Just found some pics of the (proto) '09 Era on KiteMovement.com:

http://kitemovement.com/2008/09/22/2009-royal-era/

Hey Toast,

How does the kite compare to the Gen 1 Royal in terms of flying? I have the 12m Royal as my biggest kite and really like it. BTW, this kite has held up really really well! For as light of a kite it is, this has been a pleasant surprise.

For my smaller kites, I am flying the 8M and 10M Thrusters and really like the way they fly. They are very fast, and remain close to the water (low) when wave riding.....

Thanks,
Haydon

Looks like they changed the bridal set up from the current Eras. Is the rear line a single connection point (no V) and is the front bridal longer than this years?

I don't know about the bridle length, but this is what Simone had to say about the 2009 ERA versus my 2007:
"The new bridle has a different geometry for more depower and stability but counts on 5 LE attachment points while your kite has 4.
The back lines are now directly attached to the tip for faster turning and more response when fully depowered. To support that the LE tip has increased diameter and there is a rod inside the tip.

Hope you’ll have the chance to try soon one of the new 2009 and feel all the other improvements have been done on the new kite. We are really proud of it."

The front bridle is now longer and the back line directly attaches to the tip of the kite. The rod in the tip helps to support and distribute the load in the tip of the kite. The 09 Era is slightly faster and more responsive than the 08 Era. The bridle as Simone said has added to the stability of the kite. I've noticed it holds its shape much better in loops (extremely high load) than the 08 Era. The kite sits a bit farther out in the window so there is a slightly less grunty feel to the kite but gets you going upwind faster.

I'll be posting up some more info in the next few days.

-Toast

The changes sound like good ones. So does the kite turn a little more on its axis than last year's? I guess that is what I was getting at in my previous post on part of the reason I like the Thrusters. They turn very much on their access, and therefore have the ability to stay very close to the water when doing a bottom turn.

On another topic - Dat you in Wainman Hawaii's video carrying a camera? Looks like it could be you and looked like it could have been your camera setup.

4.14 minutes in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zblz0NjsBgg