Republished with permission from

Photos: Atelier Kites & Paul May.

I recently acquired a baby Transfer.  I quite like it and I’ve written a little review.

Construction

Compared to his bigger brothers, the Z has been given a few small but appreciable fixes: the nose has finally been cut square, the tiny winglet spars are now protected by a rubbery coat rather than just mylar, the centre T is a neat hard-rubber dome thing, and the tail is a neat little slot in ferrule with a T on the end, rather than a piece of hosepipe cut and drilled (which works, but doesn’t look all that pro). The stitching is as usual, nicely done 3step zigzags. Chikara forms the LE panel, they claim it makes the kite more reasonable in rough wind. Trailing edge nicely reinforced, which is just as well as it is going to need it with all those lazies. Unusually, the coloured nose panels and the white TE panels are doubled up (TE is mylar and white icarex), just for visual kicks. The frame is Sky Shark Black Diamond Nitro, except the miniscule upper spreader. It is a stiff old frame, very stiff. And heavy. Without tailweight (and with roll bars), I weighed the kite at 320g. On the tail comes a 19g weight, and they give you a 12g one too.

Finally, yes this kite has “yo-rings”. In one word, I would describe them as lame. They are made of what looks to be 1.5mm carbon, going through an APA on the LS, and through a hole on the TE. They look ugly, and extend too far out back from the kite. OK they hold the lines perfectly well, until they break that is. I broke one within the hour. The yo-stops are fine as back up, but of course I immediately converted them to roll bars (2mm carbon), using their own hole on the TE to connect it to. At first glance that hole looks a bit too far down the TE (and the bars aren’t as upright as they are on a Deep Space or converted Akujis), but they work incredibly well this far akimbo. But really, they should have paid homage to Benson/Wardley by carbon-copying the design, rather than making a hash of it.

Flight

It needs a lot of wind to keep this kite happy. My estimate is that less than 6mph is the bottom end… though its trickable range is a lot higher than the XTr or XTs. It gives plenty of feedback, and I found the precision of the kite to be top notch. I’ve had more practice with the Frenchies, but in direct comparison with the Fury .85 (a kite of nearly identical size), the XTz won hands down. Really impressed. It is a little kite, and it can tight turn well within its own wingspan, unlike the R or S. It is virtually silent in flight unless at the top of its range, which I find to be a good thing.

So to tricks… Firstly, the 19g weight is odd – I used it initially, but then realized that the kite easily wraps up without any weight at all. Then I found out why it is there – to hold the kite in a fade better. With 19g, the nose is just a touch higher than horizontal, and requires careful tending. With 10g, a fade is perfectly flat, and requires more perfect tending. With none, the nose is lower than the horizontal, and though holdable, it’s difficult. This was disappointing, both the R and S can keep an indefinite fade, but it will take some practice and perfect wind to hold a sixty second fade on the Z. I eventually elected to put 10g on the tail, as the roll up speed is quick with any of the weights – 10/12/20g.

The stiffness and weight of the frame gives this kite loads of impetus – it rolls up as quick as an Akuji, and lazy susans like no other kite I’ve flown. It’ll do double lazies off a single input, which is amazingly good fun! Axels are crisp, yeah it’s all there, and the usual Transfer problems are there – cometes need to be soooo delicate to stop them ending up on their back, and backspins (though plenty easier than on the R or S) are difficult to do without losing altitude. Basically it is – shock! – like a very forgiving, fastforwarded XTr. It’s plenty of fun, especially with all the yoyos it hands out. Extended combos really do roll off the kite well, its a joy to fly these moves. The S and R, tricky for their size, are difficult to fly well – the Z is just the remedy, being forgiving and flippy.

All this comes at a price – which is that the kite is unimpressive in low winds. I’m even tempted to try lighter leading edges – though I’ll leave that until I know the kite better.

Verdict

I think that Atelier have done the Transfer dynasty well and made a very competent freestyle kite. It’s poor in low winds, I’m not an expert but I think it could lose some flab off the frame and still perform nicely. If you like lazy-based tricks and enjoy flying in brisk breezes, its a great kite. If you want to learn cometes or enjoy low winds, it’s not right.

-Al

So it’s finally here – the Deep Space Ultra Light (DSUL) has landed. To say there has been a bit of wait would be understating things rather, as the kite has been in development in the Benson workshop for a little while now, and in serious development since the start of 2009. It’s fair to say that Tim Benson doesn’t release a new kite until he’s completely happy with it.

DeepSpace standard (left) and ultralight (right)

The obvious question has to be asked. What, and who, is the DSUL for? Given that the standard Deep Space (DS) has a published lower wind range of 3mph, and can be flown with a few small tweaks down a little lower, the first of these questions isn’t quite so easy to answer. Perhaps it’s just an obvious progression and a useful addition to the DS pilot’s quiver to have a light version capable of extending the lower end of the flyable and trickable range. Hence the second question is also addressed. It’s a kite for the flyer who already appreciates the capability of the standard DS, but who wants to exploit those light wind days, or avoid being grounded when the wind drops. As with the UL versions of most other top-end kites, it’s unlikely to appeal to most as their first DS.

From the very beginning, Tim didn’t want the DSUL to simply be a re-frame of the existing sail, but a fully optimised kite in it’s own right. There have been several unofficial DSUL’s (and one official one) with pilots exchanging the standard P200/5PT frame for something lighter. So as well as a lighter frame, the DSUL sports a sail lightened in key areas. The Mylar reinforcement is lighter, and less obvious is the reduction of the internal LE reinforcement at the cutouts and wing-tips. In the final version, the LE material is the same Dacron as used in the standard. Although several lighter materials were tested (a process which was responsible for the most recent delay in releasing the kite), none were found to perform satisfactorily. This leaves the sail closer to the standard than was desired – perhaps if a suitable material can be found a later iteration will emerge.

The geometry of the sail is shared with the standard version, as is the bulk of the material being Icarex PC31. and many of the neat touches are also carried over. The handling of the wingtip tensioning is super-neat, and the standoff sail fittings are concealed in pockets to give a smooth rear surface of the trailing edge. Adding in neatly formed and cut nose and tail reinforcement makes line-snags near-impossible. The DSUL also retains the roll-bar design from the standard, again eliminating areas for lines to get accidentally caught while providing an easy-to-catch yo-yo stop solution.

Super-neat LE spreader cut-outs sporting reduced reinforcement for weight saving

Snag-free and smooth treatment of the reinforcement at the nose and tail

Lighter Mylar used in reinforcement of the trailing edge (standard on right)

As for the frame, it’s basically lightened in all the obvious areas. The spine and leading edges are P90 rather than the standard P200, 3PT’s replace 5PT’s as lower spreaders and the upper spreader is thinned a fraction from 5.5mm to 5mm tube. Pretty normal changes then, but yet the attention to detail in a Benson kite is evident in the less obvious alterations. Shaving the standoffs and roll-bars down from 3mm to 2.5mm and 2.3mm to 2mm might not be immediately apparent, but have been implemented to save a precious few grams. But now the dedication to optimisation (some might say obsession) really starts with 3 grams shaved off the tail weight and hollow LE ferrules. Even the bridle line is lighter than the standard. The overall effect is to reduce the weight of the kite from 305g to 240g, representing a little under 20%.

Thinner rods are used for the upper spreader and roll-bars on the DSUL

As ever, Benson build quality is superb

The conclusion then, is that this version of the DS, already an excellent kite, is pared down to the absolute minimum with no area of weight saving left unexplored, and with build quality amongst the best in the business. It should therefore prove to fly in the lightest winds and remain trickable too, although the inevitable compromises due to the lack of mass, and hence momentum, will have to be accepted. Of course, everyone wants to know how it actually performs, but that will have to wait for now since Murphy’s Law has ensured that since delivery I’ve had nothing but ballistic winds. For now then, I’ll have to be content with imagining how it is to fly, but I’m sure that when the time comes, the DSUL won’t disappoint.

Update – The First Flight!

Of course it was bound to happen. I receive a new UL kite and pen the first half of a review dealing with the build, assuming that I will be able to get out and fly it and make some comments on that later. One bathroom re-fit and four weeks of high winds later and I decide to get the build part out there as there seems no prospect of flying the kite for the foreseeable… Murphy strikes again. One week later and I’m blessed with an hour of evening wind at 2mph – perfect for the DSUL. So finally, here are my thoughts on how this baby actually performs.

It’s a little while since I’ve flown a light kite. My DS standard flies so low that I’ve been happy to work a little harder and use that, or pack up and do something else. Of course, I wanted a UL, but I was happy to wait for the DSUL to emerge from Cornwall. So, was it worth the wait? Oh yes, you bet it was!

After a 10 minute warm-up on the standard and with the wind dropping to the point where I’m struggling not to loose too much ground, I figure it’s time to give the UL its maiden flight. Set-up is just as the standard, and a smooth tug on the lines has the kite in the air. First impression – whoa, this really is light. It feels almost like there’s nothing there (remember, I’ve only flown standard kites). So it’s really light on the lines. Next, let’s try a few axles, and yes, this is a DS. The response is reassuringly familiar, but then a subtle difference emerges. It’s clear there is significantly more frame flex, absorbing the input and adding a tiny delay between the input and the response. It’s to be expected but it needs an adjustment in flying style after which lovely floaty cascades just fall into place. So now it’s time for a yo-yo and another difference becomes apparent. While the standard is happy to pitch around it’s lower spreaders, the UL needs more room and rotates gracefully around a circle. Of course, a little more slack is required and results in the first few attempts being choked off. It’s also clear that the whole flying experience is slower and calmer, the DSUL being the older and more considered brother to the standard’s rebellious teenager. While unmistakably DS, It has it’s own character preferring to be persuaded to perform manoeuvres rather than forced to. I’m sure it can be thrashed around it you like, but you’d miss out on a far more rewarding and subtle experience.

The slower pace is something that is really nice on this kite. If you want it, it will give you a little more time to react to things, while retaining the flowing nature of the standard. 540’s can be made really flat and closer to a true flatspin on the spot than the standard and the kite gives the impression that super-slow taz’s would be possible. Sadly, these are beyond me for now, but one trick that seems to really flow out of this kite is the slot machine. You have enough time to get the kite flatter before the spin input and as a result the kite spins on a flat plane rather than an inclined one. A direct result of this is that it comes out of the first spin and begs to be spun again. I found multi-slots on the spot pretty easy and much prettier without the need for a tiny bit of flying between the spins. This gives access to combinations of tricks that I’ve not even attempted before, 540-to-slot being one such example that seemed to be given up easily. I could also feel that various duplex variations were close, and something I feel I could achieve with some work.

Flaring the kite feels just like the standard, but the pull to fade is a little different. The lack of mass means the kite needs a longer and gentler pull and a little more time and slack to get to the fade position. Once there though it seems to lock in better than the standard. Maybe it was just the relatively smooth wind (and the bumpy stuff I fly the standard in), but I really could hold a fade for as long as I wanted, rising it all the way through the window with ease. Of course, the JL is pretty straightforward too, with just a little extra time required to flip the kite back to the fade. Backspins were there, albeit a little slower and needing a slightly gentler touch. One surprising aspect was the performance of Lazy Susan spins. Since the kite doesn’t settle deeply in a backflip like some others, the more dynamic approach of giving the spin input during the back-flip rotation is required, a characteristic that is shared with the standard. The momentum carried through the spin though, is quite surprising for a light kite being at least as good as it’s heavier sibling. The kite also floats nicely on its back in the spin without losing excessive altitude meaning flapjacks can be executed low and slow, and multis are in there too.

A final word on the frame – although it exhibits significantly more flex than the standard, it strikes me as pretty robust. I gave it a couple of pretty firm tip-stabs without complaint, and the long grass at the field cause a few decent bends in the leading edges during recoveries. It’s been reported that it can withstand a fair level of abuse with prototypes being flown in 15-20mph wind without problems…

So what can we conclude? It feels and performs like a light version of a DS! It might surprise you in a few areas, and if you like the DS standard, all the surprises will be good ones. If the DS standard is “float and gloat”, then the DSUL is definately “floatier and gloatier”.

-Ben

The yo-yo stoppers are integrated into the leading edge, rather than fastening on the outside, leaving the edge clean and smooth. Contributing to the already stiff frame, the Hydra incorporates a fiberglass stiffener inserted into the pultruded carbon spine, extending all the way up to the center tee, providing further reinforcement. There’s also a brass weight installed at the tail end of the keel, aiding the kite’s ability to pitch.

The Hydra also features a continuous Mylar panel along the trailing edge. According to Paul DeBakker, the stiffer trailing edge contributes to the kite’s low wind performance, by helping to maintain the sail shape when the wind pressure isn’t strong enough to do it naturally. To keep the kite from displaying a ragged, sharp mylar edge, the Mylar panel is sandwiched between two layers of Icarex. The Hydra also features small winglets, with micro fiberglass battens to tension the trailing edge near the wingtips.

The bridle features only a single point of adjustment, where the nose can be tipped back by means of adjusting a lark’s head knot at the upper attachment point on each side of the bridle. The section of bridle which crosses over the Avia B-Tweeny lower spreaders is sleeved, to help reduce wear.

My particular Hydra sees a lot of flight time over hard-packed clay soil and tall fescue grass, so I’ve managed to break or lose a couple of my winglet battens, but Hunter & Paul have been great about replacing them for me.

So, how does it fly ?

This kite is balanced like a precision chef’s knife. While it does feature a few tuning options (the aforementioned bridle setting, plus the removable spine stiffener and barrel weight), it has definitely been tuned to fly with the factory settings. In fact, in conversation with Paul he reveals that no matter what the wind conditions, he has not yet changed his Hydra off the stock settings.

It has a remarkably wide wind range, I’ve personally witnessed Paul flying it in 2mph and 18mph winds, the latter during his 1st Place Master’s Ballet routine at the Old Dominion Sport Kite Championship. Even under maximum wind conditions, the kite still maintains it’s light, balanced feel; it picks up speed, but it still doesn’t have very much pull.

Regardless of the wind speed, the Hydra is always ready to be put into a stall. As a freestyle kite, it transitions smoothly from one trick to the next, but definitely rewards proper pilot input. If you’re flailing around and hoping the kite will make you look good, you’ll be in for a poor surprise. The Cascade is a very good example of this, it requires three distinct, well timed inputs, otherwise the kite just limply drops from the ceiling to the ground. I’ve found that a fingertip touch is best in all but the strongest winds, particularly in combination tricks like the Jacob’s Ladder (done primarily with my wrists and fingertips, rather than by moving my arms).

The kite does have a very shallow backflip/turtle. Watching it in flight, it actually backflips a little deeper, then settles into a shallower position. According to Paul, he wanted a kite that wasn’t going to sit deeply in a turtle and be difficult to recover. The Hydra will easily pop out of the backflip if too heavy an input is given, and it did take me a little while to learn just how small an input is needed to spin the kite while it is on it’s back. However, ground-based pitch tricks such as the Flapjack and Roll-up Launch are standouts on this kite, because of that initial, deeper rotation. The Hydra rotates in a very tight arc around it’s center of gravity and can be rolled up multiple times.

Despite being built for freestyle, the Hydra still has elements of it’s precision, inherited from the larger Jinx which inspired it. It tracks across straight lines, has sharp square corners, and can execute a crisp snapstall that adds dramatic punctuation to a ballet routine.

Bottom line, if you’re looking for a hand-crafted, thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted kite, one that will give you the best elements of both precision and freestyle flying, the 2009 Hydra is the way to go. While this kite is best suited to the intermediate to advanced flyer, the focus on giving proper inputs is essential at any skill level. I know there are a lot more tricks still locked up in my Hydra, and I can’t wait to get them out.

-Jared

The latest addition to the Cosmic TC range… It’s a small one, somewhere around 91% the size of the full size version! 2.25M wingspan.

The CTC has been really quite successful as a competition kite. Pretty good precision coupled with a comprehensive trick repertoire and a degree of presence in the sky make it stand out as a top choice for competitive fliers.

So, a smaller version – Where’s the sense in that? What’s it for?

First off, this is a pretty expensive small kite, 319 Euro for an Icone version, 349 Euro for one with Aerostuff spreaders. Of course, the craftsmanship is superb, what with it being made by Kitehouse and all, and the materials used are top end stuff. Structil Highmod and Avia sticks supporting the light weight high fangled sail material that now comes in red and blue as well as white (the stuff that the Ghost version as made from) apparently, so you can have a white one with red stripes, or a white one with blue stripes – no customs (Hmmph ). Design features include covered leading edges, tensioning for the trailing edge decent yo-yo stops and a bit of weighting round and about. The nose construction, stitching and general build quality is great, so I suppose the hefty price tag is just about justifiable so long as it’s as sublime to play with as the full size version.

Let’s see…

The stated wind range is mightily impressive at 1-5 BFT (about 2 – 20 mph). I’d say though that the XS doesn’t really start flying on it’s own until about 4 mph, and much over 12 – 14 mph and it’s so stupid fast through the air that you’d be needing ‘go faster’ striped gloves to keep up with it. 6 – 10 mph though, and there’s enough feel on the lines to let you know what’s going on, and easily held stalls to let you trick and freestyle away to your hearts content.

Everything happens just that bit quicker, and with lesser inputs than the bigger TC. It’s really smooth with delicate commands, but manic when you really tell it what to do. This thing can be thrashed around at lightning pace, and yet tricks and freestyle combos are really accurate and defined once the timing is under control. The balance is fantastic with very little over-steer, solid tracking and pretty much all of the current whirly, whizzy, wrappy stuff perfectly accessible along with really controlled ‘Old Skool’ capability.

It is, quite simply brilliant.

To answer the question – ‘What’s it for?’ – ‘tis just a trick kite. For flicking about in a style and fashion to match your mood. I couldn’t honestly say it’s a good competition kite, other than maybe Virtual Freestyle or Head to Head Trick-Out type stuff, there’s not enough presence to make it a good ‘show’ kite and it’s a bit too tricky / twitchy for a good ballet. Just for fun then – Ah yes, and what fun! It’s not so much ‘smooth and flowing’ like some freestylers with a curve to the leading edge, more ‘Spiky Death Machine’ but it all hangs together really nicely. Sweet.

A note of caution – If the dead spot in the flare caused issues on the full size CTC, the same issues are here – well worth working around, but there none-the-less. I’ve also got a slight issue with the sail material. It is gorgeous stuff to be sure, and on the SUL ‘Ghost’ works beautifully. This however, is a ‘more or less’ standard weight kite, and it’s a bit, ermmm… delicate. Mine had sail damage after flying over some ‘slightly spiky’ grass and had to be patched up a bit. Nothing serious at all, but maybe not quite as robust as PC31.

OK, all’s well and good and this’ll be a go-to trick fest for a while yet. It’s not going to suit everyone, but if you liked the CTC range, and can keep up with the pace – the CTC XS is absolutely awesome.

Bryan

What’s it for?
(Other than flying manically around the sky in a ‘falling with style’ kind of way.)

For a good while, team CR and their sponsored fliers were all conquering within competitive kiting in the UK. There was however, a young Padawan learner lurking in the background.

Slowly but surely, most of the CR fliers stopped competing due to pairs splitting up and individuals getting proper jobs and going to college and such. This left the young Padawan to become a Master in his own right, and ‘Le Petit Phenomenon’ took control of the competition kite scene. There were a few freestyle fliers pushing just about hard enough to keep trick skills and style moving forward, without actually mounting a serious challenge, but essentially Chris was all conquering.

A slightly shorter while ago, a resurgence in freestyle flying saw a rise in prominence of ‘other’ fliers, and there was a redefinition in what was perceived as cool. More to the point, Chris had some competition.

Now throughout this time, the CR Fury 1.0 and later the CR Fury .85 were the competition kites of choice for team CR. The trickier .85 does have limitations in some of the more recently proclaimed en vogue tricks and freestyle combinations though, and hence Chris set about filling some gaps in the repertoire and it would seem the Element represents the culmination of this work.

What’s the design and build quality like?

The first thing that strikes the eye is the lack of depth in the sail in comparison to most of the more recent trick kites available. Old Skool has become in fashion again, and the flat aspect here certainly helps in that regard. There’s no other dramatically striking or new design features to be found. Yo-yo stops, leach line with variable tension options, long leader lines and a bit of weighting round and about, and that’s about it. Nothing fussy or overly complicated. There’s a funky shape to the trailing edge though, something to do with holding lines in place for turtle spin moves.

Taken from the info available via the Kite Related Design website…

• Wingspan: 220cm
• Height: 84cm
• Weight: 265 grms with 1 x 15 grm tail weight
• Sail: Icarex PC31
• Bridle: 3 point fully adjustable
• Frame: Aerostuff Blue-S / P200.

The Element is built to a similar standard to pretty much anything else that comes out of the CR studio. That’s as much as to say ‘pretty much as good as it gets’. Quite beautifully put together then.

There’s nothing particularly pretty in the construction, it’s all ever so – functional, industrial even, built for a purpose. There’s cable ties for yo-yo stops (4 of ‘em each side BTW), brass tubing for ballast and rock solid straight seams to accommodate the foldy over type joins. The whole thing is, in essence, Urban. It’s build in London, from girders and ‘Damn’ but it works.

So, how does it fly?

The simple answer is ‘Pretty much any way you want it to’.

The Element will track a pretty straight line, carve a steady curve and cut a sharp, accurate corner. All of this takes some pretty acute handling though, ‘cos over cook an input and all sorts of strange things happen. That’s alright though, because this wasn’t really designed for straight forward, regular flight. It was, as Chris said when I asked the other day, designed for freestylin’ and trick competitions. So…

…Ok, spin moves are really spinny and flat moves are extremely flat. Pitch action is, well, ever-so pitchy and the sharp, angular stuff is – you guessed it – sharp and angular.

There is, in built, pretty much every trick in the book, with the vast majority of currently en-vogue stuff reasonably straight forward to dial in to. Nice. In a light wind with gentle inputs this all happens in a smooth and slow fashion. Hit the thing a bit harder however, and it’s all lightning quick. It’ll comete, as an example, just as fast and sharp as you’re hands will go. Truth is, there’ll be not many able to keep up and the result will be a wildly spinning dervish of a thing. No problem though, ‘cos recovery from all sorts of positions is a given.

With a bit of pressure in the sail, the whole thing moves forward a pace, and without some serious footwork, everything is again a blur of whizzing sticks and ripstop. Big fun

There’s a few quirks, anomalies, (some will call them annoyances – not me though ;-)) that will take some getting used to. A dead spot just past horizontal in the flare for example, that doesn’t come back to life again for a while, and quite fussy half axels and cascades. Gorgeous when you hit it, but different from most other modern designs. See through and persist a bit though, and the rewards are rich and fruitful. It’s well worth the effort.

Ok, enough already. There’s no way the Element will be to the taste of everyone, but the hardcore freestyler and trick artiste will grow to love it to bits. It is in summary, a grin inducing trick monsty that’s staying in the ‘A’ bag for a while. No question.

Bryan

What you get:

The kite has a moderate aspect ratio, 2.34m tip-to-tip with a height of 81.5cm, and is framed using a combination of SkyShark and Exel carbon. For the technically inclined, the framing scheme is 5PT spine, P200 ULE, 5PT LLE, 7PT LS and 5mm Exel for the US. The sail comprises an astounding 36 individual panels, most of which are outlined with a fine black tape as seen on some R-Sky designs. Given the complexity of the sail, the stitching is absolutely top-notch – the seams are relatively narrow but not once does the stitching stray off the panel edges or even deviate from the center of the overlapping material. The intricate outlining and large number of panels gives the kite a lovely stained-glass look without being overly busy. The nose is particularly well done, being robust looking but also snag-free.

The Seven gets a big panel of mylar reinforcement around the standoffs and along the spine up to the center T region. Some novel features also appear including an extra layer of material on the LE at the wingtips, a leech line that is adjusted at the LS fitting, and a double end-cap that sits atop the spine within the nose webbing. Bridle is a reverse turbo with angle-of-attack adjustments done at the ULE fitting. You also get a very nicely made weight kit which covers 5-25 gram ballast in 5 gram increments. The weights themselves are brass rods with a metal stopper attached to the end – a simple idea that works well and means that weights are easy to change on-the-go. R-Sky stoppers facilitate yoyo based tricks.

How it performs:

The Seven very quickly struck me as a competition oriented kite that happens to be very user-friendly. The framing scheme works well, giving the kite a nice solid feel even during aggressive moves such as a fast comete cascade, while the default bridle setting produces an even forward drive without over-steer or unreasonable pull. Using the default leech line tension, tracking is very good although not quite up to the benchmark Nirvana. The kite emits an inoffensive hum in moderate winds which ramps up to a loud buzz in high winds.

All the basic tricks are there in spades and easily accessible without quirks: axel, half axel, half axel cascade, 540, slot machine, lazy susan. The Seven is forgiving with moves that are sometimes difficult or idiosyncratic on other kites: inverse, taz machine, wap do wap, comete, rolling cascade, backspin cascade, and single-pop 1.5 rotation lazies. The crazy copter prefers the nose to be very “nose-away” before the spin rotation is given (like a Deep Space), but once you’ve got that dialed in, the Seven will spin around happily. Oh, and if you’re looking to learn to Jacob’s ladder, this kite makes it a doddle. 15g ballast is installed stock and I felt that this didn’t need adjusting for my tastes – the kite pitches quite quickly and pitching in high winds is no trouble at all. In fact, yoyo based moves are where the Seven shines and this is where I had the most fun. Start a JL, yoyo, half lewis to unroll, backspin, yoyo, half lewis to unroll, backspin…immense fun!

Special mention must be given to the kite’s tricking speed. The Seven moves between positions at a relatively low speed and this is particularly noticeable when stringing together combination’s. I think that this trait might help people who find smaller kites too lively and twitchy; I’d expect the Seven to really help people who are aiming to learn moves such as the JL and the improvisations that extend beyond the JL. The slow pace of transitions gives the pilot’s grey matter more time to keep up with what the kite is doing.

The kite’s low wind range is as good as can be expected; things start to become a lot of work in 3mph, and 5mph is where the Seven starts to play nice. I’ve also given the kite a torture-test in 25-30mph and while the kite roars along quite raucously, I didn’t feel like the kite was going to explode mid-air. The LLEs did bend inwards to a worrying extent though, and at times the kite took on an almost dog-legged Prism Alien look to it.

What the future holds:

It must be said that I’m a bit of a nightmare for kite builders when it comes to the finer points of construction (I think AudioRob must still have nightmares) and ensuring that a kite withstand intense tricking. So I’ve given some suggestions to Jorgen of Sportkitedesign and he has taken these on board for future builds. New Sevens will get a keeper line on the bridle, bundled leader lines, smooth Black Diamond spreaders, fray-resistant Dacron along the trailing edge, an extra layer of mylar at the standoffs, and a more robust yoyo stopper implementation. Given these changes, the Seven will be a kite that you can buy and fly intensely straight out of the bag without worrying about how it will hold up.

Summary:

Overall: the Seven is quite a remarkable achievement for a company that is, as far as I know, a one-man operation. The kite is a great all-rounder that mixes decent precision with a heap of fun-factor when it comes to tricks. It’s not a kite that has a steep learning curve, nor should it inspire frustration at the field. If you want a kite that’s built to last, has looks that kill, and hands out tricks without fuss, the Seven might be for you.

Special thanks must go to Jorgen of Sportkitedesign for offering me the opportunity to test fly his design, it’s been a blast !

Adrian Bickerstaffe

Build Quality.

Mark (Mr. Jest of Eve) has been gaining something of a reputation over the last 12-18 months as that of a quality kite builder, and rightly so. The Talon will go some way towards cementing this reputation. The stitching and construction is excellent. The kite is beautifully made and lovingly constructed with some of the best materials around. Component parts are the PC31 Ripstop Polyester sail with Mylar reinforcing along the trailing edge, Skyshark P200 and Skyshark Black Diamond Nitro leading edges, 7pt lower spreaders and Structil for the spine and other bits.

Design and Technology

The sail graphics for the Talon are amongst the most striking on the market. There seems to be endless scope for colour themes, 3D effects and personal preferences. There have been a few Talon made already with a simply stunning, sophisticated look to them. It wouldn’t take much however, to add some fun and zest to the outlook. A word of caution though, the colorizer (found through the Jest of Eve website) can easily eat up several hours of your time. You have been warned.

A lower Aspect Ratio has been used in comparison to the Trident, so many of the over steer, pitchy issues have been addressed, and the whole effect is one of a much more balanced kite.

Technologically speaking, there’s nothing ground-breaking here. Roll bars and covered leading edges come as standard, and there’s a bit of ballast to help with the manoeuvrability. The Trident came with some neat little cones fitted to the roll bars to help stop the lines slipping during wrapped moves. This has been improved further with a ‘Slip Catch’. This is a small protrusion from the yo-yo stopper fitting (where the roll bars fit into the leading edge), and it seems to work pretty well.

Flight Characteristics

Enough of the arty stuff, how does it work?

Well, pretty nicely. There’s not too much pull and the sail catches the wind effectively enough, so little wind is needed to get the thing working. The 3 point active bridle makes it pretty responsive and it holds a line quite well. So well in fact, that I would suspect that a scaled up version would make a passable precision kite.

Precision however, is not really what the Talon is all about so lets talk freestyle. All of the basic positions are easily accessible. There’s a stable fade, solid if not deep turtle, easy pancake with the flick of the wrists and recovery is predictable. Axel based stuff is sharp with stabby inputs, and flat and soft with a more delicate approach. Combining the 2 makes for some delightful combinations of Cascades, Cometes and Taz Machines, with multi-spins flat and smooth. Similar can be said of 540′s and Slot Machines. Aggressive inputs give really quick spins, whilst smoother, more controlled action does offer a really pleasing “Old Skool” Style.

Backspin moves and combos are very tidy, and lead into one of the very finest Barrel Rolls I’ve seen. Just get it spinning, apply some pressure to the active hand, and keep it there. Pull harder for a fast roll, lessen the tension for a slow one. Release and catch whenever you’re ready. Sweet. Turtle based spins are not the Talons’ forte, but they are a lot more achievable than the previous Jest if Eve design. Lazy Susans (with multi-spins from a single input), Rolling Susans and Inverses come at a snap, as do Insanes and Rolling Cascades, but whilst reversing these moves (ala Cynique / Insane L/R) are perfectly do-able they’re just not as easy as most of the other moves. This is down to the depth and stability of the Turtle and the pitch characteristics, which brings us on to … Roll-ups are a pleasure, as many as you like, real quick and concise, or slow, smooth and flowing. This inbuilt pitch also enables Yo-Fades and Crazy Copters, and all of the variants to come quite comfortably with the right inputs.

To compare and contrast

There seems to be a wealth of fantastic kites available to the serious and recreational flier alike just now, so how does the Talon compare. Well to start with, this is as well, if not better made as any. Bar none. It’s right up there with Benson, CR and Sky Sport Design. The price for a bespoke, boutique kite is about right, and whilst there are cheaper, mass produced, options available, the Talon certainly represents value for money for what it is. In flight, the Talon flows like a Benson Deep Space. It’s nothing like as crisp, but more spin friendly and pitchy than a CR Fury .85, or RSky Nirvana. It’s not all French in its Turtle bias, but backspins and Barrel Rolls like a dream. All told, the Talon is a really accomplished freestyler, with a sleek and silky transitional style punctuated with a sharp and defined aspect. Just this reviewer’s opinion, but “sweet” indeed.

Bryan

Perhaps you have heard that Tim Benson was updating the Gemini ? What would it be like ? Would it be a whole new kite or just the old one with rollbars ? Recently I got the privilege of finding out when Frazer loaned me his brand new, updated Gemini. It came with a price though I had to write about it. Being a big fan of Tim’s kites this was more of an honor than a task.

I remember the excitement the first Gemini produced, as Andy Wardley gave the kiting world tidbits of its development. This was going to be a radically new kite with a radically new bridle that in 1999 would change the kiting world. Though it didn’t bring world peace it did create a standard that all new kites after that were measured by. The Gemini was stable in flight yet a radical trickster as well. Reviews referred to it as ‘an instant classic’. The quality of construction, unique design, and excellence in performance made the Gemini one of those rare breed kites that kept its appeal for years to come. But time marches on.

New tricks were created; tricks that exposed the weaknesses of the Gemini. Though the Gemini really is a classic, it began to show its age. Almost everyone has one, yet we pull it out when we want to remember, not when we want to learn new tricks.

Thus, what would a new Gemini fly like ? Tim has already proven that he can keep up with the newest trends with his Deep Space. What would he do with making a new Gemini ? Over the years a few designers have had the pleasure of updating a popular design. Usually the result would be a new kite. I recall one that simply took the old name and tagged it onto a new completely different design.

What joy it was flying the new Gemini and discovering it still is a Gemini. It took me back nine years to that first day of flying the original. What Tim has done in his masterful way is to keep the strengths of the original and improve its weaknesses. And improve them he has. What a thrill it was in flight. Though it was a day that was way too cold to be outside flying, it was such a joy flying the Gemini that I forgot about the temperature; I forgot that I can’t do a taz machine. I was lost in popping effortless backspins (or rotofades as folks on this side of the pond use to call them back when the Gemini first came out). I was lost in popping one of my favorite tricks, a trick that few of the new kites do with ease – double axels. And like the original, beautiful flatspins. As I moved to the newer tricks I was amazed at the ease and speed which it does rolls up. The rollbars work perfectly catching the lines even when my execution was less than perfect. I soon was lost in the thrill of flying a kite that I remembered well, yet performed as if it was ten years younger and made to meet the demands of today’s standards.

There’s no need to write about quality, because it is a Benson. Tim has and still builds masterpieces in regards to construction. BTW, as I compared this brand new gem with my original that is over eight years old, the only way to tell them apart was the dirt on the old one. There are no signs of construction breakdown, even in the bridle-with its ‘tangled crossover legs’ that many complained had premature wear, somehow mine shows no signs of wear.

Enough of that, what I’m sure you really want to know are the intricate details of how this Gemini is different. More to the point, does it warrant replacing your Gemini. I contacted Tim to get the full scoop from him. Tim shared that from the very beginning this modification was meant to do much more than add rollbars. The frame has changed from Structil to Skyshark rods.

“I wanted to keep the roll bar connector at the ferrule point (like on the Deep Space), it makes production much easier and allows easy access should the connector need replacing, I couldn’t find an effective method of achieving this using Structil but with Skyshark and the internal ferrule it solves the problem. It also helps solve the problem of leading edge breakage. The new set up still retains the core features of the old Gem like flat axels, backspins and general floaty laid back style, but the stiffer frame gives it a more responsive feel and gives an added durability, especially with ground work and hard tip stands.”

Besides the change in rods the kite also got a ‘tummy tuck’. I didn’t notice it at first. It wasn’t until I pulled out the old and switched back and forth between the kites. This new one seemed slightly smaller ? Tim kept the sail the same size and shape but trimmed the spines, top spreader and leading edges. The leading edges are now about 5 cm shorter than the original. With these changes the kite will easily roll up without adding any weights. Of course there are now the usual improvements to the sail’s leading edges, a neat trim nose, with glides over each edge connector.

I asked Tim to describe what changes were made to the wing tips; here is what he said,

“Yes the wing tips are the same style as the Deep Space, the leach line is stitched secure inside the tip, the internal stiffener is to prevent buckling or scrunching from the pull of the leach line, it also provides extra reinforcing for the wing tip tensioning cord. There is also internal reinforcement on all the leading edge covers, not sure how best to describe those BTW, they’re more of a “glide” than a cover I suppose, they have the same effect of course. I am now also machining down the lower connector to give a smoother tension on the sail around the lower cut out.”

One other change from the original is the lower spreader. It is now a three piece spreader with a center section with long internal solid rods for support. All these little changes have a very positive effect on the kite. Though it still feels and flies like a Gemini, it’s a little quicker. Turns have a touch more snap to them. There’s just a touch of over-steer, so that it does not have the rail like tracking of the original, but who flies a Gemini just for precision? I didn’t notice this until I was switching back and forth between the old and the new.

As mentioned in the beginning, it excels at rotational tricks: backspins, axels, double axels, flatspins and slot machines. Oh, and course flic-flacs, and cascades. Now the rollup tricks are added to its repertoire. Though it still doesn’t sit deep in a turtle, and the Jacob ladders still requires a light touch. I doubt there’s a trick that the kite will not do. But it’s not what the kite will do that makes it special, its HOW it does them. What this kite has that makes it stand out is that intangible – personality. I’ve flown a few kites that were easer to trick but were boring to fly. Tim’s new creation has that trademark he puts in all his kites, that when one flies it the way it was meant to be flown it captures the flyer. This is not a kite to just use to learn a new trick, it’s a kite to enjoy, to experience, to forget about what you can’t do and let it flow from one move to the next and even to those moves that have no name that you can’t repeat. It’s far more than just a pair of rollbars on an old classic. To anyone that enjoyed flying the original Gemini, you will love how Tim has updated it. I can’t wait to be able to get my own.

Vented kites don’t work they’re not fit for purpose!

‘Tis only an opinion, but an opinion shared by many. So let’s have a look, and try to define what that purpose may be.

Light weight kites are designed to fly in light winds, and standard weight kites for flying in erm standard winds. So a vent then, is supposed to perform in stronger winds right ?

Well yes, obviously, but there comes a point where (for the purposes of slack line freestyle) it doesn’t make much difference just how big, or how many vents there are, or how heavy the framing for that matter. Pressure in the sail caused by too much wind simply takes away the slack in the lines before the flier has had any chance what-so-ever to do anything with it.

Slow, floaty Taz Machine Cascades in the middle of a 25mph wind window! forget it, unless you can run forward at 15mph throughout the duration of the move.

The purpose then, so far as I can see, is to relieve some sail pressure at the point where a STD sail starts to become uncomfortable to continue Freestylie. Straight lines and carved turns are worthy of a different conversation, but we’re talking Trick Style here, so let’s have a look and see if the new Jest of Eve creation for the Talon family is fit for that purpose.

First and foremost, this is a Jest of Eve kite. They are built; beautifully, and this is no exception. Second, it’s a “Talon”; which makes it designed for free flowing, smooth and unadulterated freestyle. Turn off “competition mode”, engage “informality” and let’s go.

The styling is sublime. End of paragraph.

This is one gorgeous piece of flying sculpture. The positioning and shape of the vents complement the already dreamy sail design really nicely, and the continued option to design your own colour schemes leaves open seemingly endless variations to suit.

Icarex PC31 sail with plenty of reinforcements, Skyshark P200 and Black Diamond Nitro (Strong) leading edges and 7PT lower spreaders all add up to make a pretty solid structure. There’s some weighting round and about to help the overall balance, and all of the usual “Talon” features are built in; “Roll Bars” with “Slip Catches” included.

So then, is it – in fact any good ?

Well, yes. Yes it is!

The UL Talon is a dreamlike experience with all its silky delicacies, yet it handles some serious inputs with allure. This’ll get you up to around 7mph winds, much more and you’re into serious footwork to stay comfortable. The STD has a sharper, more concise feel and freestyle flow transition is superb. Anything much over 12mph winds though and again, work is required. Sure it’ll fly in stronger winds, just less fluid.

What the new Vent does, is it makes that 12mph feel like 6mph pressure on the end of the lines, 20mph feel like 14 without losing the feel and responsiveness the Talon has. It’s quite simply, in the context of the Jest of Eve flying style, brilliant.

At this point, I could start to whittle on a bit about what the Talon can, and can’t do. I could reel off a great list of moves and combos that come built in (Crazy Copters are awesome btw. ;-) ), and some that are less accessible, but let’s cut it short. This ain’t no TP or precision flight tool, but it is freestyle Avalon. The Vent will allow you to stay there just a bit longer.

Sweet.

Bryan Beasley