by Todd JB

I got the chance to demo 11M and 9M T3 prototypes…WOOHOO!!!! …I’m guessing the production kites will be the same, but SS has the option to tweak things based on initial feedback I guess. ? Whatever, I liked ‘em, here’s my first impression;

The wind was about 18-22mph when I was on the 11M and 22-26mph when I was on the 9M. The gusts may have been stronger, tough to say. I was comfortable on either kite in pretty similar wind. I suppose towards the end I had about 6 inches of depower pulled in on the 11M and it looked like the wind might build up more, so I took the opportunity to try the 9M. I rode the 9M fully powered with *plenty* of juice to spare. hmmm…maybe I could do a two kite 9/14 quiver of T3s? (nah, that 11M is too sweet to skip! …but you could do it.) Anyway, on with the review…

The kite flies pretty similar to the T2. So, if you like the T2, you’ll like this. If you didn’t like the T3, its probably worth trying the 1:1 bar setting before you write it off. (The T3 comes rigged 2:1 out of the bag, which was the only option on the T2). It seemed to fly a little more forward in the wind window…I’m not sure what that means, better upwind performance maybe? Anyway, it was very nice and it just chewed up the gusts. Jumping seemed comparable to the T2. In short, if I loaded up the lines I’d get launched higher than I wanted …which is a good problem to have. But, I haven’t been out in a couple months so I took it easy.

The bridle is much shorter which I like, a lot. On the T2 I found that the long bridle could get caught on a wingtip when you were launching and it was also troublesome when you had to self rescue, but, the T3 has a more compact bridle, like the REV. The pulley which used to be hanging with the bridle near the kite, is now attached to the kite. It is a single pulley instead of a double block.

The bar is also much improved. I never took a close look at the REV bar, but I think the rigging is similar and the bar itself is new. It has a different grip and different metal cutout. The T3 has a center below the bar leash point (thank you!) which is probably the feature I’ll like the most over the T2. It is nice to have a short leash that is out of the way. If you release to the safety (leash) the kite floats down without spinning around the leash. Thus, you can retrieve the bar and relaunch the kite. (I did not get to try this today, but I’m trusting Warren’s review of the 14M T3, and I know that it works on the REV)

The feature I am most looking forward to, I did not get to try. That is the option to fly the kite in 1:1 mode. 1:1 should fly similar to SLE kites with less bar pressure and more of a C kite feel possibly. That will also mean less depower, but still better than a standard C kite. The conversion from 2:1 to 1:1 involves an adjustment at the kite and one at the bar. The conversion design seems very well thought out. You make adjustments to line lengths with provided line (stays with kite) and you also change the bridle attachment points at the kite. I look forward to trying this, but this session…well, I was just too excited to kite and didn’t want to spend any more time on the beach then I had to!

I did not closely inspect the kite, but I did notice some construction improvements when packing up the kite. There is some white material behind the struts and in a couple places on the inside of the canopy (behind LE scuff guards) that I suppose are there to make these points more durable. Other than this, I didn’t notice anything striking. But again, I didn’t really look.

They did not, however, give us a bigger pump this year. WTF? Do they get so much wind at the gorge that nobody knows what its like to blow up a kite bigger than 11M with that dinky little pump! Give us a tall one SS! There is also a neoprene cover for the pulley that is attached to the kite. I did not pull the cover down and got sand in the pulley. Something to keep your eye on if you own one.

In short, I REALLY liked the kite. They took a successful kite design from 2007 and didn’t break it! SS just tweaked it and added some well thought out features. The more I think about my first rides on the T3, the more I want to get on that bad boy again soon!

T3 11M

-todd

FYI - Wind graph while I was out;