my brand is "fun" and used north since 2007 (rebel) then turned to neo wave(as adv says) kite last 3 years .
little by little went more inside the wave but always "delayed",maybe a couple of second before the kite turns and togheter we escape the wave ,play with her ,turn radical ,turn with fear,wait surf to push,etc ,all this stuff depending how big it is.
always ask more experienced what to do (specially north friends)..........you have to park the kite and go surfing style...this is correct way to go .....learn....appreciate etc
went cape town one month with neo 4 and 5 ...... kites correct .....they are small...supposed wave kite .......board proseries 5.11 2014......alone with friends ........wife home.....up and down all spot......everything!!!!
I am used to high sardinian mistral so famous "cape doctor" wind I will rename "nice breeze" but the waves are "real" and definitly not easy to play with.
Over there have some local friends used to "turn to turn"kite style which (as they say)is the correct way to go !!!!
no way ......always delay ....change fins......move straps back and forth .....change weight more forward or backward...I turn the lip and I have to wait seconds before kite follow me...no chance ...ok this is correct I have to learn "timing"
back home ......a good day with a couple of meters ....22 to 24 knots ,about one hour with my 7 neo and yust curiosity tried 7 religion from a friend .
my god it was not me to be late !!!! it was the neos!!!!! ...for the first time in years I had more fun from north kite to another brand (always contrary)
**** you .....you fouling me !!! neo dedicated wave kite???? I have to follow "park and surf style" ????? because kite does not turn????
lets make a kite that lets me decide what to do ( parking or turning) depending the wave ,the skill,etc.
some friends suggested to try 22 meters with neo instead of 24 ( maybe better ,donot know ,did not try) but I have 4 and 5 so even with 24 meters they should turn rapidly.
Ok, difference in power is embarassing between north neo and others (religion ,reo etc) but if others have fun with bigger and I do not with mine ? ..... bla bla bla....I was with 5 ,others with 6 or 7..... it is not enough back home with this story .....I follow fun in the wave only!!!!
little less quality from rrd ......do not care!.....I buy all religion now ,ready go back to north as they make something better.
Apart from turning ,first thing I look and care about kites is the upwind! no way to buy something that does not transport me up again ..surprise religion do it! tried also reos that seem turn even better than rel but found lack of power and upwind.
I pay stuff regular ...not affiliation at all..............yust bought north proseries 2014 5.8 (I call them red devils)....love them!!!!!!

^^^^your writing really........ Flows I like it...... Can we have a back to back review on the reo vs religion?

20m lines give a wildly different ride to 24m. Worth trying shorter lines before you buy a new kite.

^^^^agreed, especially on smaller kites 8m & under.

did not have chance to try shorter line on neo,I have 4 and 5 still .will do it
About difference between neo and religion ,I can say when I tried both I had neo 7 full depowered while religion 7 was full powered with same wind ...enormous difference in power,maybe a couple of meters is the gap ,I should have tried 5 neo and compare with 7 religion same day or use similar line lenght ( had 24 on neo ,shorter with rel). but the point is fun in the wave ,with neo I am delayed .....I have to wait kite to turn ,forced to stay in white water bubble then go down ...bottom ...cut back etc
NO, I want the chance to decide myself what to do.....park or turn powererd.
need I kite that let's me do it as I like .
do not care of any brand ....sold 7 neo bought 9 religion ,going to sell neo left ,will buy smaller religion ,not shure the size yet.
couple of days ago tried 12 religion 2015 with bad on shore wind 14 16 knots ,bad waves ,bad current ,**** spot, bad board from a friend .....definitly had surprisingly fun with that size of kite....goes upwind and turns decently for the size ...does not exist a north kite going the same mix of turning and upwind performance .
Still love small rebels ,unbelieveble yumping days with high 30 40 mistral..... history ....followed north closed eyes up to now.....no more in the waves until they make something proper

Hi,

Kites do part of the job but the board you ride will also make a difference on how you go upwind.

More tail rocker will see a decrease in upwind performance but in return it will be out of site on the wave.

Same goes, Flatter rocker will go up wind better.

Moral of the story just get what you feel comfortable on.

Peace.

I think if you have to wait for a 5 Neo to turn there's something not right.. They rip around the window like a demented blow fly!

Piccio I love your review to. It's like an Italian poem. I'm a big fan of multiple full stops as well; then boom you throw in a sublime adjective or capital NO in as well. Good stuff!

I dont have a lot of experience and have flown only a few kites but agree that the Neo is very fast moving around in the wind window. Possibly something wrong with your setup.

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pearl said...
Piccio I love your review to. It's like an Italian poem. I'm a big fan of multiple full stops as well; then boom you throw in a sublime adjective or capital NO in as well. Good stuff!

How good is it! Reading his reviews is like pouring smiles on the brain.............

It's like me trying to talk after drinking 2 bottles of wine haha.
I'm with him too. Admire his courage in writing what he thinks in non-native language

IF I drink two bottles of wine and try write english ,don't know what comes out! years ago when religion came out was unrideable ,specially with high gusts,we used to laugh all time (we were a group of rebel users) at guys using that blankets....
nearly impossible get upwind ......walking back the beach was a guarantee......always refused to try them .it was maybe 7 years ago.
on my last vacation in cape town ,noted so many using rel and dealing with those waves .....let's try it!
I am going to buy all quiver ,don't know anything of technical details ......I try .....I like .....I buy .....some other brand makes something I feel better ,no problem to change everything again .
I ask myself why north does not suggest to use neo with shorter lines ,wouldn'be better have some less power and more manovrability?
they suggest to buy one or two sizes than usual ...ok did it ......since a couple of years I see others using at least 2 size bigger than my neo...that's the task? again and again ...bla bla bla....dealers...adv...testers.....affiliated ...shops etc. that's what is needed in waves ,power at most? last year got a 4 neo because if 5 has power of 7 ...I thought need a 4(did not use really many times cannot say anything on that size) to have power of 5 ,otherwise when I have 35 38 knots where do I put extreme power of a 5?
Dave I am trying to translate "rip around the window like a demented blow fly" .....it is too hard ... I try later after some amount of spaghetti carbonara ,maybe will succeed.
Of course there is something wrong if I think I have to wait a 5 neo to turn! that's what I am trying to discover . north experts say is normal ....it is what I have to learn....park and drive using the wave to push board .
others say contrary ....it belongs surfers .....we have a kite up above ...it is not surfing is kiting ..better make continuos curve with continuos power to manage .
At moment some confusion ....good season coming ....I 'll see.....now carbonara ready !!!!!!

Piccio,
Imagine you are enjoying your carbonara and a fly is trying to land and steal some of your lovely dinner. You are trying to whack it and the fly is going back and forth trying to avoid being whacked. That's what a Neo 5 looks like to me! ie very fast moving. Hope that helps with the translation!

Being serious I think shorter lines are your solution, but if you are doing 'follow the kite' style wave riding, the kite always needs to be ahead of your direction so you need to be changing the kite direction, before you change the board direction. The question is how much earlier and that obviously depends on the kite. My Neo 10 it feels like a couple of seconds, whereas my neo 6 feels like a fraction of a second.

Enjoy!

The other big question piccio is wind direction. If it's a bit onshore I always go follow the kite. Dead cross shore or a touch cross offshore you are drifting down the line and powered and thinking holy **** what am I going to do with all this speed! This is when my confidence well exceeds my skills trying aerials etc haha

Re line length I have a 22 and 24m north bar. Never use the 24 so am thinking of chopping it back to a 20 for those days you need super quick response.

Hi Dave ,have an idea for next season ,I came to WA.....make pasta world class for you ....you teach me waveriding ......for shure we eat at end of the day!!!!!
no wind next days......maybe was better buy 22 and 20 lines with the 5 neo instead of buying a 4 .did not think about it.

Sounds like a plan piccio! I'll provide buckets of beautiful west Australian wine, you make the pasta.. We will need the gluten free variety at my place. And we can ride waves and discuss technique. And observe demented blow flys.

yesterday i was out on surf at Pacasmayo . there were about 20 kites from different brands. the kite that was always going up wind better was a NEO 9 meter 2015. cheers surf small wind gusty with holes no more than 18 knotts

Yust eating with good friends ,some with north ,some rrd .....I seat in the middle , do not know where is my family now!
heart one side fun in the other......we eat drink talk and chatter ....others with reos are not allowed at our table until we get little drunk then we stay together!!!!!!
days ago after a little session with my new 9 rel.(little wind)went to shower and back to the beach did not find my kite among others .....no possible they stole it in few minutes.....of course I went in the water with my stuff.....did not use others....no enough wind to be flown away...where the hell it is?
it was under my noose .....after so many years used with north could not imagine was something else I had .even confused it with 2015 model same size (my brain is not set up to rrd colors yet) owner of which was very happy to change !
come on roberto I am getting old but did not drink so much yesterday.......keep your!!!!! my new girlfriend 6 mt pink color yust arrived is still virgin .......wait .....you are reserved for high sardinian mistral .....sleep in the car and do not talk!!!!!!!!

I recently tested a lot of kites at an open demo day.... and some of the very well known brands were quite crap to be honest for wave riding. Very slow turning and probably more for the beginners to intermediate level market where most people dont wave ride. Still great kites, bars, etc. for wake style, freestyle and twintip stuff but just crap for wave riding.

The one kite that stood out above all other kites for me personally was the new Naish Pivot.... that things turns beautiful. Sharp, just enough bar pressure and pull. I ride core GTS 3 kites and have been riding cores mainly for the quick turning, but might be convinced to go Pivot. Definitely not Cabrinha or North.

How many kites have the users who post the most and who declare that certain wave kites don't go upwind, and some others go upwind better than race kites, or that no wave kites can go upwind well?
There is a lot more to "going upwind" than a low or high aspect design.

The board makes more difference than the wave kite I ride in my experience, one of the main reasons I have a few boards.

Reo V4 just around the corner, and from what I'm hearing this will be the an awesome wave kite with all of the feedback given over the last 2 years addressed.

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[b]piccio said....we eat drink talk and chatter ....others with reos are not allowed at our table until we get little drunk then we stay together!!!!!!

I'm sure the new reos will be amazing but if you fly reos in Italy your only allowed at the table once everyone is drunk and I doubt there will be much carbonara left at that stage!!!

tried last year model .....super quick perfect turning but poor wind range ......dead below a stone wall above .
new one amazing ? beautiful ! buy at once.....
at moment pasta is gone ,wine botles empty ...thinking of "class action "against north for those used neos........."missed fun in waves"
we are thinking how much ask as refund.....
hope police does not chek driving home ...we'll go spots biking

Got to play with a 2016 Drifter 9m last week. I liked it and it jumped surprisingly well when the wind picked up.

I totally agree that it has more to do with the board than kite.

The first surfboards I used were traditional shape with not a lot of volume, and the I went parallel rail. Upwind ability was brilliant.

A strapless vanguard style board goes upwind so good even with a 2014 reo, of course the 2015 is better again