The Lift Pro's

The 04 Lp's are a very different beasty from last year. They have been tamed quite a bit to allow more user friendliness for the general public as opposed to last year the kites were kind of edgy and more than a bit savage, especially the 11.5.

This year, the 18m has replaced the 19.5 and does it very well providing a very fast turning and big boosting large kite with a big wind envelope. The 18m LP easily kiteloops, even on 20m lines and boosts easily. The first thing you notice about the new 18LP is that it turns fast, really fast! At least as fast as last years 15's so there is no reason for not sining it fast to produce power. It has good bottom end and flies with quite a bit of stability. It is a very smooth flying kite. The hangtime is long and it takes you up smoothly and quite high before lowering you smoothly. This is the biggest difference in the 03 to 04 LP's. Smooth with good hangtime!

The 15 LP is a very fast turning and flying kite, probably every bit as fast as last years 11.5 Lift. This makes it quite fun to zip around. It is very light on the bar and input is responded to immediately. The transitions on this years Lift Pro's are very high and are much longer giving more time for board back on's.

It is easy to forget this kite is a 15 with its speed and agility and also wind range. The kite offers much better hangtime and smoother up and down in boosting. No more aggressive rip off the water, much more gentle rise to apex, hold for hangtime then gentle descent. A great boosting kite good for the general public. We only had one person say the LP's were too fast for him, everyone else loved them.

The 12m LP is a real gem. The boost and hangtime on this kite blew everyones mind. It is so easy to use, and is so super smooth that anyone can enjoy the LP's this year. I feel the kite is a little too smooth and easy to use but is of a very high performance. This kite will out jump pretty well any kite available and will provide plenty of hangtime to do the board back on's.

The 9m LP is a blast from the past as one of the proto types from last years Flow was resurrected and supercharged with some Lift Pro detailing. The coupling of Lift Pro and Flow offers a fast kite with great stability, amazing turning, huge wind range and performance to please everyone. We were boosting this little kite in only 30 knots and getting massive jumps with huge hangtime and all with positive feel and all of this underpowered. I felt we could have easily handled another 6 or 7 knots to make it really boost. This kite would also work well in the surf as it is definately fast enough and stable enough to provide a controlled ride down the line.

The Lift Pro's are all very light on the bar in all sizes and have definately been smoothed out. You no longer need to be at expertr level to ride Lift Pro's. An above average intermediate will be fine on these kites and good to experts will revel in the much smoother performance and greater hangtime.

The Lifts in comparison to the Lift Pro's. The Lifts aren't as fast or light as the LP's and definately don't have the same boost capability. They do however have similar wind ranges althought the Lifts probably still have just a little better bottom end, but don't turn or fly quite as fast as the LP's. I reckon if you loved the Lifts fromlast year, the LP's will blow you away. Although these LP's have a better bottom end, they still excell in the top end and as such I recommend they be flown in their upper half of the wind range.

The Lifts

The 18m Lift is a nice large kite and has a great wind range and solid boosting ability for a big kite. It will easily kite loop and can pull in light winds better than the Lift Pro of equal size in the bottom end of the range.

The Lifts have upped the ante a little over last year in the middle sizes and have been made a little quicker in turn and flight but only a little. The lovers of the 11.5 Lift of 03 will enjoy the 12m Lift although I wouldn't expect massive improvements. Subtle improvements in handling and speed increase are the go for the 12m. The massive improvements have come from the odd sizes like the 14 which turns like a 12 and has the grunt of a 15. This is a really nice kite and offers great boosting, hangtime and speed. This is the standout for me in the Lift line up. The 16m Lift was everything the 15.5 should have been. Faster, good turn, stable and boosting well with control and hangtime.

The 10 Lift is a joy to fly compared to the 9m Lift of last year. The old 9m was poison IMHO in the hands of most riders, but this years 10m Lift is an unbelievably good and well behaved strong wind kite. Boosts are huge and very controllable with the kites speed being useable without being frightening. Surprising, was the hangtime for a little kite. Nice!

I love the feel and response on the 45cm bar. No surprises here, just like flying the 12 in 20 knots. Smooth and precise is the overall feel. I wasn't ever freaked by this little gem. I recommend it to all as a strong wind kite.

The Flows

The Flows this year, as I have mentioned in previous posts have been the real surprise package. The best attributes of the Flows are back with the Stability being same, smooth feel being the same if not improved, and the relaunch being still easier than the higher aspect ratio Lifts and Pro's. The beauty of the Flows is that all these things are still there, but we lost a few problems from the last years, like lack of boost, hangtime upwind and wind range limitations.

The 16m Flow is a grunty bitch that has excellent wind range and useability. The 16 turns on a dime and can be slowed down with a little back foot pressure. Note the 16m will boost also! A little heavy on the bar if you are used to Lifts or light bar kites, but certainly not excessive.

The 14m Flow is where it starts to get interesting. The 14 has a wind range you won't believe. The bottom end is amazing and the top end even more incredible. I held the 14m down in a steady 25 knots and it goes really big with monster hangtime. The bar is a little heavy again, this is from the flier of Lift Pro's so most of you probably wont know what I am talking about. But can it turn quick? Yep, practically in it's own radius.

The 12m Flow is nothing short of astounding, this kite defies the rules and boosts massive. I reckon it goes almost as high as it's little cousin 12m Lift. The bar pressure is noticeably less than the larger two and it's so nimble that you forget your on a flow. The only way to believe it is to fly one. A Kite looping maching with precise steering fast flight and good upwind performance. COmbine this kite with a 150 Fusion and you are a wave slashing fiend.

The 10m Flow is actually a little more mellow than the 9m FLow of last year. I feel it needs to be sped up a little with a larger bar than is shipped standard. It turns and flies fast and has excellent boost but for my money, I really like the 10m Lift as a strong wind kite over the 10m Flow. I wish I had an 8m Flow as the 10m just doesn't have the wind range I need as a strong wind kite. I think the 10 Lift or for mega winds, the 9m Lift Pro, althought the LP is a fair bit quicker than the 10m Lift.

My perfect quiver for surf would be the 18m Flow, 12m Flow for ultimate surf and plain fun, and the 10m Lift for ultimate strong wind performance.

For me, I would take the 18m Lift Pro or Flow, 15m Lift Pro, 12m Lift Pro and 9m Lift Pro for boosting and freestyling at ultimate height and speed during expression freestyle or comps.

I do hope this helps you all in figuring your upgrades for 04.  

 from Darren Marshall  (kitehard@hotmail.com )

doe mij maar een rielekstre kite..._/-\o__/-\o__/-\o_

en die lift pro van vorig jar was egt TE instabiel...

ik heb 2 weken met die 15 gevaren, het was wel een lkkr kiteje maar als je hem niet snel genoeg terug stuurde dan kwam die meteen naar beneden!!!

keb nog een keertje in het water gelegen met allemaal lijnen omme heen en die kite 15 meter voor me...

geloof mij...das geen pretje...

hmm ik vind niks mis met de lift pro van 2003, prima kite, die doordat hij zo licht is juist niet naar beneden valt is mijn ervaring....en door z'n snelheid prima te varen met langere lijnen 35-40 meter wat het windbereik weer vergroot. Door het vlakke profiel gaat de kite erg hoog, maar heeft hij een stuk minder hangtime dan minder vlakke kites, ik denk dat dat ook het grote verschil is met de gewone lift....die heeft zeker meer hangtime door zijn bollere profiel

de pro uit 2004 is gestript van alle 'overbodige' versterkingen, om 'm zo licht mogelijk te maken, maar of die versterkingen nou echt zo overbodig zijn zal de praktijk uit moeten wijzen 

:)