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Got a quick break from work, and went out for about an hour to try it on the water. Winds were pretty light, probably in the 10 to 14mph range, with maybe a gust to 15 or 16 every once in a while. Rode the Slingshot Glide and the 12m Shockwave.
Self Launch: Lots of bridles, but wasn't a problem to bury the wingtip and do a self launch. Went right up, no problems.
Bar pressure: When pulled all the way in, it has a good amount of bar pressure. Probably not as much as the Crossbow, but close. When you push the bar away, the pressure pretty much goes away.
Size? : It is a BIG 12m. In the air I could have sworn it was a 16m kite. But, it is on 20m lines, so a lot closer, so it looks bigger?
Speed: Turns pretty quick. Pivots on its axis like the other bow kites. Steady pull through the turns.
Lift: The winds were pretty light.... I tried a few jumps, and didn't get very high. The kite is for wave riding and not jumping, so I wasn't expecting much...plus the winds were light, so jumping was really going to happen much today.
Self Landing: I was going to use the ring on the center line and do a self landing that way, but I went for just pushing the bar past the safety ball and let the kite fall out of the sky. It slowly fell to the side of the window and stood up on its side. I unhooked, wrapped the chicken loop around my board handle, and walked up to the kite and flipped it over. Very nice.....
Overall: Very nice kite...need more wind to really get a better feel for it.
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