WiND-X Monsoonz 14m Review.

First off…I sell the kites so take this review as biased if you like….

Build;

Quality of the kites is reasonably, not overly built …a good balance of strength and weight. Darcon frame and polyester canopy. High aspect ratio of 5.3 on the 14 and it is flat, so it looks huge from below. It has a large projected area of about 80%, but it looks like more than that.

Performance;

This kite offers huge power and upwind ability and manages to haul my 95kg around in ten knots with ease. Turn rate is more than acceptable for such a big flat kite, and is best ridden on the 2:1 pulley bar to maximise it’s depower range and turn rate. It can be used on 1:1 but this will limit it’s depower and wind range. It is very stable with some pressure applied to the back lines and will sit at zenith for a short while before going to the side of the window.

This kite does not need to be ridden at speed to produce power, it produces a torquey type of pull, low down grunt...this allows you to truck up wind with ease. The Monsoonz are the best up winding kite I have ridden....The power can be dumped very quickly, however due to the strut design if you do this at the edge of the window the kite will fall out of the sky, not a big problem ..you just need to keep a bit of pressure on the back lines so it does not do this.

Relaunch is reasonable as well....if it lands leading edge down it is a piece of cake and can be relaunched in seconds. If the kite gets caught by a wave or tumbles through it’s self, like any other kite it can be a bit more tricky.

Overall I am impressed with this kite and really enjoy riding it because of it’s low wind performance and wind range, and it will probably be my most used kite this year.

Cheers,

Barrie

I had a chance to fly a 10m Monsoonz and also a 12m Cyclonez today in light winds. I definately agree with your review! The Monsoonz is the best SLE kite I have ever flown. Heaps of power, easy to fly and the best water relaunch I have ever delt with. I tried out both the normal bar and the pulley bar and found that the pulley bar is more suited to this particular kite due to a more controlable depower. I noticed you mentioned that the kite falls out of the sky when towards the edge of the window? I found that the kite I flew was able to hang in any position on the window with no problem at all. Overall it was an awesome kite.

The Cyclonez was almost as good. The only difference I really noticed between to two of them was the turning speed. Cyclonez was a lot slower. Still a ballzy kite though with great upwind power. The build quality I found was better on the Cyclonez, Built like a Mack truck! The Valve system on both kites are awesome, so quick and easy to pump up.

People may read this and think it's a load of crap but...
Today I was riding in about an 8-13k N-NE which was very gusty. I was out on the 12m Cylconez in amoungst about 10 other riders on some of the lastest and greatest kites from the 2008 line up. At one stage the wind dropped off and I looked around only to find that I was the only kiter still able to hold an edge. I only weigh 75kg but there were other riders out there around the same weight. A couple Of riders commented and were amazed at how the kite was performing in such a light wind not to mention that It was also one of the smallest out there.

It may sound like I'm pimpn a kite but, proof is in the pouding...Why was the cyclonez still flying and the others weren't??? Check out ebay for whole lot of different kites because I'm definately going to replace them all with the Wind-X range.

Good to here that Mr X, I am really impressed with the 10m also, but being a bit bigger, I need that extra grunt the 14 offers. Saying that though there is only a couple of knots difference in the low end of the 10 and the 14.

I tried to get out on the 14 today to see what the absoute low end was on the 14, but wind was going the same way as the sweep along the beach, which made it near impossible to get on the plane because the wind was so light and the sweep so strong. Got one run until the wind died completely.That was my fourth time out this week, so I should not complain too much.

Cheers,

Barrie