Friday of last week i purchased an 09 airush generator, 9.5m traded in my fuels as i wanted something "gruntier". I was lent a kite for a period of time over winter which i couldn't get out due to the severe lack of wind so i proceeded to purchase the kite while only trying it the once..

I took the kite out yesterday which was a joyous occasion, plenty of wind new kite new board feeling great about life. It was fairly windy yesterday probably blowing around twenty if not more. I got the kite out and straight away realised that the kite was not as "grunty" as previously hoped, having to work the kite a fair bit just to keep afloat. Once i got more used to the kite, i began getting more adventurous trying a couple of passes etc, the kite then slammed in to the water, i then spent the next twenty minutes trying to get this f.....ng thing out of the water, a problem i never had with the fuels, hi fi's or any of my other kites, i eventually got dragged into shore where the lip of a wave picked up the kite and i was back in the air again.

I then kept going and as i was about to come in i caught the wingtip on the water and it was back in the water and i spent another twenty minutes getting slowly dragged toward the rocky seaweedy end of leighton.. I eventually realised after my kite had been dumped and my lines caught around rocks underneath me that i was in a bit of strife.. I unhooked my bar from my harness as a bloke came and gave me a hand and unhooked my kite from my lines which were covered in seaweed and caught around multiple rocks. The seaweed and the waves breaking on my head caused me to let go of the lines i was hanging on to, never to be seen again..

I lost the bar and lines and am now in a situation where if i buy a new bar and lines i'm quite sure the exact same will happen again, it's a new f.....ng kite and i don't understand how with all this new f......ng "technology" they can produce a "grunty" kite which won't get me out of the water and relaunch to save me a f...load of money i don't have....

I alpologise of the rant and understand you will read this thinking that i'm an absolute gumby for not being able to relaunch the kite so if there are any suggestions for relaunch of the generator not anything else please let me know and i oppose any talk of the generator being extra "grunty" it's a load of shist...

Hi Chandler,

The Generator is a high performance kite. You need to work the kite for power. It is one of the few true "C" kites. They have never been massively grunty to just start pulling you straight off. They develop their power from apparent wind which is what pretty much all unhooked riders want so you have power when you need it, but not when you don't.

Relaunch is old school, you need to swim at the kite whilst pulling the rear lines to force the kite around to the edge of the window. Again, this is a true "C" kite and made for advanced riders. I'm sure you'll get it, but true "C"'s come with true old school characteristics like swimming the kite onto it's back for relaunch.

Check here

www.kiteboardingschool.com.au/index.php/beginner-newbie-tips/tip-3-rolling-the-kite-on-it-s-back-old-c-kites.html

and also here

www.kiteboardingschool.com.au/index.php/beginner-newbie-tips/tip-2-the-pro-re-launch-method.html

Bummer about your lines and bar. Stick with the kite. You obviously bought it with the knowledge of what the kite is and is for, and it will deliver it in spades if you get good enough with it.

If it's more than you can handle, perhaps the Vapor III is more for you. It will relaunch easy and has more power than the Gennie as well as more depower etc.

Cheers,

KH

Hi mate,

Bummer about your first experience with the Generator, whoever said they are grunty was wrong. Grunt implies static power which is exactly what the Generator isn't on the standard settings. The Generator needs to be worked to get the power out of it and shoots forward into the window like no other kite, making it wicked for the surf and loops, but for the average person to freestyle on you may want to change the settings slightly.

Assuming you were using the bar that came with the kite, 5 line c-kite bar, then make sure there is little to no tension in your 5th line when fully sheeted in , if there is it will make the kite pivot turn too much. Next, the front pigtails on your kite, you will notice they can be attached at 3 different points, currently it will be attached at the closest point to the leading edge, untie it and move it right back so it is at the 3rd knot away from the leading edge. I believe Slingshot call it the "wake setting", the kite wont have as much depower but will be more "grunty", as you get more used to the power delivery of the kite move the pigtails toward the 2nd point away from the LE this should be perfect for what you want to do.

Relaunch, as Darren said, but if you running fifth line it should be easy. I have been fying the 5.5m and 7.5m on fixed four and always seem to pop them up in between the surf fairly quickly. Pulling the depower strap right in can help also.

PM me might be able to help with the bar issue,

Hope you get it sorted, they are a wicked kite,

Regards
Matt

Thanks for the feedback, i guess i needed to get a release of the anger... I thought the fuels were pure c kites as well but the relaunch info will be put to good use.. Definitely in the market for a bar and lines if anyone knows of anything going to potentially get the kite working for me

Sorry mate, working or trying to "work" without being distracted by sea breeze... No my kite was a blue airush and i was out between 1 and four.. Will definitely check out the rocky outcrop though and hopefully something emerges from it.

I had the 08 version, which was called Reactor, basicaly the same kite.
Small sizes are easy to relaunch, 9m takes a bit of practice, and the 12m almost never relaunched, swam in 80% if it was down.
Appart from that, best kites I ever had, miss the performance, dont miss the relaunch

Yeah i'm definitely sticking with it, i look forward to getting it out in some good wind and some flat water with these new relaunch techniques... Cheers for bringing the excitement back for this new kite which i thought was a potentional dud..

No they dont have a lot of low down grunt, but it only took a few strokes to get going, then it generates its own power, move it and it generates power, you can change directions in midair when you loop it during transitions, flick the switch and its on.

I'm currently around eighty kilo ish riding a 131 airush FS, do you think the 9.5m will provail predominantly in Perth's average seabreeze arvo's, little worried i may be a bit underpowered.....

i would love to say "its an airush! enough said"... but that would have been before I've seen some guys making them work for them. They seem to make kite "surfing" an absolute joy where i more often than not will overshoot my kite on a wave. So give the kite a second chance, n i recon your lines will still be tangled up down there-they love hanging onto the rocks