Interested to hear experienced kiters opinions on the best kites for old school riding. Thought about the Ozone Edge as the boost is big and hang time long. Also the Gaastra Jekyl is known for the same. Am I on the right track?
Most of the old school tricks with big hang time where mostly done with kites at full power so that both hands could be taken off the bar.The old C kites only had about 8 inches of depower at the bar so you were pretty powered up most of the time,had to slow down by edging hard instead of using the kite.When boosting they would rip you off the water so quick . Miss my Naish X2 .They were great for deadmans which is one trick I really miss.If you want to do this type of riding you need a kite that has a stopper on the trim line so the bar cannot depower when you boost and take both hands off the bar.Yes the edges are good for boosting but not no hands,they depower too much and dont have a stopper
I take my old wipikas out now n then and usually have a ball the kites are rock solid in the correct winds , I'd say the big changes are in the bar, if you look at the outline of the inferno and the bandit 5 pretty similar ,f one are known to have an affiliation with past wipikas, the north rhino was a much more scary kite, I sold it to a local, showed him how to set it up and watched in awe at the huge airs he was getting on his first couple of runs, then he told me he wasn't trying to get air
This is not old school!! The guy was ahead of his time, when Naish and Cabrinha were still doing double back roll he was unhook and handle pass...
Respect for the man that is at the origin of actual freestyle
Still have my first kite, a 2002 Wipika 11m. Unforgiving piece of sh-t :)
Also still have a North Vegas 8m from 2005. Mint condition. Doesnt get used often but when it does, I love it. Needs flat water and 25knots + to get the best out of it.
If you're into old school riding think about the switchblades fairly stable and forgiving to try the old school moves.
If you're on a budget 08 onwards are all reasonable performers.
Re Lou Wainman clip.
Wow!!
0.13 perfect transition off the lip, speechless.
1.07 and 3.34 Further evidence to refute KOTP's 'kiters carnt do full roundhouse cutbacks' theory.