Latest December 2009 BEST 2010 Waroo 9m session with Kinsley ThomasWong

Another one of Kinsley ThomasWong kitesurfing at Oceano Beach, California with 2010 Underground Freewaves and BEST 2010 Waroo 9m


This review is from Best Kiteboarding Forum:

Postby ptraykovski » Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:39 am
I have used and owned all 2010 waroo sizes from 5 to 11 m.

One important note is that there are a few waroos out there with rear line pigtails that are 15 to 20 cm too short. My 11 came this way and of course backstalled and was basically unflyable until I added 20 cm. I know of one other forum member who had a similar problem. Not sure if it was one off or there are others but the reports of backstall make it seem this might the case, and from the comments I read on this forum I'm sure many people do not know how to trim a kite based on how it feels so would assume the kite is messed up if given incorrect line lengths and not know to add some rear line to prevent this. Once I added 20 cm of rear line the 11 would not back stall. I did not like 11 as I found it too slow turning. It is a very powerful kite for its size, jumps well both hooked and unhooked, but unacceptably slow turning for me. If you like the turn rate of the 11.5 kahoona (also too slow for me) but want a kite that files further forward in the window, goes upwind better and boosts better this might be it.

The 2010 waroo 9 is a pretty nice kite and I liked but did not love it. As other have mentioned It is slower turning and flying than 08/09 waroo 9 but more powerful so fits somewhere between the old 9 and 11 roos, so just a touch slow turning for it's power,not too bad really. makes it a round hooked and unhooked kiteloops plenty fast for me. it jumps very nicely with good hooked in boosting even in the middle to lower end of it's range, unlike the 9.5 kahoona which I found i needed to be pretty powered to boost good hooked jumps. I liked the new 9 for unhooked freestyle and unhooked considerably better than the older waroos.Maybe not quite as forgivng unhooked as the 9.5 kahoona, but more punchy (especially in unhooked kite loops) so I liked it better for flat and chop riding than either the kahoona 9.5 or the older waroo 9. The main negative for me was that when depowered it flies so far forward in the window i found it prone falling out of the sky. This is not an issue in flat water for me as I can keep it sheeted in and powered, but for wave riding I had numerous times where it was just too far forward and by the time I sheeted in and waited for it drop back enough into the window so I could turn it, I was out of position. Also not great tolerance for riding towards the kite, as the line become slack it tends to fall. Considerably worse than the kahoona 9.5 in this regard, which drifts back beautifully with slack lines, although the better top end of the new roo is nice when out in the waves and the wind picks up. With a 9 kite I like it to be pretty good in both waves and for flat/chop bay sailing so while this covered the the bay well the so-so wave performance is a bit of a bummer. That of course won't matter to 80% of riders who if they ever even venture out in waves will never try to turn and ride down wind.

By the time the wind is up to 7 m conditions, especially in the fall, winter and spring, I am usually in the waves so the same not great wave performance issues as the 9 make it tough kite for me. If rode mostly in the bay in windy conditions I would really like it. It boost nearly as well as the smaller nemi's, but is much more forgiving. Way better glide than older waroos so easy to land huge jumps softly. Here the slighty slower turning is an asset as for 7 m kites I found the previous one starting to get a bit too twitchy.

The biggest improvement over previous waroos in my mind is the 5. The slower turning and better low end really make this a more versatile kite than the older waroos, and it still has good stability and plenty of to end range for huge gusts. I found the old 5 to be really twitchy and have a fairly narrow wind range given that the winds that I use a 5 tend to have wide variation (upper 20s to upper 40s) . the new one is much improved and really make these somewhat crazy conditions more enjoyable feel more controlled. The too far forward issues ar still there, which could a problem for serious wave riding in really strong wind (which is pretty tough to do anyway), but it is nice to be able to have the kite go way forward in mega gusts.


So that my long opinion on the new waroo range..hope it helps . Probably other will have different impressions

ptraykovski