I have purchased a 12m 2009 cult and I have never seen any other kite that you can water relaunch it this easy, Pull the bar and its up again.
Kite it self is amazing and 70% of the time when I'm kite surfing every one else are standing with their kites at the beach.

How ever there is a very critical technical fault in its safety release system.

Most of the time I'm using the safety release system for self landing as it is the safest way.
Yesterday the knot between the line and the safety leash got stocked in this tube thing and dragged me for 15m at the shore and it acts like a suicide leash.
I'm so lucky that it was a sandy beach.

koma said...

So your saying that the red line got stuck in the metal housing.

Do you regularly inspect your equipment?
Do you test your quick release and safety features before each session?
Do you wash your bar and lines after each use?

Glad to hear you got out the situation relatively unscathed and are now able to reflect on it and hopefully prevent it from happening again.

yes
yes
and yes

But its almost impossible to prevent from this problem.
That metal hosing have some cuts in it and it is so tide that some times the knot will stock in that tide hose.

Well a very easy way to modify it would be to put a small stopper ball on the underside of the metal T-piece. This would stop the line from as your describing jamming in there whilst still allowing the 'smart' line to pull through the bar in the even of activating it, leaving the stopper ball above the bar.

Edit: You might want to look at the way the connection between the red 'smart' line and the grey line is made. If it has moved or bunched up some of the red line then i can understand there's too much bulk in the metal housing.

How much force does it take to free the red smart line if you grab the metal housing and pull?
You may find that if you've flown the kite to the edge of the wind window whilst self landing then there isn't enough pull on the other front line to release the smart line.
Try activating the safety whilst it's even slightly powered and it should very quickly release. If it doesn't then i'd be talking to your Naish dealer.

Edit 2: You could always try bending the lower section of the metal housing open slightly to give it more room to move.

koma said...


Edit 1: ...Try activating the safety whilst it's even slightly powered and it should very quickly release...

Edit 2: You could always try bending the lower section of the metal housing open slightly to give it more room to move.

Thank you so much Koma for your respond
1) After I failed my landing the kite powered up again and I was only hanging from the safety leash (like suicide leash) and its the maximum power that I can put on that leash.

2) I am not sure that if I bend it then I'll be able to complain about this technical fault

I think Naish dealers should notify Naish about this matter and hopefully they will come up with a stopper ball or something before it hurt someone.
The whole idea of kite should be this much and that much powered till your safety system works is kind of scary.

Good Wind
Alex

A very simple simulation will be like using a suicide leash on a 12m kite and 22 knots wind
When the kite start to moving from 3 O'clock to 9 O'clock it will pick you up and you will be hanging on your back (Scary isn't it?)
AND because I'm hanging from my back I can't release the second safety release on the end of the leash.

I actually do ride a Cult on suicide and no it doesn't drag me 15m when going through the zone in 22knt. Maybe about 3 feet.

Just trying to get some detailed info on exactly what happened at the time as it doesn't add up. The only way the kite could have dragged you that much is if the bar wasnt allowed to slide to the front lines.

As an employee of the Naish importer for Australia, I have PM'd Kadkhah in an effort to get to the bottom of this issue.
while it does not appear to be a serial fault of the smart loop as many of you who ride the system can attest, the best piece of advice that can be taken from this is to serve as a reminder for everyone to check their bar and lines every time they rig, especially any moving parts that make up the safety systems of the kite. manually releasing the frontline from the tube Kadkhah has described EVERY time you rig should be a part of every smart loop users checks. This will clear anything that might sieze this piece and make sure that the rest of us wont experience kad's sandy excursion.
so check your lines and keep enjoying the smart loop...
Aidan

skiddz said...

... if your leash is attached to the 'mini 5th'. And even if it was connected by suicide as you say, the bar would have still traveled up the center lines and depowered?

1) 2009 Cult is a 4 liner, there is no 5th line or ?mini 5th?. If you are talking about the safety release leash then when its connected to a hook beside your chicken loop and its not pulling one of the front lines then it will act like a suicide leash, Just like connect the leash straight to the chicken loop
2) There is no 100% depower and when your kite is going to the power zone it will drag you anyway.

meerkat said...

Kadkhah said...

I have purchased a 12m 2009 cult

Well there's your first problem

Don't get me wrong mate, its an awesome kite.
Last Sunday I've been kite surfing from 3:30 PM (2km south of Leighton beach) and I've been watching all the kite surfer waiting till 5:00.
Dude 1.5 hours they wish they had a cult.
I don't have any complains about the kite or bar pressure.
Its just a very small tricky part of the bar that can be fixed with a 50c piece of plastic.
I'm just informing the users and manufacturers.

Good Wind
Alex

Kadkhah said
Last Sunday I've been kite surfing from 3:30 PM (2km south of Leighton beach) and I've been watching all the kite surfer waiting till 5:00. Dude 1.5 hours they wish they had a cult.

A 12m kite is a pretty big kite to have in perth in summer? either you weigh a fair bit, have a board made out of lead or enjoy being dragged butt first downwind.

If(and when) the seabreezes finally turn up then your 12m will be sitting in the shed. Also, there are many 12m kites that will out perform the wind range of a cult, theres also technique blah blah.....who cares.

As for the "technical fault". Most kites can be tweaked by the rider to suit their needs. Sounds like the naish guy who posted earlier can help you out.

i do hope you have a smaller kite or 5m lines to fly your 12m on for when the seabreezes finally kick in. Also means i won't have time to be posting ****e on this forum

Hi Alex,

I think that the new setup is designed to work under max load and not when the kite is at the edge of the window.

The other problem could also be that when you through the bar and then pull the quick release it depowers the kite so much that it won’t flag to one line because it has no power.

I'd suggest that you learn to self land.

Mad Dog Morgan said...

Hi Alex,

I think that the new setup is designed to work under max load and not when the kite is at the edge of the window.

The other problem could also be that when you through the bar and then pull the quick release it depowers the kite so much that it won’t flag to one line because it has no power.

I'd suggest that you learn to self land.

Depowered kite can not drag the rider.
Self land in 22 knots with a 12m kite is a little tricky and you always have the chance that your kite slips from the edge of the window to the power zone again.
That's why I'm using the safety release for self land.
It works well now as I'm pulling the line knot out of the hosing first then perform my landing but in a situation that you need to release your self from your kite you don't have the time or access to remove the knot from the hosing!

walshd said...


I had a good look over the new naish system about a month ago and the amount of potential problems with this new swivel is SHOCKING!!!!

Worst fault I saw was how the line can jam...

Yesterday I've seen another 2009 Cult at the Leighton and it was different from what we have in the photos.
Apparently Naish realized about this problem and they have redesigned this connection.
I will contact them today to see if they will send me one of their new parts.



P.S. I suggest if you are a 2009 Naish owner and your smart loop looks like what we have here in the photos, it is safer to ask for the new part from Naish.

(I'll upload the photo of new smart loop as soon as I got it)

Good Wind
Alex

Mind posting a photo of the new part so we can compare the before and after?

There has been a change as Alex described. I was the kiter at Leighton Alex was speaking with. He showed me the bar and lines that came with his kite and it appears that Naish have already recognised the potential problem as my kite does not have the grooves cut into the cylinders that each line runs through above the swivel. I will try and upload photos this evening.

Cheers,

Ben.

Revision 0


Revision 1




Revision 2

The 2009 SLE control system has been streamlined and simplified.
Improvements include a new center line attachment system,
a stainless steel swivel, and a spinning front line leash.

The flying line connection/leader lines have also been streamlined by moving
the rear line attachment points closer to the bar, where they are covered by the large floaters.
Now steering the kite with line twists is easier, since there are no knots at the end of the leader lines.

The styling of the bar is also distinct with a new more ergonomic grip,
and a new bar end that allows easy bar length adjustment.
The bar can function as either 19" or 21" bar with the simple 180 rotation of the plastic line retainer.

For 2009, there is a single dedicated 1:1 with the below the bar sheeting on the Smart Loop.
The SLE Control System can also be easily retro-fitted with an optional 5h Line kit.
The clean design allows you to focus on your kiting experience.

Just a 'head's-up' -

It seems a limited number (transition period?) of 2009 Naish Control Bars shipped without the *NEW* adjustable bar ends.

Check my 2009 Naish SLE Control Bar picture below -

You'll notice that everything is '2009' including the bar itself, with the exception of the 'fixed' bar ends
(and the floaters are not cut at an angle where they meet up with the bar ends)

You might want to have your Naish dealer visually inspect the control bars that came with his 2009 Kites

to confirm it is 100% 2009, before shipping them out.





Below are some pictures of a TRUE, 2009 Naish SLE Control Bar -
The bar's color scheme/pattern is the same, your just viewing the 'back side' this time.


Note the adjustable bar ends


Note the "19-21" on the bar and the angle-cut floater


...just remove and flip to adjust the bar length