Windwing Rage II and Outrage Impressions

[OliverG]

When I first got wind, so to speak, about the new kites coming out from Windwing earlier this year I was right away interested as they are a long-established company and have a reputation for performance, bomber gear and great R&D. Among the windsurfing crowd here in the Bay there has always been a strong presence of Windwing windsurfing gear designed by former UC research physicist Bill Hansen who started designing Windwing sails in Berkeley in 1982. So there's a cool local connection for you, and if you're interested, you can read more about this low-profile innovator with profound knowledge here. Check it out, it's a great and interesting read on all levels.

The kites are all designed by Bill Hansen, Windwing's sail and kite designer and are the result of years of in-house R&D and are new designs utilizing the latest features and technologies. Comforting to know and what that means is that their designs are always new and not purchased designs from third-parties. Just like the "big" kite companies, they can constantly tweak and refine their kites and not be reliant on any outside sources.

You can check out photos of the Outrages here and photos of the Rage II's here.

After the new kites, the Rage II and the Outrage, were announced and available, I decided to give them a shot as I had been considering switching brands over the Winter and a few seemingly unrelated events coincided indicating that it was meant to be. I hoped that my instinct was right. So I ordered the Rage II's in sizes 8m, 10m, 12m and 14m and later the Outrage in sizes 10m and 14m.

After receiving the kites, myself and others who checked them out, were impressed by the construction, which appears to be bomber without being too heavy, the features and the color designs. All the kites have a continuous curve leading edge rather than a segmented leading edge, creating a smooth leading edge that is smaller in diameter on the Outrages than the Rapture, which seems to be consistent with high-aspect and mod-aspect kites.

The kites can be flown in any one of three different configurations - fixed-line mode, with the JumpStart relaunch bridle system and with the SAFE bridle system. So far I've flown the Rage II, their mid-aspect kite in sizes 12m and 14m and the Outrage, their high-aspect kite in the 10m and 14m size. I flew the kites in both fixed-line mode and with the SAFE bridles. It looks like we'll be seeing more frequent wind here soon, so I'm stoked to fly some of the other sizes of both models.

The Rage II's are smooth, all-around performance kites. They generate good low-end grunt, turn quickly on their axis', and are predictable and lot's fun to ride. This is a kite that is suited for all levels. A beginner will like it's predictable behavior, smooth power, low-end grunt and vast depower using the SAFE bridles. Intermediate and advanced riders will like this kite for waves, freestyle and wake moves, kiteloops and even snowkiting. It doesn't provide the same level of hang-time or jump as big as the Outrage, but that's not what it was designed for and everything else makes up for it. I'm looking forward to more frequent, consistent winds here in the San Francisco Bay so i can spend more time on these kites. They inspire confidence.

The Outrage's are high-performance, high-aspect kites. I first flew the 10m Outrage on a windy day at Sherman Island on the Delta and it gave me what I was looking for in this type of kite which was big air and hang-time. I flew it in fixed line mode, as I hadn't yet hooked up the SAFE bridles and was too psyched to get on the water to bother with at the time. The Outrages turn on a wingtip rather than on axis and fly through the window faster than the Rage II's, which in experienced hands provides fast performance and response, but on more than one occasion, I had to remind myself to keep my hands close in to the center of the bar. Too much input on the bar in high winds during rotations or jumps could be less than desirable. I then flew the 14m Outrage in moderate winds in both fixed-line and SAFE mode and was pleased with it too and had a blast, although i used the same bar as i had with the 10m Outrage - a 45cm CC bar and was wanting a wider bar, so the next time I'll use a 50cm bar.

About the bars - they have a nice feel with a narrow bar with an ergo fingertip ridge on the front of the bar and all the components and lines look nice. Before you order any bars take a moment to think about what you like for feedback in a bar. I've always liked very little resistance and fast sheetability. The CC bars are good, but offer a fair amount of resistance, even with the alternate pulley setting, which can slow your sheeting action. But that's the whole point of the CC bars is that sheeting occurs with user-input. The positive side of that is that it is a cruise-control type bar that will reduce fatigue. I typically like to ride pretty powered up so the B-Safe bar might be better for me as it's more what I'm used to, as it provides less resistance and faster sheeting action. The only complaint I have about the bars is that the pulley that the chicken loop is attached to doesn't rotate freely under load, and after doing rotations, I always have to manually rotate the pulley swivel back around to straighten out the sheeting line. It's a minor annoyance, and one that can be easily fixed I imagine.

So far, I'm stoked and feel like I made a good choice. These guys have been able to come up with a plan to be able to offer premium kites direct at great pricing. They're built well, have great features and perform really well. Having fun is what it's all about and hopefully I'll get some more time on these kites soon!

Oliver

[Guest]

Very nice review!

Comment on the CC-bar:

Twists are below the bar when spinning, simply pull the bar down with some pressure, and this untwists the sheet-lines, "everytime".

Regards,

R&D

[OliverG]

Very nice review!

Comment on the CC-bar:

Twists are below the bar when spinning, simply pull the bar down with some pressure, and this untwists the sheet-lines, "everytime".

Regards,

R&D

I'll give that a try. I haven't wanted to "mash" down on the lines for fear of promoting excess wear, but if that's the way it's done, that works for me.

[Guest]

BayAreaKite,

Great! you'll find it a simple pull-down, not so much a "smash it to the bar", start off with a front or back rotation, which will give you a few twists and then pull the bar down. It should be a quick technique. Afterwards do multiple spins and try it.

regards,
R&D

[Guest]

Thanks for posting this review. I like the guy, innovation is always good and its nice to see innovative alternative to the heavily marketed standard products.

How do you compare the WW kites to the top inflatables in performance? Did you see any advantage disadvantage? I am talking about things like up wind performance, turning, stability, relaunch and the like.

[dewey]

Turnnig speed is really good for a high aspest kite, the kite shoots upwind like a dream, it's more stable than any other high aspect kite that I've flown, depowers well, relaunching........well lets just say that it's not easy, but with practice it should get easier. I'm sure the Rage 2 will relaunch easier.

[Gilloux06]

Thanks a lot for your detailed post BayareaKite !!
Some questions for Dewey:
do you mean Outrage relaunch is not so easy even with the SAFE system ?
Secondly, do you estimate that Outrage is a much more physicall kite than Rage II (or equal ?).
Last but not the least, do you think that Rage II upwind ability is almost as great as Outrage ? Best regards

[dewey]

I can't say about compairing the upwind to the Rage 2, but the Outrage shoots upwind very well. The kite sits far forward and moves very fast. As for the relaunch well... it's a high aspect kite, so they are more difficult to relaunch. The safe system will help, but in this regard the Rage 2 is way better. I don't think it's a more physical kite, because it will handle gusts better and isn't as grunty. It's very stable for a high aspect kite. I'm sure the Rage 2 is even more stable. As far as high aspect kites go this is one of the easiest to fly. Seem to be very forgiving, just remember I'm compairing the Outrage to other high aspect kites, not medium aspect.

[feixaq]

Thanks for your review of the WW kites, Ollie. I've been mulling over R2 vs OR for a couple of months now, and finally bit the bullet -- ended up ordering the R2 12 and 8, plus a 50cm CC bar, to replace my older kites. Hopefully I'll get to fly them this weekend, but meanwhile, I have to say that WW's order fulfillment system is great! I ordered the kites on Saturday evening, chose standard shipping, and the kites arrived this morning (Wednesday). Amazing... I am a happy camper!

[OliverG]

A few more notes on the Outrage 10.

I rode this kite in fairly lit up conditions at Alameda today and it really occured to me how powerful this kite is. This kite, like many high AR kites, is a high-strung kite and likes to be ridden lit up. Sheeting out will make this kite drop back in the window in normal fashion and positively charge forward back into the window when sheeting in generating quite a bit of power. The Rage II is smoother and more mild-mannered overall, the power is more manageable, there's more depower and sheeting in and out doesn't create as much radical change in attitude of the kite and power delivery. It's a bit mellower in that sense whereas the Outrage is more heavy-handed in it's power delivery and it flies through the window fast and keeps generating power the whole time. The two kites provide quite a different experience from each other. Which one I pick to fly depends on my mood. The Rage II's are like a Cappucino and the Outrages are like straight Espresso.