In my opinion these are the best comments ever to flow from the keyboard of Sir Rowdy.
Long live the C
Long live Sir Rowdy

Death to Fashion

confabulate said...

In my opinion these are the best comments ever to flow from the keyboard of Sir Rowdy.
Long live the C
Long live Sir Rowdy

Death to Fashion

I'm beginning to think alot of people completely miss most of the inciteful stuff S.R. says.

i wonder if anyone will ever say somethin that nice about me.

well now i'm here might as well have a little rant about the topic for once.

The "modern" 4-line C kite was developed in the last introductory phase of the sport (thinking 2002-3). It was what skilled riders wanted. simple and powerful and consistent.
When kiting went mainstream, a new type of kite was needed to aid the progression of the new riders. Hybrids and bows then deltas came along.
After a couple of years on these kites, people wanted more performance but wanted to keep the "safety" aspect so companies claimed to be developing C kite characteristics into their hybrid/bow/deltas.
Wouldn't you know it, finally some people are going back to the C kite for the same reasons it was originally designed. It's just that enough people have finally learned to be advanced enough to use these things.

I learned on X3-X4 and 06-07 Yarga C kites, what i consider a traditional C kite with C kite feel. I also had a 17m spectrum II and FARK did that teach me some board edging skills!! best teacher and worst kite i ever had
I then got a 06 Vegas, still a C kite? well, the feel was quite different, lighter on the bar and springy, not as "direct" but i was much better for using it. i think the differences were from the fifth line (tuned) and the centre line to leading edge configuration instead of four direct lines.

After that i had an 08 rebel then a 07 crossbow, surprisingly similar to each other but nothing like the direct feel of the original C's i had.

Well, C-kites may be King again and i can well understand why, but, for an "every 3rd Saturday....if it's windy" (not to mention uncoordinated and often illiterate) kiter like me, i appreciate the new found friedliness of the bow kite.
The "100%" depower is very handy for launching and landing at most of my local spots. I mean you try holding down a C kite 30m from trees while standing on a hard-pack greasy clay flat in gusty weather. it's like Ice. and not the stuff you take through a straw.

done.

p.s. the nomad is no C kite. i can tell that by looking at the "second picture"

greenleader said...

sooo, if you ride the surfboard without straps, that gives you full cred for degree of difficulty.
aaand you need a kite that tells you where it is in the sky at any given time with precise feedback........is that not a cop out?

Straps are the new bindings, haven't you heard greeny? All the old hats are now posing with straps in their vids. Straps are the way of the future because losing your board on crashes makes learning tricks harder.

Bows are good for kite schools and pensioners, apparently the give you a pensioners discount on bows but not on C´s

Lovely said...

sir ROWDY said...

It is my superior opinion that a true C-kite shouldn't need a bridal or 5th line to fly... otherwise it's a hybrid.

I agree. I cant see how a 5th line helps a kite to fly.
I do rig up a 5th line all the time but it is rigged a little loose. Manufacturers specs.
Gets tight when the kite powers up but doesn't really help sheet the kite in and out.

Tried many bridle kites and they just feel like rubbish. I keep finding these new/old C shape kites heaps better in the waves.

Ha ha kites are all going C shape this year, what no bridles next year!

Fifth lines dont necessarily 'help' the kite fly, what they do do is help tweak the kite to allow more depower (with tension on the fifth)by altering the arc of the kite and also help to hold the arc shape more when boosting. Whilst there is a fine line between the depower benefit and the boosting benefit the fifth line also adds the benefit of easy relaunch.

sir ROWDY said...

It is my superior opinion that a true C-kite shouldn't need a bridal or 5th line to fly... otherwise it's a hybrid.

Agreed, unless the 5th line is for safety purposes only.

For a old school c kite the 5th line safety was a much better setup compared to the back line (ugh!) or even front line safety. Except of course when the kite decides to roll through the lines...

FFS, bow kites have BRIDLES, and this word is a noun.

Weddings have brides and brides have BRIDAL parties, BRIDAL boutiques etc., and this word is an adjective.

Flame away if you will, but please at least learn this distinction too.

^^ So there you have it - bridal is not legit

Started off learning unhooked stuff last season on SLE's. As usual for anyone learing unhooked I was often lofting the kite and getting dangled or having my arms ripped out of their sockets as the kite stayed powered up after popping.

Yeh, I know it was all technique but I had none. Ended up grapping a cheapy C, 06 Yarga. Fell in love the first raley I tried, no dangle, no stretched arms, it was just so easy. The line slack is brilliant, gives you so much time to hook back in.

C's have their limitations, wind range, depower, but for unhooked they excel. I have one C in my quiver, that is enough, I use it in the right conditions and it always makes me smile. Currently upgrading to the Best team C, told it is a copy of the 06 yarga, just love the easy 4 line relaunch, good depower and line slack. Anyone want a real cheap C to learn unhooked on, contact me.

when you are an experienced rider, c kites are generally less drama as they have less mechanical things to go wrong.

c kiters tend to be the kind of riders that love to ride so much that they don't have time to talk to you about the latest developments in kite technology before a session, they are usually focused on their next session progression.

The flat bow revolution died just because the pull was not so good for freestyle and because they relaunched like ****.

No one can argue with the fact that Youri kills it. My mate tells me rpm is a good kite for slack pull after pop which is awesome- but i still don't like pullies and bridles - i just can't be bothered with the dramas, and in super high wind frontal riding pullies and bridles scare the **** out of me.

Tension on a 5th line is a great thing when your rigging a kite too big for the conditions... oh hang on... no one ever does that!
It's also a great way to munch through a really gusty session.
Yes, it'll fly a bit like ass but you'll still be able to unhook and get 80% of the kites performance. I like to think of it as 'bow-kite mode' for a c-kite.

Having spent a bit of time on the early Ozone Instinct's with their tensioned mid-line (no it's not a fifth line!), and then swapping to Alliances and Torches i took a lot of the tuning experience on the Ozone and occasionally apply it to my C's.
As for if the Alliance is a C or not... meh. It's a softcore C.

iandvnt said...
i just can't be bothered with the dramas, and in super high wind frontal riding pullies and bridles scare the **** out of me.

Apart from the downsides that bows have I never got to understand that argument..
In super high wind I would be much more scared to fly a kite with very limited depower.

C kites teach you better kite, board and edge control.
If you know how to edge to depower, you can fly any kite.

Lovely said...

Im pretty sure competition drives development in almost all industries.
What happened to kiteboarding?
Almost every competition is won by C kite guys.

Now Im starting to think kite schools drive kiteboarding development. I'm guessing they buy and sell the majority of kites. I guess those kites are sold to beginners.

We have a winner! The sport that is driven by kooks...

sir ROWDY said...

Lovely said...

Im pretty sure competition drives development in almost all industries.
What happened to kiteboarding?
Almost every competition is won by C kite guys.

Now Im starting to think kite schools drive kiteboarding development. I'm guessing they buy and sell the majority of kites. I guess those kites are sold to beginners.

We have a winner! The sport that is driven by kooks...

case closed!