Thanks for the review
Can't wait to find out high end on the 12m.

hey tubby & scott,you're dam right about gettin up earlier but it was Margaritas not Martinis! I also had to drive three hours & crash on a bad motel cot just to get that session in!

Anyway, hopefully i'll be able to check out the high end soon. Strangely enough this kite seems to generate about the same power as the other 16M's out there. It's a friggin mystery to me. The main instructor at Napeague who teaches & rides on Instincts only said it was because of the turning speed. If it's of any interest he also told me Ozone would be making the 07's much faster with a smaller leading edge & five struts (like the Waroo) but still no one pump. Either way i am VERY curious to fly this 12M in the high 20's, low 30's. I hope the 15M is almost as fast as the 12M cause the 12M nearly gets the low end of the riding spectrum done. Curious about the 9M too. Dary!? Scott!? Bring em on!

I might have to just open the bag and pretend it was already a demo, this is driving me crazy listening to all this fun.

I got some good video footage last night and make a decent vid with surfer music. Hopefully Eddie can post it.

Most unfortunately, the video catches Jimbo missing a handle pass, landing in shallow water and breaking his wrist.

Got a very light wind session today on my hyper type 12 and glide. Normally I would have pumped my 20 or just headed home. I was not super powered but was able to stay upwind with no problem. The only other kiter out there was on a 17m CO2 and a Cabrinha Custom. I outweigh him by 30 or 40 lbs and I was definitely able to go upwind faster. Neither of us were very powered but it was nice to be able to freeride in wind that I normally would not have pumped up in, averaging around 12 on the local meter. At one point I came out of my harness hook on a back roll and dropped the kite. It ended up dead downwind, trailing edge down and I relaunched straight out of the water by pushing the bar away from me. I got dragged about 5 feet as it flew straight up. Still hoping to find out the top end of this thing.

-Tubbs McCrackfiller

I have no doubt after flying it and hearing your guys inputs that the 12m Hyper has exceptional low end.

Is it me, or does this kite really crank upwind when it gets some wind to work with? That is another aspect of the kite that impressed me. Going upwind is real important to me because it means I can jump more and impress people with my face plant landings!

That must have been scary hot launching in those nukin' conditions (Glad to hear you didn't get worked too bad)

High end.. High end... High end.... the suspense on this is killing me.

you know i was so stoked on everything about this kite that i forgot to mention the upwind ability which is pretty insane. maybe it wasn't just the low end, maybe it was the fact that this kite shot upwind so fast that had me upwind faster than my bros on Waroo's, Instinct's & Cabrinha bows. hmmm... in any case, Saturday i'll be riding with a buddy of mine who has a brand new Waroo Pro 11m. that should yield some very interesting results which i'll post.

The quality looks right up there with Slingshot, Naish & Flexifoil. Looks better made than my 06' Caution Answers and much better made than the Waroos. I think RRD has an overall reputation for making good solid kites.