compared to a Speed 4? If it has more lift and boost than a Speed 4, then wow

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INTHELOOP said..
faster turning/flying and higher aspect= more lift. I haven't compared directly to the Speed tho.However, the race bridles and lines need to be treated with care when boosting!

Yes, and faster accelerating across the window. I'd rate the Sonic 18 faster than the Speed3 15... and the thought of those tiny lines gave me the heebi-jeebies.

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Kamikuza said..

and the thought of those tiny lines gave me the heebi-jeebies.

I thought they stopped giving out the heebi-jeebies in 1993?

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Plummet said..

Kamikuza said..

and the thought of those tiny lines gave me the heebi-jeebies.

I thought they stopped giving out the heebi-jeebies in 1993?