Thanks Chris for leaving the REV with me this week. We will be out and testing on Thursday as hopefully we get some much deserved wind. The REV, without actually flying the kite, looks great in the sky and seems super solid. Im keen to test.

Mackay crew or anyone passing by drop in and go for a ride on the new REV.

Joe

Cheers Joe, glad to hear you guys have some wind. I'm positive the REV will meet your expectations. Awesome catching up with you and Mel, best of luck

Chrwar,

I was curious what your thoughts are on the wind range. Earlier in this topic we commented on the fact that the wind range supplied by SS seems really quite narrow. In fact I compared it to the fuels stated wind range last night and it appears to be the same. Given the gusty conditions etc. would you hazard to guess as to the range of the kite with consideration to your weight, the usual.

Cheers,

Fozzy

Hey Fozzy,
I can only comment on the 11m,as it is all I have riden. I am 75kg and was riding the Len10 Lunacy - 129. The wind up in Bowen was super gusty 10 to 25 etc. The bottom end was well capable in the light wind due mainly to the speed you can work the kite and using the depower strap to fine tune it. There were times when others went down wind when I got back Ok. The uper limits to this kite I don't think were challenged in 25kts, so much depower plus the Luncay sticks like anything.

If you are riding in predominately light winds say 10-20kts, you would do no wrong in a 13m, if your riding is always 15 plus and upwards to 30, an 11m REV would cover you nicely.

Fozzy, hope this helps?

Cheers Chrwar, the 11m sounds like it would suit our winds. Am pretty keen to try myself. I don't normally get caught up in the hype but I must admit the Rev has definitely got my interest. Will hopefully get the chance to ride one in the near future.
Thanks again.

i have been riding the 9m rev for the last few weeks and just got back from spending a week up north getting some early seabreezes and good waves. have been kiting 15 to 25 knots and rode the 9m for the whole trip and left all my fuels in the car. the 9m got going heaps earlier than my 11m fuel and i think the 11m rev would replace my 15m fuel quite easily going off the power of the 9. have also ridden it a fair bit from dead onshore to cross off winds around home and there is nothing i dont love about it so far. dont know if i will go the rev or the fuel this year but the bar pressure is alot lighter than the fuel which i love and they are super grunty like fuels with a bit more range. putting some footage together from my trip on the rev and will post in the next week or so once edited . if your in the market for a new kite dont buy anything until you fly a 08 rev, you'll be very impressed. as usuall bombproof construction , 1 pump and a sweet safety system.

Hey Ryland glad to hear you had a great trip, looking forward to seeing the footage.

KITE - 11M Slingshot REV 2007/08
Wind - 12/13 knots - 20/21 knots, gusty Easterly
Location - Dolls Point at high tide
Date 5/9/07
Board used - 1.52x44 Underground FLX
Rider weight - 75kgs
Experience - experienced
Duration of test - 90 mins approx

When I launched the kite a rain squall had just come through soaking the kite and my poor launch assistant, plus the wind then dropped to well below 10 knots.
I crashed the kite when I ended up downwind and unable to keep the kite in the air and was forced up against rocks and the seawall.
Relaunched with help, still in approx 5 knots of wind, and was able to keep the kite flying by keeping it moving at the top of the window.
Decided to wait for a while to see if the wind got stronger (it did) and walked to a wider section of beach where I tested the safety system. Its works flawlessly and is very well thought out and neat. The kite will drop out of the sky if the stopper is up against the stopper ball (drop the bar depower) and relaunch was then easy from the side of the window where the kite had landed. This means an experienced rider should be able to ride by having a leash fitted around the centre lines or to the end of the trim rope where it exits the cleat on the side of the chicken loop enabling a fully spinning high depower primary safety system.
Begginers and the more safety concious rider (that can loop both ways) can ride with the leash attached to the front line leash system that extends below the bar.
I activated this system 3 times and was easily able to put the chicken loop back together and then feed the front line back out and self launch by pulling one rear leader, in approx 5-10 knots on the beach. This is an easy relaunching kite, and will relaunch as easily as a Cab CB3/Contra, which I rate as the best in light winds and the easiest in any winds.

Saw a wind line coming in so ran back up the beach to where I left my board and in the 12/14 knots was easily riding upwind with a lot of speed. The kite turns fast around the tip, not quite as tight as a CB3 or SB3, but just as fast, with only a slightly wider arc to the turn. Turning speed is excellent, the kite feels small and nimble. The kite is super stable, despite me dropping it earlier ( I think any of the latest kites I have tested would have stalled out of the sky in that lull).

Within a short time the wind picked up some more to be around 17/18 knots with gusts coming through to the low 20's. I was getting overpowered because of my huge board, but I trimmed the kite and was able to keep riding in comfort, despite the board being too big for the chop that was now coming through mixed with small waves.
Was able to find plenty of dark bits (gusts) on the water to jump into, wow! This kite is super lofty and the jumps are big and very, very floaty, the floatiest Slingshot kite I have flown, not as floaty as the Ozone Edge and with a different feel and decent (rider feels the gusts more, not as direct feeling as the Edge), but still really good.

Upwind was amazing, another well powered rider on the same board weighing 100kg who was on a Flexi Ion2 12.5, which is a super upwind kite was out with me. I was able to always track above him by at least 15-20 degrees! I could have easily kited over to Towra in winds that were directly onshore at Dolls.

Build quality is typical Slingshot, and I think I know where this kite is being made and that factory in Asia produces some of the best quality kites on the market. Attention to detail and the designer intention in keeping the entire kite light are obvious. The bridle is extremely compact and I could not get it to tangle or catch on any other part of the kite and I really tried. The only test I did not try was to crash on the water and ride straight at it, but I am sure this would not faze this kite.

Bar pressure is light to medium, heavier than Helix, similar to SB3, maybe a bit heavier. The front and rear lines are connected via a pulley at the kite end, so some front line load is distributed to the rears, but rider still gets an excellent feel and feedback through the rear lines, it is easy to "get used" to the kite and fly it without looking at it, as you have to do with some kites that have too little feedback.

The colour we had is awesome, typical Slingshot pattern with alternate green and orange with black LE and struts.

Slingshot patented One Pump system as usual with all the features we are used and like ( as a full service shop, we prefer externally plumbed single point inflation systems - so easy to work on if there is ever that rare problem). Main valve moulded lock, this cannot come loose in hard crashes.

Kite unhooks and behaves fine with only a small amount of trimming.

This kite is nothing like any previous high depower kites from Slingshot, it is a completely new design. It has medium swept back tips, slightly concave curved trailing edge with 5 struts and a high projected area, it was noticeably flatter than the Ion2.

Bag is a side zippered version of the same style Slingshot have had for a few years now, the kite only needs to rolled up and folded in half to go in the bag, pockets on the exterior for the bar and pump, as well as straps for a board, with a comfy mountain back pack double shoulder strap design, ours is white and blue, which will get dirty quick.

Slingshot really need to address the colour coding of their bars, its about the only negative I can think of from my test, but in my opinion a really important one, regardless of colour coded leaders. I also don't like the square centre section, but thats a personal thing I guess? Overall I really enjoyed this kite and only came off the water because I was cold and needed to get to a club meeting as well as eat! (did not have lunch)

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Good review Steve. What size Kite was it?

It was an 11m gerard

99% of the time i ride a strapless surfboard but the first couple of times i rode the rev i was on my twinny and like Steve said about the float you get off them is the first thing i noticed too. by far the biggest and floatiest jumps i have done was on the 9m rev in about 18-20 knots of wind.

Just added some pics, wanted to put them in my review, but can't edit after 1 day.


Rev in flight
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=5919
Rev bridle full view in flight
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=5918
Bar full view
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=5917
Rev bridle layout on the ground
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=5916
Front pulley
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=5915
One line safety stopper
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=5914

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

I know lots of people have posted reviews on this kite, but I'm so stoked with the Rev I just have to add my bit.

I've flown the 9 and the 7. I'm riding a surfboard unstrapped and have been flying 05 and 06 Fuels. Both times I flew the Revs the wind was pretty much at the low end of the wind range.

The kites turn so quickly, which I loved, and means you can get heaps of power out of them. The power delivery is really smooth, rather than that on-off sort of feeling I get when I really have to work my Fuels.
Everything about the Revs is just really smooth and I really liked the light bar pressure.
They are so stable, and with their quick turning, I reckon they're an awesome wave riding kite. When you ride a wave going downwind the kite will just sit there really stable. There were some quite big waves at Scarbs when I flew the 7m and I got a few beatings and pushed towards the kite, but it didn't threaten to fall out of the sky, just floated back.

I came off the water so stoked after flying these kites.
Bring on summer!
Colette

Thanks for all the positive feed back guys and girls. Hope you continue to enjoy the riding all through summer and I get to catch up with you on the water soon :-)

All sounds good , just wondering about self landing of this kite does it behave like a traditional bow and flag in on the back line??? and start doing loops if you don't time it right , My SW2 is a prick sometimes if I self land it , I really think the C 5 line kites still have the best self landing characteristics of any kite,even though the hybrids kinda similar but still with swooped wing tip is not as good in this situation as traditional 5 line C , just wondering as looking for a new 9m for this year.

quote:

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Originally posted by Flux

All sounds good , just wondering about self landing of this kite does it behave like a traditional bow and flag in on the back line??? and start doing loops if you don't time it right , My SW2 is a prick sometimes if I self land it , I really think the C 5 line kites still have the best self landing characteristics of any kite,even though the hybrids kinda similar but still with swooped wing tip is not as good in this situation as traditional 5 line C , just wondering as looking for a new 9m for this year.

---

Hi Flux

The Rev flags off a front line, and that is how you would self land it. "Bows" don't have to flagged to a rear line, but even so they generally handle that ok, in my experience.
Five line c's can be a pain too, don't assume too much there, they can still do things like hang in the air upside down, get tangled and spin, etc.

Practice makes perfect with both styles of kite and maintaining your gear is equally important, as is testing the safety and flagging ability of your C or Bow, prior to needing it.

The Rev is not a completely free spinning system, the front lines will twist up if you don't loop both ways, but unless there are massive numbers of twists I'm confident the flagging system would still work. I answered some of your concerns in the SB3 thread too.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

The Rev should better be called a Revolution. I rode it in gappy 16 - 28 knots and was amazed by the bottom end a 9 metre kite delivered me. I'm 100kg plus. On the other end of the spectrum there was enough depower to allow me to continue riding in 28-30 knots. The Rev is fast, seriously fast, powerful and adds a new meaning to lift. Of interest I was caught in a 40 plus knot squall, after ditching the kite it dropped to the beach in the safe position and simply by following the safety line from bar to kite I was able to secure it.

in maui at the moment , dave and andy got me a 9m rev 1 day prior to leaving , the kites came into OZ on a monday night , dave delivered the kite within hours to sydney so i could get on the plane knowing I had the right kite for the 15-35 knot maui winds , thanks guys you have made my holiday . Rode at mokes one day prior to the maui north shore, I was on my fuse in 15 knots perfectly powered and I'm not light, 86kg. I was absolutely amazed with this kite, everyone was on surf boards with 12m Bows , not many c kites over here now. Got to maui and went out in a gusty 15-25knot range, all i could think about was riding my old octane with fuel stable feel , the kite doesn't feel anything like a standard bow. Jumps are huge , with an amazing safe feel as they are so lofty. Within hours you can fly this kite blind, the feel on the bar is just like the old fuels . Confidence builds so quickly any 1/2 decent rider will be pulling their largest jumps within minutes. Up wind performance is again fantastic, if you get chance demo the ss fuse with this kite , they go together perfectly.

We are here for another 5 days , winds will pick up to 30-40 so it will be interesting to test the high end. This kite feels so safe I can't see any issues.

Not a technical reveiw as I'm not a sh..it hot rider like most of the guys on this site but I have ridden every ss kite for the last 5 years and will always promote a good ss product , they have had a hammering last year but I can tell you they are back big time with the Rev. get one soon before they all go, can't wait to get on my 13m which is arriving in a few weeks. thanks to andy and dave again for delivering the kite so quickly .