Best Yarga Impressions
Posted: Wed May 05, 2004 8:30 pm
Given that the only way I was going to own a partial quiver of new kites I decided to go for the current Best Kiteboarding promotion, the 3 for 2 deal. Here in the Bay Area, I've only known of one person to have bought Best kites so far.
It seems that many are skeptical of the performance and quality of the kites and I've heard mostly negative or ambivalent comments about Best Kiteboarding. I decided to give them a fair chance so I ordered 9, 11 and 13.5 Yargas. I figured you can't go wrong with their return policy. I've been drawn toward mid, or moderate aspect kites as they seem to suit my riding style better than high-aspect kites such as the '02 Airblasts I've been riding. I like the all-around performance, even, grunty power and turning of the mod-aspect kites. My ideal quiver would have been the 04 Slingshots, but cost would have been prohibitive.
Anyway, they processed my order and shipped them out within a couple days and I got them on time. Headed out to Alameda after work for a rare windy day and spent the first 1/2 hour on an '03 Wipika Amp 16, then when winds came up a bit I pumped up the 13.5 Yarga.
I have to say, even with riding it without having tuned pigtail settings and using someone else's bar and lines, my initial feeling is that it's a nice kite. Even, steady power from bottom to top, great turning, powers upwind in the window well, good lift and hangtime. That's after a half-hour on it with no tuning and someone else's bar, so I'm looking forward to rigging my own bar and tuning it to optimum settings.
The construction looks solid as well and with the struts pumped to 6 psi and the main bladder to 6.5, it's seems very solid and structurally stable on the ground and in the air.
If the 9 and 11 fly and perform the same, I'm sure I'll be happy with the kites. I'll post more info as I get more time on them.
Oliver
It seems that many are skeptical of the performance and quality of the kites and I've heard mostly negative or ambivalent comments about Best Kiteboarding. I decided to give them a fair chance so I ordered 9, 11 and 13.5 Yargas. I figured you can't go wrong with their return policy. I've been drawn toward mid, or moderate aspect kites as they seem to suit my riding style better than high-aspect kites such as the '02 Airblasts I've been riding. I like the all-around performance, even, grunty power and turning of the mod-aspect kites. My ideal quiver would have been the 04 Slingshots, but cost would have been prohibitive.
Anyway, they processed my order and shipped them out within a couple days and I got them on time. Headed out to Alameda after work for a rare windy day and spent the first 1/2 hour on an '03 Wipika Amp 16, then when winds came up a bit I pumped up the 13.5 Yarga.
I have to say, even with riding it without having tuned pigtail settings and using someone else's bar and lines, my initial feeling is that it's a nice kite. Even, steady power from bottom to top, great turning, powers upwind in the window well, good lift and hangtime. That's after a half-hour on it with no tuning and someone else's bar, so I'm looking forward to rigging my own bar and tuning it to optimum settings.
The construction looks solid as well and with the struts pumped to 6 psi and the main bladder to 6.5, it's seems very solid and structurally stable on the ground and in the air.
If the 9 and 11 fly and perform the same, I'm sure I'll be happy with the kites. I'll post more info as I get more time on them.
Oliver