Conditions: 20 knots, very choppy, dead onshore and then cross shore.
Rider: weight 104kg, average ability
Board: Naish Sol 06- 133cm

Once up and riding the kite was really smooth and fun, turning was a challenge and so was getting going in the first place. Not a kite to potter around on - the kite generated heaps of power when you rode faster. The bar pressure was light- so much so that it was hard not to pull it in too far ! Probably the best indication of the kites potential is the fact that I had solid 3.5hr sessions saurday and sunday and am not at all sore. Choppy and gusty conditions were eaten up by this kite.

What I liked: The kite is super stable and very smooth, the upwind ability is unreal, if you ride straight downwind the kite falls back in the window and waits for you to power it up and away you go, the boost of the kite is smooth and large !

What I didn't like: The bar is huge- 65cm and even still it is hard to get the kite to turn although once it is moving it is quite quick and generates a large amount of pull, the trailing edge flaps and makes a really loud d d d d d noise when it is turning, getting up and going is hard, the cleat on the depower is very hard to release and easy to get your fingers caught in.

Hey Geoff,

Is it a Bow, Hybrid, or what?

Cheers.

Geoff- Thanks for your feedback on the demo Vapor 14

We are finding that the Vapor kite will flap if it is fully sheeted out on a turn in lots of wind -this is due to its flat ,efficient foiling - in this situation we have found 2 things:

1.The kites were getting out of their wind range - ie a 14 being flown in weather that would be more suitable for a 12 or even a 10

2.Sometimes more intermediate riders who did not have a power edging style were turning the kite while fully sheeted out. We found these riders usually got along better with a flow.

when the kite is sheeted in through a turn with solid edging applied the flapping went away - although the tendency to flap will increase as the kites get further out of their top end wind range and the need to over sheet out increases.

bar wise - this is a personal thing - we have tended to favor bigger bars for bigger kites (not going to cool short bars for fashion sake) - you mentioned that the kite took a while to turn - this is a result of it being a 14 - imagine if the bar was shorter...if you havent come from a SLE , bow or hybrid getting used to this style of kite can take a while - they can require a little sheeting out on the initial dive to "free up" the kite in the air (this is counter to c kite instinct and feel- if you have come from a c kite background) this is because the new geometry has so much sheetability that it is possible to oversheet and choke the kite - its a feel thing.

On the depower cleat - if the depower cleat is facing upwards the rope should have a really good action through it - we havent had anyone catch a finger in there after 1 season and hundreds of these depower systems (same system as flow , DNA) on the market.

Once again appreciate your feedback geoff!

I came off the water and took a 12m 05 raven for a ride and was struggling to stay upwind, then I grabbed a rebel 12m and was struggling to stay upwind as well. The kite is good, I totally agree that I need more time to dial into it- I have come from 05 rhinos and the kite is very different. The best thing about this kite is how long you can stay on the water, light bar pressure with the smooth ride and gentle landings means major water time with no pain !!

Has anyone ridden the ten and the fourteen- I think I might enjoy the ten or twelve more. Can you compare the turning speeds and static pull.

Hey Geoff,

I am awaiting the arrival of 12m and 14m Vapors tomorrow, so cannot comment on those sizes yet, but i have flown the 10m and can give you some feedback on that. The 10m is incredibly fast, definitely not a kite to go into the hands of a beginner. You can slow the turning speed down using the different connectors at the back of the kite, but i have not tried this yet. At 95kg on a 135 protoy and using a pulley bar at full power i was staying upwind in about 14 knots (flat water conditions), but i was understandably underpowered. The kite appears to have a massive wind range, I have had fellow team riders take the kite out in 20 knots on a chicken loop bar (75-80kg riders) and they had minimal depower pulled in. As far as the trailing edge flap goes, like the Reactors, the Vapors need to be ridden fast and powered to get the most out of the kite. As Auswind said, if you are turning the kite with slack back lines (especially in heavy wind) you are definitely going to get trailing edge flap (as you will with any high performance kite). Static pull on the 10m is fine. The kite seems quite happy to just sit and pull, once you have got your board speed up and are powered.

Hope this has been of some help to you!

Matt