Guys, I spent the last 2 sessions on my new 9m waroo (2008) and I am really digging it. Day 1 a bird hit my 06 12M waroo and cut the bridle somehow....so I was forced to drop down to my 2008 9m waroo which I had only ridden once before. It was only blowing 15 knots and most people were on 15M kites but I was fairly well powered (I weigh 196lbs riding 129x40) and had plenty of juice to do some decent (15+) jumps no problem. I also spent some time practicing unhooked kite loops, F16's, unhooked transitions (with a loop), etc and while not incredibly powered up they still felt good and looked good. Several people commented that it seemed impossible that i could be riding and jumping on a 9m while they were on a 15m. Cool.
So then today it hit a solid and steady 25+ knots all day long and I put up the 9 again. When I dove the 9m to start my first tack it snatched me 3ft out of the water and I was going mach 5 when I finally touched the water and started edging against the kite.
Holy #>?@>?#!!! This kite has some JUICE in 25+.
So after about 20 minutes of riding I tried to find the courage to throw some hooked and unhooked kite loops. Honestly with the hard kite loop landings of the 06 waroos and the crazy power this kite was giving I was sure I would get killed or break both my legs but hell you only live once right and I'm not getting any younger.
So hesitantly I built up a lot of speed, unhooked, pointed the bar and held on tight as I popped off the water .... WHOOOOOOSH I felt a hard but smooth and consistent pull and before I knew it I was stretched out feeling myself accelerating away from the water followed by the sick feeling that this was it. It was going to be a very painful landing.
As the kite completed the loop the pull just kept coming and the kite almost completed a 2nd loop before I hit the water. I hit firm and fast but to my surprise there was no bone jarring impact. Don't get me wrong there is nothing soft about a kite loop landing but the impact was far far less than what I am used to from my 06 waroo.
This kite loop was such a rush that I ended up doing kite loops for 4 hours straight. Hooked, unhooked, F16, hooked F16s, down loops hooked and unhooked, man what a blast.
There was a thread going on one of our local forums debating whether riders progress faster on more expensive equipment. Since my riding has progressed substantially from just a few hard core sessions on this kite it's obvious that price has nothing to do with the kite or it's performance.
Huge markup does not make my kite relaunch better or make me a better rider. In fact high priced gear probably hinders new riders with fear of damaging the $2000 kite or loosing the $1000 board.
It's all about how the gear actually performs, and the 2008 waroo performs well. I'm being honest when I say it's one of the best kite's I've ever ridden and the price isn't bad either.
Good job guys.
BTW, do you have 12M and 16M 2006 bridles in stock right now?? I'm down to a 9m one kite quiver (which isn't so bad really).

