Monday, January 11, 2010
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
Friday, October 30, 2009
Review from Ken S.
Kinsley-
Thanks for the opportunity to demo the 2010 Waroo last week. What a blast! After all the talk I was expecting a lot of performance from the kite and it was even better then I expected! Right from the start, the power was sure and the feel was responsive. The first time I sent the kite and boosted, it just felt so solid. The hang time was amazing! I am eager to fly it again.
All the best,
Ken S.
Thanks for the opportunity to demo the 2010 Waroo last week. What a blast! After all the talk I was expecting a lot of performance from the kite and it was even better then I expected! Right from the start, the power was sure and the feel was responsive. The first time I sent the kite and boosted, it just felt so solid. The hang time was amazing! I am eager to fly it again.
All the best,
Ken S.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Ken Krall on 2010 BEST 9m Waroo
Here is a video of Ken Krall riding the new 2010 Underground Freewaves and 2010 BEST Waroo 9m.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvcfV27htxE&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvcfV27htxE&feature=player_embedded
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday October 25, 2009
NW 17 to 25mph wind kicked in around 2:30 p.m. I was getting mega jumps and loops on the BEST 2010 9m Waroo all afternoon long! Super fun.
Jamie just got back from San Diego and she jumped on the 9m Waroo around 6 p.m. Wind dropped down to about 12mph and she still managed to get some nice jump on the Waroo!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Jon Elick testing Waroo 2010 9m October 22, 2009
Here is a short video clip of Jon Elick testing the Waroo 2010 9m! Jon loved the new Waroo 2010 kite!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
More of BEST WAROO 2010 Reviews here
Here is a link to http://www.kiteboardingreview.com 's BEST Waroo 2010 Reviews
I've used the Waroo for the past three seasons, 09-07, and I've been impressed with every one except the 08 which i thought was just a little too different from what I had come to expect from the marque.
I'm not the worlds greatest rider, far from it, but I'm comfortable cruising around in the flat and waves and throwing the occasional 'big-air'. Of course I probably think they are bigger than they are, but i guess that's the benefit of the smooth landings and good hangtime that I'm used to with the Waroo.
On opening my new 11m I was surprised, the kite is a very different shape, swept back wingtips, more Dacron in the wingtips and it now has Best's Twister Tech sewn into the leading edge. Once you inflate the Waroo you immediately notice that it has a very different shape- they call it a Delta Wingtip design, and it does look quite Delta, though maybe not as lo-profile as the F-one Deltas and the North kites. It looks like a halfway house between the old Waroo and the current Kahoona, and I have a 7.5m Kahoona, so I like the idea.
I self launched the first time out and like the Kahoona it rolls over in the sand onto a wingtip nicely, much better than the old Waroo for doing a drag launch at 90 degrees to the wind. In the air it feels rock solid, flicking the kite side to side with pretty slack back lines it feels like it might not be as fast as last years kite, funny thing is it feels like it has more 'rhythm'. It's like Salsa dancing with my boyfriend, there's a definite flow to the proceedings, you can't rush it, but once you get into the rhythm you feel mentally connected, like both of you move as one. (Of course If you'd ever seen Chris and I Salsa you'd know that's not strictly true).
I sessioned the kite for half an hour in moderate 15-20knots winds, i found the depower comfortable, the bar throw is the same as last year and if anything it feels like it is a little more 'gutsy' at the bottom end. Like the Kahoona you can ride it slow across the bottom end, the Waroo always needed a little more flight speed to give up its low end secret. The 2010 Waroo definitely feels very different depending on where in the depower range you have it, with back lines loose and the kite depowered it will reach right out around the edge of the window, almost sitting in dead space as it hauls you upwind. From this high upwind position it can be quite unresponsive to steering input. Once you pull the bar back a little and bring the kite back into the window your control over the kite opens up and it becomes much more lively and responsive to bar input. Maybe they designed it this way so it feels a little more sedate for beginners who aren't going to ride it powered up, while the experienced guys can still get it to perform for them. I think this variability might take some getting used to, I'm not against the added flexibility, but there's no mention of this anywhere on the Best website and neither did my dealer say anything.
After a drink break I headed out again with Chris, who had rigged the back lines on the AA settings, even though the manual said not to. The kite felt a little tighter and righter, certainly more responsive to first steering input. Now it timed more like I'd expect from a Waroo, I didn't feel like I was riding a completely new kite, the timing on my jumps started coming more naturally and I'm sure it has a little more float than the 09.
We spent the rest of the afternoon chasing the waves down the bay, we always drop the truck off downwind and bum a ride off one of Chris's buds if the wind direction is suitable. With the kite on AA and heading down wind I really felt like I was making progress, I'm not great in the waves, I've only been riding strapless since we went to Cozumel this summer and I think my Slingshot 5'4 has just a little too much volume for me. I love the waves though, you never know what's coming next and I adore how it feels when you connect your turns and start to flow from top to bottom. The new Waroo feels better in the waves than the old one, it didn't pull me over the nose so much in transitions, helping me make more turns without taking a bath. I did need to think about what I was doing before I did it, holding the power on before a turn- but once you get into the groove it felt really....fluid!
I took a bath on several occasions, once getting tumbled away from my board. It's no trouble to drag back upwind, the lighter bar feel helps and so does the upwind ability. the couple of times I put my new Waroo in the water I never struggled to get it back up, far from it, it's not Kahoona fast to relaunch, but it's close enough.
I can't tell you what my new Waroo is like to kite-loop, I'm not there yet. It flies well, a little different to my expectations. It has great upwind, depower and stability. I think the new graphics suck, I like 'flying the fish', being part of the Best crew certainly appeals to me, we have lots of Best riders locally and this kite is going to sink into the background visually. It's not about the looks though, right? (Yeh try telling that to Chris and the boys). The current bar is a disappointment, Best have been left behind in the bar design stakes, the lines are great though. Build quality is first class, Chris had to replace a valve cap on his kite out of the bag though.
Overall I like it, it feels like progress, but maybe they should have called it the Waroona....!
XX
Dee
I've used the Waroo for the past three seasons, 09-07, and I've been impressed with every one except the 08 which i thought was just a little too different from what I had come to expect from the marque.
I'm not the worlds greatest rider, far from it, but I'm comfortable cruising around in the flat and waves and throwing the occasional 'big-air'. Of course I probably think they are bigger than they are, but i guess that's the benefit of the smooth landings and good hangtime that I'm used to with the Waroo.
On opening my new 11m I was surprised, the kite is a very different shape, swept back wingtips, more Dacron in the wingtips and it now has Best's Twister Tech sewn into the leading edge. Once you inflate the Waroo you immediately notice that it has a very different shape- they call it a Delta Wingtip design, and it does look quite Delta, though maybe not as lo-profile as the F-one Deltas and the North kites. It looks like a halfway house between the old Waroo and the current Kahoona, and I have a 7.5m Kahoona, so I like the idea.
I self launched the first time out and like the Kahoona it rolls over in the sand onto a wingtip nicely, much better than the old Waroo for doing a drag launch at 90 degrees to the wind. In the air it feels rock solid, flicking the kite side to side with pretty slack back lines it feels like it might not be as fast as last years kite, funny thing is it feels like it has more 'rhythm'. It's like Salsa dancing with my boyfriend, there's a definite flow to the proceedings, you can't rush it, but once you get into the rhythm you feel mentally connected, like both of you move as one. (Of course If you'd ever seen Chris and I Salsa you'd know that's not strictly true).
I sessioned the kite for half an hour in moderate 15-20knots winds, i found the depower comfortable, the bar throw is the same as last year and if anything it feels like it is a little more 'gutsy' at the bottom end. Like the Kahoona you can ride it slow across the bottom end, the Waroo always needed a little more flight speed to give up its low end secret. The 2010 Waroo definitely feels very different depending on where in the depower range you have it, with back lines loose and the kite depowered it will reach right out around the edge of the window, almost sitting in dead space as it hauls you upwind. From this high upwind position it can be quite unresponsive to steering input. Once you pull the bar back a little and bring the kite back into the window your control over the kite opens up and it becomes much more lively and responsive to bar input. Maybe they designed it this way so it feels a little more sedate for beginners who aren't going to ride it powered up, while the experienced guys can still get it to perform for them. I think this variability might take some getting used to, I'm not against the added flexibility, but there's no mention of this anywhere on the Best website and neither did my dealer say anything.
After a drink break I headed out again with Chris, who had rigged the back lines on the AA settings, even though the manual said not to. The kite felt a little tighter and righter, certainly more responsive to first steering input. Now it timed more like I'd expect from a Waroo, I didn't feel like I was riding a completely new kite, the timing on my jumps started coming more naturally and I'm sure it has a little more float than the 09.
We spent the rest of the afternoon chasing the waves down the bay, we always drop the truck off downwind and bum a ride off one of Chris's buds if the wind direction is suitable. With the kite on AA and heading down wind I really felt like I was making progress, I'm not great in the waves, I've only been riding strapless since we went to Cozumel this summer and I think my Slingshot 5'4 has just a little too much volume for me. I love the waves though, you never know what's coming next and I adore how it feels when you connect your turns and start to flow from top to bottom. The new Waroo feels better in the waves than the old one, it didn't pull me over the nose so much in transitions, helping me make more turns without taking a bath. I did need to think about what I was doing before I did it, holding the power on before a turn- but once you get into the groove it felt really....fluid!
I took a bath on several occasions, once getting tumbled away from my board. It's no trouble to drag back upwind, the lighter bar feel helps and so does the upwind ability. the couple of times I put my new Waroo in the water I never struggled to get it back up, far from it, it's not Kahoona fast to relaunch, but it's close enough.
I can't tell you what my new Waroo is like to kite-loop, I'm not there yet. It flies well, a little different to my expectations. It has great upwind, depower and stability. I think the new graphics suck, I like 'flying the fish', being part of the Best crew certainly appeals to me, we have lots of Best riders locally and this kite is going to sink into the background visually. It's not about the looks though, right? (Yeh try telling that to Chris and the boys). The current bar is a disappointment, Best have been left behind in the bar design stakes, the lines are great though. Build quality is first class, Chris had to replace a valve cap on his kite out of the bag though.
Overall I like it, it feels like progress, but maybe they should have called it the Waroona....!
XX
Dee
October 21, 2009 - 9m Waroo 2010 tested by Kinsley ThomasWong, John S. and Scott M.
Kinsley ThomasWong: It was my second day on the Waroo 9m 2010. Wind was 22 gust 27mph on the beach. I am 70 Kg (155lbs). Another one of the best sessions ever! I feel like I was paragliding! My jumps were so big and high. At one time as my friend Ken passed by and I was higher than his kahoona 7.5m. Will have to get someone videotape me tomorrow if the wind stays strong like today.
I came in and let Scott M. demo the Waroo 9m. When Scott took the Waroo 9m 2010 out, wind was measured 14m gust 16mph on the beach. Scott M. is 180 lbs. You can see him on this quick movie that I just made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYeXrJ2OJMM
John S. also got to tried the Waroo 9m 2010 today and he immediately bought one. He came in with a big huge smile and said: I NEED THIS KITE!
I came in and let Scott M. demo the Waroo 9m. When Scott took the Waroo 9m 2010 out, wind was measured 14m gust 16mph on the beach. Scott M. is 180 lbs. You can see him on this quick movie that I just made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYeXrJ2OJMM
John S. also got to tried the Waroo 9m 2010 today and he immediately bought one. He came in with a big huge smile and said: I NEED THIS KITE!
First Post of Waroo 2010 9m Review by Kinsley ThomasWong
2010 BEST WAROO 9m from Xtreme BigAir on Vimeo.
I am super stoked and excited about the new BEST Waroo 2010 kite! Yesterday, I kited on the new 2010 Waroo 9m for a few hours and my friend Peter D. got some of the actions on video that you might want to check it out.
I know some of you have been loving those DELTA Shape kites for wave riding and its relaunch instantly ability: BEST Kahoona, Waiman, and F-One kites but if you are an intermediate riders, you did not like the high bar pressure on those kites because they kill your elbow and shoulder. So look no further as the BEST WAROO 2010 is the kite for you: its new delta shape gives the Waroo the SUPERB STABILITY like the Kahoona.
The 2010 Waroo has light bar pressure that does not kill your elbow or shoulder but still turns quickly on the wing tip as well as smooth power transition so you will love shredding the waves with the Waroo 2010.
Those of you into BIGAIRs and BIG HANG TIME: my session yesterday confirmed that the Waroo 2010 lives up to Xtreme BigAirs name. Grant E. watched me jumped on my first jump and he said it was very big jump but I hang up there forever like a balloon. Personally, I do feel that the Waroo 2010 does hang me longer in the air a few second or more than the BEST NXG 2010 10m. Unhooked wakestyle and Kiteloops with the Waroo is going to blow your mind as the kite is super stable and smooth.
Come and demo the Waroo 2010 with us. You owe it to yourself to try out the Waroo 2010 as I want to see your big smile while riding the Waroo 2010 kites! Call me at 805.574.9200 to arrange a demo ride on the new Waroo 2010 kites!
You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/7094709
2010 BEST WAROO 9m
2010 BEST WAROO 9m from Xtreme BigAir on Vimeo.
"2010 BEST Waroo 9m Tested by XtremeBigAir.com - Kinsley ThomasWong"
Involves Xtreme BigAir.
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