2006 Vegas First Impression

[Big Al]

I recently bought a 14M & 9M 2006 North Vegas' and finally got to ride the 14M in good wind last Monday at Pt. Emery. The wind was averaging about 18-19mph with gust just a bit stronger. I weight about 190 lbs and was riding a cabal 151x skimboard.

I'll start out by saying that I am not a competent skimboarder. I bought it late last season for light winds and only used it 2X last year and I was never really comfortable with it. I had it in my car b/c I was originally planning on riding at Alameda in very light winds and didn't bother to put my twin tip in the car.

Having said that, as soon as I launched the kite I was able to get going with no problem on the skim. In two tacks I was just south of the His Lordships. At this point this point I was amazed with myself and the kite! I was riding a strapless board on a brand new kite and was cruising with no problem. The kite is very easy to fly, good feel on the bar and it turns very quickly. The depower is very nice on this kite. When you sheet out completely the kite flys well and the steering remains precise and responsive. When fully depowered, there is still some power in the kite, but very little. Not once did I get pulled off my board in the gusts which was the main problem I was having last year on the skim. Bar pressure feels like a regular med-aspect C kite, not too light, not too heavy. However, the first time I flew it, it was set on the slowest turning setting and the bar pressure was heavy. Once I changed it to the fastest turning setting, the bar pressure felt much lighter.

The construction seems pretty solid, very similar to North's 2005 kites. The high point of the build is the use of a heavier rip stop material on the trailing edge to prevent the canopy from stretching. In addition there are these oval patches on the LE seams which are supposed to reduce the LE from blowing out, which was a problem that plagued older North kites. Also, it seems that most other manufacturers 2006 C kites tend to have ultra thin leading edge and strut diameters. The 2006 Vegas does not. The LE and struts diameters are noticeably larger than most other new kites.

So far, my only qualm with this kite is the bar. I am using the 2005 5th Element bar. I really don't like the North bars. IMO, they are poorly designed and aren't very user friendly. If you're thinking about buying this kite, I HIGHLY recommend that you buy the 2006 Slingshot Profire bar (which I've also owned) instead of the North 5E bar. The SS bar is better in just about every aspect.

Anyway, once I have more time on the kites, I'll post a follow up to this
review with more comments.

Al

[bdawg]

Al,

Looking forward to more indepth review.

Blair