Cool.now that we all got over the fact that Duotone and North KB are 2 separate entities and the North is not Cabrinha with a different logo I would like to give my humble opinion about some of this bad boys..I will do a review on the 2020 Cabrinha Drifter soon enough. First of a good shout out at Daniel from Kite Addiction in Myaree WA for letting me use these toys and looking after us all these years. Please, all of you..support your local shops!!!I have been kiting since the beginning..so I have seen a lot of crap going around and good ideas however every year I am excited to try the new gear. I am a qualified wave coach and I have been into wave riding and surfing for some time..i am around 75/80 kg and 182 cm tall..ok let's get to business!
First look
Kite is well done and built, perfectly crafted and look clean and tough..all double stitches and reinforcement in the right points. After all, is a wave kite so it is been built to resist on waves and occasionally been thrown in the surf. The cloth is a teijin DT2 ripstop material, proven and used previously, therefore consistent. Dacron is present on the TE however could be less as it gets quite heavy. Connections are very simple and direct, I liked the fact that they went back to the sailing green and red for lines and pigtails. Bridles and lines are high end flyline pre-stretched. One pump valve with straight directors towards the struts. Valve is small but easy to inflate (inflate/deflate) to avoid extra opening in the leading edge. Colours and design very simple, I think they just tried to recall the North logo and image so will see what comes out in the future. No pulley on the bridles so very clean and no risk of getting caught if dropped in the surf or breaking points. It has quite a bit of design engineering behind..2 stage Arc design for better turning and rigid stable kite frame, evolved slack line drift to avoid nose diving. All good The bar is one of my favourite points. It is simple and well designed; shaped for hand grip, some people would like a softer material but it works well for me. I liked the inner square tube with the separate chamber for safety line and rope. Click in and safety is like a seat belt and so far even with sand has been working great. Floaties are good strong but soft with rubber bands that recall inside the floaty..it gets a bit stuck sometimes so they might have to change the shape of the end bit. The depower cleat is well designed and stay in place without bouncing around so it is easy to grab. I am personally not a big fan other depower system as you only add complications to something that should be easy. Also the chicken loop can be changed in seconds with a push rotate and swapped with a big wakestyle, waveriding and small loop. Still using the standard..it works fine.
How it flies..finally
Well.since the first time I flew this kite I was well surprised.they did not have lots of time and I was not that confident however the product was well beyond my expectations. There are things to improve but hey..if they have been able to come out with this in 8 months of work I am excited for the next year!!! The Carve is a dedicated waveriding kite..probably three things that you want from this kite: being fast, drifting capabilities and power.well they nailed pretty well those ones with different characteristics from other kites..so the drifting is good but might not be its stronger point (I have been riding a drifter for many years and it is difficult to find a kite can beat that one on a down the line surf) however the Carve is faster, direct and powerful given the ability of recovering from every situation. The kite is very direct (coz of no pulleys) and responsive that goes where you think before you do! There is no lag when you send it. It loops very fast and without pulling off your edge that is great when on a downwind and respond to steering very well with slack lines.you always know where the kite is. The steering is very pivotal and the depower is on-off that I like in the surf.The relaunch is amazing and it goes up by itself.the wind range is bigger than another wave kites..it has plenty of juice and I can use a 9m in very light wind with a strapless surfboard. As I am using I start to appreciate more the way it pulls me out of a white wash after a good cutback with a fins slide..it accelerates towards the window's edge giving the extra power and builds up instant speed..for wave re-entry that is a great trade to have in your gear. The kite has extra power and he goes upwind like crazy.it definitely like to fly toward the windows edge rather than the centre.If you like freestyle strapless it has decent pop and hang time that allows you to play with your board in flattish water
Drift 8.5/10
Construction 9/10
Upwind 10/10
Responsiveness 10/10
Turning on a wave 10/10
PRO: powerful, direct, responsive and fast! Definitely a wave machine and well set for the skill. Can be used for beginners and foiler..I think it is a well rounded kite.
CONS: being the first year you might get some improvement on the next version but it is worth the shot! Price is in line with the big brands, however you will get a good quality kite.So, overall I am pretty happy with the choice for the year, I have 9-7-5m and I can pretty much well cover all the wind range.please if you are interested in the kite, feel free to drop a pm. Have fun in the water and be safe!
My son has the new Carve (Thanks North @ Merimbula Classic) and he loves the way it drifts, has plenty of Low Down Power and what most impresses him is the turning speed, he reckons its so good for strapless airs, quick turn for the boost and then stable in the air.
It's definitely helping him transition from basic strapless surf moves to full strapless airs.
Select to expand quoteDeefer said..
My son has the new Carve (Thanks North @ Merimbula Classic) and he loves the way it drifts, has plenty of Low Down Power and what most impresses him is the turning speed, he reckons its so good for strapless airs, quick turn for the boost and then stable in the air.
It's definitely helping him transition from basic strapless surf moves to full strapless airs.
Thanks mate...
Looks like the kid got some balls! good on him! I think the new generations will take the sport to the next level! Exciting times ahead!
Have a fun summer!
Ciao for now!
Yeah,
He's pure stoke can't get enough of kiting and surfing. Last couple of weeks the weathers been ****ty as but we've had an epic run of wind and pretty sizey bay waves, and a few really good days of smallish swell and X Shore winds at our local Gunnamatta, team that with School Holidays and the little buggers hitting the water for anything up to 5 -6 Hours a day, Oh to be young again!
You can't have everything in this world. The best drifting kites have terrible upwind abilities.
Select to expand quoteSpitfire said..
You can't have everything in this world. The best drifting kites have terrible upwind abilities.
Thats not true. In my experience the good wave kites all go upwind fine, otherwise it would be a major PITA to use them as you'd be always struggling to get back to the take off zone.
Comparing good wave kites to foil race kites, yep you could say terrible maybe.
The best all are well balanced, which means they don't luff easily when drifting with loose or slack rear lines.
If something drifts well then the opposite reaction will be it doesn't fly as forward into the wind. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It science.
ok so another wave kite in a crowded market that does everything well, except go upwind well
Keen to try Carve but what have observed with all the main wave kite brands in Down line breaks example INDO, all of them go well up wind But it is more to do with the kiter ability and Kitesurf board /fins and kite size I have had kiter change to a more efficient board and they have trucked up wind even on brand that I felt was not good on up wind . Recently at Merimbula Classic the Carve up wind was as good as others I feel the difference in kite brands is turning speed/ power , low end power and kite to absorb gusty strong wind But I am no tech head only what I have noticed
One thing I appreciate about the carve, over any other wave kite which I have flown, is the great upward lift from the kite. It really helps which with switching feet during tacks/gybes. I also experienced great product back up from our Aussie distributor, when he went out of his way to ensure that a stitching issue (which could have happened with any brand) was rectified super fast. He didn't have to help me, as I had bought the kite overseas. Kudos for that.
Select to expand quoteSpitfire said..
If something drifts well then the opposite reaction will be it doesn't fly as forward into the wind. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It science.
Nah its just a theory from inside your head thats not grounded in reality. Reality is where science is proven in action, where are all the people complaining their wave kites don't go upwind properly?
Sure as I've said previously, there are kites that go upwind better than others, but wave kites must be able to go upwind well otherwise they would be downwinder machines only and everyone would hate them for not going upwind properly.
My slingshot wave SST sat very deep. Yeah they go upwind, however nowhere near as well as higher aspect kites.
Drifted very well though. Inside/outside my head.
Select to expand quotevendeavours said..
Keen to try Carve but what have observed with all the main wave kite brands in Down line breaks example INDO, all of them go well up wind But it is more to do with the kiter ability and Kitesurf board /fins and kite size I have had kiter change to a more efficient board and they have trucked up wind even on brand that I felt was not good on up wind . Recently at Merimbula Classic the Carve up wind was as good as others I feel the difference in kite brands is turning speed/ power , low end power and kite to absorb gusty strong wind But I am no tech head only what I have noticed
Does seem like the carve has good low end grunt, my obs of someone flying it, but they all do now?
Regardless of kite, more board volume equals more wind range and you want to get through the wind holes with a smaller kite while not being pulled off your board in the gusts.
Not sure there is a lot of need for a wave kite to do strapless airs, better off having a big floaty kite
Select to expand quoteSpitfire said..
If something drifts well then the opposite reaction will be it doesn't fly as forward into the wind. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It science.
I don't think drifting has much to do with upwind abilities, IMO
Drift:
A kite that drift well is a kite that is well balanced in weight distributions so it does not front/back stall when lines loose tension, but it hangs there floating in straight position till you regain tension in the lines, the overall weight of the kite is also important as a heavier kite will drop form the sky quicker compared to a lighter kite, aspect ratio has it's important too, an high aspect ratio will have to much canopy to move downind, that is why the best drifting kites are low/medium AR.
Upwind:
It's the ability for a kite to point towards the edge window, smaller LE kite are more aerodynamic and penetrate deeper into the edge of the window if compared to big fat LE kites, bridle attachments play a big role too as does the sweep of the LE.
In saying this I do agree there are kites with much more upwind ability and they trend to be high AR kites, but you also have to consider that most of these are specifically designed to excel in that.
Of course this is my feedback after flying this kite for a while now, would be good for you to try one and see yourself.
Kiteaddiction in Perth has a demo you can pick up any time.
G8 review thanks.
Drift is a design feature.. So same wind same weight alter parameters of parasitic and aerodynamic drag profiles... To suite..
A point to not overlook is the wing profile..
This is the way the camber of the top surface is expressed front to back. This shape in relation to the attachment points will to a large degree determine the upwind angle.
The analogy in this case would be to look at the wing profiles of the evolving world war 2 spitfire. Initially slower than later. First designs due to the desire to get grip and max potential for dog fight against another fighter plane at range of altitudes.. Totally maxed it for manoeuvrerability over a big speed ra.nge.. The camber was forward and deeper to latter years.. In large part to big gains in engine power and efficiency at height. And subsequent purpose as spec 4 design evolved...
Take home.. Camber of aerofoil against load balance points of attachments are major player in this space.. Too much and back to the old days of kite over flying you.
Hope this helps..
Cheers
AP
Select to expand quoteAlysum said..
How does the Carve 2020 go for foiling in high winds ? Say with a 4 or 5m.
Not sure about 4 & 5m but our 6m has become a favourite for foiling.
Select to expand quoteBrisKites said..Alysum said..
How does the Carve 2020 go for foiling in high winds ? Say with a 4 or 5m.
Not sure about 4 & 5m but our 6m has become a favourite for foiling.
What wind range are you foiling the 6m in?
I'm targeting 20kn+ when I step down the alpha 8m
For a reference I am 82 kilos and ride my 4 Reo in 25 plus knots. Been out with it in the 30 knot range, 25 meter lines and a 450 bar. Everything happens very quickly with that wind and a tiny kite, but it's fun!
Select to expand quoteAlysum said..
What wind range are you foiling the 6m in?
I'm targeting 20kn+ when I step down the alpha 8m
Starts around 17knt with a kite foil, not sure on the top end.
For 20knt plus you should get away with 5m
