rebel082

Further to my recent and first review of the 2008 North Rebel which was in lighter winds, luck had it that I got to test it in some stronger winds and some 2-3 ft surf. Goolwa was running some sensational wind on last weekend, Wind per the recorder at nearby station, which seemed pretty correct although we do often take a couple of knots off this station as it seems to have more wind than often actually experienced, however this day seemed spot on.

(Scroll down for top end wind review 16/09/2007)

2:30pm SW                 17 - 22
1:30pm WSW                 19 - 26
12:30pm WSW         18 - 23

Well in this type of wind the 10m Rebel excelled, all the feedback for the other session still remained, the super steady nature of this kite with a full on low grunt sensation. This grunt makes you want to cut an edge at high speed through the surf, going faster and faster, but with the full confidence that you know you can take all the power out of the kite before you hit that wave face that jacked up too quick.

In surf and higher wind this kite was at home. Fast, but not too fast, turning made the off the lip moves and rolls, aerial floaters and off the lip re-entries a super treat, you don't have to look at the kite, you just know that it will be where you want it, exactly. I can't emphasize this enough, the kite is exactly where you want it to be always, and as it has more grunt and is smaller you feel more confident in taking things further than you would with a regular kite.

Wave riding with the 2008 North Rebel seems like a dream, I turned down wind into the bottom turn and more than once had more forward speed than I wanted leading to outrunning the kite at 30 -45 degrees down wind and down the line of the wave. I thought for sure it will drop out of the sky as there was no tension in the lines for a good deal of time, this was more than one occassion, however the kite was still there in feathering back into the power.

I also started to feel confident in getting back into the air with some basic board offs, I had started to leave these trick behind with smaller kites but the hang time was great and I need to do something, so now I just need to get the board back on more often.

Bar pressure is light/medium, I really like the bar pressure as do the rest of the southcentralkiteboarders crew, the Rebel has some feedback though the bar but ride all day comfort. The 10m 2008 Rebel seems to have less pressure over all, but not super no feel pressure, which I don't really like. A comfortable bar with feedback is the best way to describe it.

Boosting is huge, the combination of more low end power and a fast turning kite means big boosting and long hang time. the hang is not as great as the 12m but that is to be expected, but it is longer than other smaller kites I have flown.

In summary I can't recommend this kite enough, I know that if you are a light weght kiter it will be your main quiver from 14 - 32 knots, if you are a heavier kiter strong winds will be seeing grinning with this in your quiver. and a 12m or 14m for your larger kite.

Next sessions reports:
I got another session in side shore storm swell about 15 knots and the kite was easily powered enough for me. again the direct feel of the kite and strking low end power was impressive. The wind then kicked up to about 27 knots at times with very sudden gusts, naturally this wind was tollerated easliy and started to make me think about jumping huge.

Another session and new reviewer
A super days kiting at Goolwa Beach South Australia with side shore (feeling like off shore) with 4 ft swell. Again initially 15-17 knots on the first run, this session I set up the steering lines back to factory plug in. I thought I had made a mistake in the wind assessment as it seemed to drop under 15 knots, even with this very light run the factory setting of the lines seemed to work fine, leading us to start to think that the 2008 Rebels are plug and play. After the short walk back up wind and I put the steering lines back shorter one knot. and then I took off again totally powered, now initially thinking that shortening a know can't make that much difference it was aparent that the wind had indeed picked back up to 15 - 20 and the Rebel 10m was lit up.
I had another great session on the kite and did initentially put it in the water for a relaunch (in the shallows just for a couple of tests) LE down the kite does relaunch easily, I did not try other positions as the surf was too good.

Having ridden the kite many times now I can confidently say that the kite, when the depower strap is out, feel and pulls you along with a lot of power and is like a C kite in essence, if you trim in the power it gradually turns into an SLE kite feel with full depower. It is a nice feeling to be able to control the power and kite feel so much.

Out the back and in some seriously nice surf the kite continued to perform beautifuly. Still the direct feel, the low end power, the perfect turning speed and when you turn down wind it just sits there patiently letting you ride the wave.

The only downer was when I lost the plot after being slammed by a lip and spinning out of control totally underflying the kite and it went down, pure rider error, then we both got worked by about a dozen waves and I washed up on the beach to reset the lines and hand it over to our super skilled and gorgeous Southcentralkiteboarders kiter Suzie.

Suzies impressions
I have asked suzie to send me a report via email, in the interum she said that she:

was very impressed with the super low end power and suddenly boosted to a new level in jumps
although it initially felt a bit strange (Suzie has been a traditional C kiter) she got used to the kite quickly
She felt that the kite had a direct feel
the depower for riding a wave was impressive

30 knots plus day:
We had a huge day on 16 Sept 2007 with extreme winds. The kite performed really well, the nearest weather station (some distance to the lighter wind usually) had a max report of 33 knots, I think that we had a regular occurance of 30+ on this day and the reports are below:
it likely did not exceed 35 at any point, as it did at the end of the day when we had finished kiting.

The 10m 2008 Rebel really performed well. super steady and maintaining the canopy shape at all times, as a 68 kg rider I really felt comfortable, although intense and having to concentrate, it was a solid feel with extra boost and super flight hand time, then just depower for the wave ride and turn out again. The stronger winds do not increase the turning speed of the kite, in fact it seems to calm down a bit which is a nice feeling as you don't have to worry about it beeing too whippy, I was still doing back rolls feeling that the kite would not go into an unepxect loop at all.
Down the line of the wave you can follow the kite as it will sit there waiting for you to finish your ride, and with less wind from your down wind run on the wave the kite turns very quickly and is still responsive to bar pressure. It is quite hard to over fly it, although I did manage this from rider error.

For a light weight rider this kite gets you to top end wind with an intense feeling over 30 knots but still in confidence and total depower. I would probably go to a 9m or 7m if the wind was 30 - 38 knots but would use this kite on a day providing about 20 up to 32 knots as first choice kite. (It will take more but as alight rider first choice on the beach). heavy riders would likely not blink an eye for these stronger winds. I could feel the ability the 10m would have to keep a heavy rider in comfort in the wind I was in today.

Noarlunga wind station:

11:30am WNW 18 - 30 kts
11:07am WNW 22 - 31 kts
11:03am N 20 - 31 kts
11:00am N 20 - 29 kts
10:31am N 19 - 33 kts
10:22am N 15 - 25 kts