Windwing Rage II and Outrage Impressions
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 7:02 pm
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
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