Waroo 9m Review

I got a proto 9m Waroo out on the water yesterday for a few hours after waiting for ever for them to turn up. The wind was strong a steady 25k gusting to 30k have a look at yesterdays Seabreeze wind graph for WA Garden Island. I have also posted the graph in the photo’s area of Seabreeze. I was out from around 3:30 until around 5:00 or so.
At the south side of Woody’s point the conditions are side onshore and on this day a waist to shoulder high choppy swell.
I was on my 133x39 Edge and I weigh in at 105kg.

Build Quality:
As a Yarga owner I was not really concerned with this as I know from experience that Bests quality is good. I did however give it the once over anyway as you do with a new kite and noticed a few nice touches.
The bridle is neat and tidy with not too many pig tail ends flapping about and all were trimmed close to avoid catching.
The leading edge has a nice size dump valve and all inflation valves have ball type stoppers that seal nicely on inflation and release easily for deflation.
Stitching and cloth etc as expected.

Bridle:
As this was my first try on a flat kite I was concerned with the spaghetti, however it was easy, neat and friendly to set up. The Waroo front lines set up with a small pulley on the bridle fitted to this is a short pig tail with no adjustment options, nice and easy all the trim is done from the rear lines. The rear lines are also set up with a small split bridle, however no pulley.
Here there are 2 trim options the first is the standard sheeting trim more or less back line and the second is and option to change the turning characteristics from a high aspect to low aspect feel, I left this on the middle option for now.

Bar:
The Waroo bar has no pulleys on it and is the pretty much the same as any standard bar with the only real difference being the longer throw on the chicken loop. The power adjuster is an extended version of a standard trim strap with a swivel attached to it. I wasn’t impressed with the strap and found it fiddly and a bit cumbersome even though worked well enough.
There was no stopper on the set up at all and I understand that there won’t be, this is fine by me as it don’t ride against a stop anyway and bar pressure is light, lighter than my 9m Yarga. The bar is also shaped instead of just being round and does feel comfortable.

Depower:
I had to adjust the way the kite came setup out of the bag, to get more back line tension on it but this instruction was given and the kite is a proto, so no big deal.
Like flat kites are supposed to do the power goes from full to virtually nothing through the range of the chicken loop, what did surprise me was that this range is only about 50cm and I could easily reach the bar even when fully released, mind you I am 6’3”.
Another very surprising thing was after reading various reviews and stuff on flat kites was the fact that the kite did not fall out of the sky when the bar was released but remained hovering gently (remember 25k gusting to 30k) before slowly drifting of to one side and down, giving you more than enough time to grab the bar before the kite was down.

Speed:
Very nice, fast about the same speed as a same size C kite.

Power:
This was another area of concern for me, being heavy I have found that thin leading edge, shallow foil kites just don’t have the punch you need to get you out the water. I found that the Waroo has some serious power in high wind but I will reserve my judgment until I can give it a go in underpowered conditions.

Boost and Hang:
I have also read many reports on flat kites stating that they difficult to boost or that it takes a while to get your timing right. I found none of this, after about 10 minutes of getting a feel for the kite I lined up a nice bit of swell and sent it, this boost was by far the highest I have ever been high enough and with enough hang for my entire life to flash before my eyes in slow motion, and let me tell you I am not a young pup.
After this I took it easy but I didn’t find that the kite all that dissimilar to a C kite at all apart from the depower.

Overall:
I liked it a lot. I have only ever flown "C shape" kites, but I have been waiting to try a flat kite for what seams like forever.
All said and done here is the one line in a review that really matters
Would I part with my own hard earned cash and actually buy one ?
The answer to this is yes and I did.

Cheers
Pete

Great to hear you had a good time with you're new kite, the wind speeds you quoted are a little high though as there is at least 5Knts less wind at Woodies compares to Garden Island. Monday was far windier but still not 30Knts. My wind meter said 18-22 on Tuesday.

No landing and launching issues but both were assisted for the first flight.
I didn't put the kite in the water at all so I'll have to test that out later.

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Originally posted by bolgo

hey kiterpilot
u some 1 else we all no and luv?? watz ur favorite color?

what a demo for us plebs, probably cant make kitestock

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Had my 9 out yesterday and almost all our Team riders went for a strap. Wind died out to about 8knots at one stage and Dave, 75kg, was still out pullen off moves. Basic overview in my opinion

-wicked fast turning
-simple bar setup
-lightest bar pressure of many kites
-great qaulity and colours designs etc.
-complete depower, you could easily take this baby out in any condition.

Compared to other Bow Flat kites, I think Best have nailed it for 2006.

Nice recovery brownee
When are some pimps ever going to learn that claims like 'pulling moves in 8 kts with a 9M" only make us all totally disregard anything they ever say again.
We've seen some HUGE claims here on the forum but the only thing that was blowing in that post was credibility Gone forever.

Arse a perhaps a change of shop name would be appropriate??
Everyone knows what comes out of an arse.

Hey Browmee, really looking forward to trying the Waroo, hope to catch you on Sunday if i can get away.
Pete glad you finally managed to be bow'ed....maybe brownee is the next reluctant convert.??

I can boost 40 foot in 10 knots off wind … on a 10 m


Have I taken out the biggest claim title?

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I willing to eat humble pie and be converted if it's as good as when I watched Pete ride it...

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What is the price of these imitation Globerider kites

From what I can see they are no cheaper

And keep in mind the Best resale value on the market

So Joe/ARSA what your last post suggests that the 9m waroo would be capable in 8knts - 11knts therefore that would imply that the 12 and 14 would be more than enough at that low end. I have read the threads on seebreeze and other sites and the Tribal, Waroo and Peter Lynn venom have caught my attention. (Turbo Deisel one pump would be nice also). I would still consider myself a beginner and would likely need to self land often. 80% - 90% of time the wind would be 8knts to 12 knt, 10 - 20% of the time 15-25knts, 75kg is my weight and currently riding an airush square 2.
Any suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

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Answer you question about self launching

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I went out on a 9m today in what I thought was about 12-13knots.
Other guys were on 21/18.
I held my ground! Blew me away!
Board and rider weights all very close too.

Unfortunately not enough wind to give it a good run

I'll try and get stoojio on it though to get his
technological advanced opinion

Thanks for your post Marca,

Its true, people are loving both kites and are surprised the amount o performance and stability. The Waroo is a hit.

Joe Millen

Should be a hit, it is a direct copy of a GKsonic which is an awesome kite that sells for about the same price and has excellent dealer and distributor backup.