Forums > Kitesurfing Gear Reviews

2018 Airush Ultra 9m

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Created by KiteBud > 9 months ago, 23 Aug 2017
DukeSilver
WA, 380 posts
9 Nov 2017 5:58AM
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Good review YB. I too am interested in a single strut for foiling so this kite is up there for sure. I currently ride Ozone kites and wish they would come out with a single strut kite. Maybe next season.

castill0jf
VIC, 563 posts
9 Nov 2017 12:51PM
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for Victoria kites shops.

Please send me a PM if you have a 12 meter for demo. I need to demo the kite before I gave you $1635.

cheers

Kraut
WA, 542 posts
9 Nov 2017 7:27PM
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What are you all getting so worked up? Anyone working in the kite industry, whether it is selling kites or providing lessons, has a conflict of interest hence is not trustworthy when it comes to recommendations. Reviews should be done by those who are kite consumers only (excluding shop riders, wanna-be pros and pros). Full stop.

If you are really interested in figuring out whether a kite floats your boat, just demo one. The only way to reliably tell.

The wild west Pinnas mercat war between the two most eloquent Perth NOR kite industry celebrities (and their entourage) is however rather amusing, keep it coming

swoozzi
6 posts
4 Feb 2018 7:34PM
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Thanks for the great reviews CB & YB. Does anyone know if a 2017 Cabrinha Bar with Fireball (which is good for shorter arms to reach the depower) would work on the Ultra? It is a 4 line, single line release. Not sure about Y.

Youngbreezy
WA, 938 posts
10 Feb 2018 2:40PM
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Select to expand quote
swoozzi said..
Thanks for the great reviews CB & YB. Does anyone know if a 2017 Cabrinha Bar with Fireball (which is good for shorter arms to reach the depower) would work on the Ultra? It is a 4 line, single line release. Not sure about Y.


It is a 4 line single flag out, low y. It will probably work with most bars other than north.

I am currently flying an airush wave on my modified naish bar and it's going fine.

From my experience both the ultra and the ar wave like to be ridden quite sheeted in and have good depower without needing too long a bar throw. This is good news for people with short arms

windtzu
93 posts
13 Feb 2018 2:32AM
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How does the Ultra (12 meter) compare to the Airush Lithium? I have a 2013 12 m Lithium that I'm thinking about "upgrading".
Using it for mainly lighter conditions on my surfboard, it doesn't see a lot of use. Does it have comparable "oomph". I do like the quickness of my Airush Wave 9m. I know they're different animals but I'd like something that moves in that direction with some bottom end, unlike the Waves.

NorthernKitesAUS
QLD, 1061 posts
15 Feb 2018 12:18PM
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Select to expand quote
RussKraut said..
What are you all getting so worked up? Anyone working in the kite industry, whether it is selling kites or providing lessons, has a conflict of interest hence is not trustworthy when it comes to recommendations.


Give the man a hand-shake! How long have you been on Sbrz?

weebitbreezy
617 posts
26 Jul 2018 9:07PM
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Possibly a bit late to the party but as the Airush importers have confirmed that the 9m and below sizes are the same except for the colours, I thought I might chime in with a few comments on the kite 9m V1 which I picked up on sale a little while ago.

+ Surprisingly good freeride kite for a single strut kite. In the low to medium range certainly. Didn't push the top end (19 gusting 25 knots warm winds)
+ Smooth feeling.
+ Pumps up quickly.
+ Turns fast - not lightning quick but on the fast end of the spectrum.
+ Generates a bit of power through the turn so you can get the most out of the bottom end by working the kite.
+ Float. This is where this kite really surprised me. My normal kite is a lightweight 3 strut kite but if I misbehave, it will stall and crash. With the ultra you more or less have to pilot it into the water to make it touch down. I totally fluffed a jump (was on the hydrofoil, sent the kite and then panicked as I spotted a patch of weed just in my path - board one way me the other) and swung way underneath the kite. Yet somehow it floated in the air long enough for me to resurface, pull on a bit of back line tension and recover it before it hit the water.
+ Relaunch. Its great. I'm not going to quantify it as 'estimating' wind strength is a poor game at best and trying to compare situations where I could relaunch but others couldn't is equally flawed based on light wind skills. Suffice to say, its up there among the best in light winds.
- Jumps alright - typical wave kite characteristics (not as high as you might expect and feels like it drops you a bit quicker than you expect) but then it is sold as a wave kite.
- Low end. Now I'm told by the shop that sold it to me that it will hang in the air in 5 knots and will get you foiling in 8 knots. I have to say I felt that at 10-11 knots I could feel it was light and didn't want to stay out that long in case it dropped off further. It felt the 1m size less than my regular 10m so I can't say it felt particularly big at the low end. I have a low aspect draggy foil though so maybe something faster would require less movement to keep powered? Same story on the twin tip and surf board. Good initial pull but you can't hide the fact its a 9m.
-- Worst bag ever!

So is it the greatest thing since cold beer? Well......maybe, maybe not. I got it to replace my very worn Ocean Rodeo Flite and it just doesn't quite do that. Partly I wonder if its just that I haven't had enough time on the Ultra to really get to love it but I still prefer the way the Flite flies. With the flite the turns are more pivotal with very little pull which I prefer on the hydrofoil. The power generation of the flite is also more tuned to getting apparent wind so the power kicks in a little more gently which I again prefer. I guess what I'm getting at is, put that float and relaunch into the next Ocean Rodeo flite and I'll bite your hand off to get them. Or failing that put more boost and hangtime into the Ultra and I'll happily upgrade to the next version. It makes me wonder if the zeeko air thing might be the sweet spot between the 2? If only they would ditch their ridiculous 4m between kite size policy

In summary. Its a nice kite and the marketing blurb is pretty accurate for a change. Best single strut kite I have tried by a noticeable margin



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"2018 Airush Ultra 9m" started by KiteBud