Hopefully Helix will be here in about a month, then you can all go out and demo it (some stores got an early demo so check with your dealer if you are interested in demoing it). Some interesting comments. I will give my opinion on each that I can remember.
08 Helix. Slow, I didn't find it was slow. It wasn't as fast as a TORCH, but it was fast enough. Most people that found it was a little slow in the bigger sizes were probably lighter riders, or riders that don't ride their kite at the top end of it's ability. All 7 strut kites have a much stiffer canopy structure (i.e. RAVEN, Shockwave & HELIX 08), this can give them the impression of being slower to turn because it is harder to distort (twist) the canopy and the kite is a little heavier also. While this works against you a little bit in light conditions or if you are a lighter rider, it is awesome if you are a heavier rider or like riding well cooked. It seems there were a few riders out there that may have purchased a HELIX when they really should have got a CULT. As the market have been leaning away from riding super cooked, the need for a 7 strut kite has become less and less, and now you see, Naish don't have a 7 strut kite this year (against Robby's wishes, rob loves the HELIX 08). So you need to put things into perspective when comparing kites. The sigma 08 range was designed with a series of kites that all showcase exceptional flying characteristics with slightly different setup to suit the individual weather it was 5 struts, 7 struts, SLE or SHIFT.
Helix 09. This kite is definitely quicker than 08, much quicker. In the range where CULT is the user friendly kite in the range and TORCH is the bad ass aggressive kite, the Helix is closer to the TORCH's performance than the cults. It is an exhillerating ride. More power in the turns than 08, faster turning than 08, more pop than 08, faster re-launch than 08, much better for un-hooked riding (being more "C" shaped, the 09 HELIX has a more subtle sheeting than 08, so it is easier to trim your kite correctly for un-hooked riding.) Direct responce steering creates a fast responding kite from bar inputs than 08.
Negitives. Because the GEO-Tech allows the kite to keep flying at extrodanary angles of attack with out jerking around in the sky, you can notice little things that you normally wouldn't because your kite would be pulsing back and forth as the canopy collapses. When riding the HELIX 09 at the top end of it's range, and well trimmed out (de-powered) you can feel a bit of wing tip flap, because the wingtips are toed in to achieve direct response steering, they want to be angled in, so when your super cooked and sheeted out, you will notice some very minor slow flapping, there is a wing tip batten to control this, and it is only noticable in extreme condition, but doesn't effect performance at all (besides not many riders will hold onto their kite into the conditions when this will happen. I noticed it with a 12m in 33kts Maui wind, stupidly over powered, but the kite characteristics are not changed or effected by this). Also although it is a "C" shaped kite, it still has a front line bridal, and like most/all bridal kites you can stall it if you over sheet it in light conditions. The 09 HELIX is better than any other SLE/BOW that I have tried for hard sheeting in light condition, but you can still stall it if you really over sheet it. Self landing the dangerous way is pretty hard with the 09 HELIX. Because re-launch has been improved so much, it can be difficult to do the self landing style that us old skool crew grew up doing (steering the kite hard into the sand and then pulling on the top line to spin the kite into the wind {not recommended}, the kite just wants to re-launch all the time. But using the front line override leash (how the kite is designed to be self landed), it is too easy. They are about the only negitives I could find with the kite, and none of them are really negitives when the kite is used properly.
But definitely try it for your self and drop a review, just remember when you go into your test, the HELIX 09 is totally re designed, and has nothing to do with the 08 Helix, it is a totally different kite.
Regards,
JB
P.S. always makes me laugh when people try to dis a kite that they haven't ridden, especially when they use reference to last years kite to do it. Last year was last year, there's been 365 days R&D since then till now. Get out there and try everything you can if possible, you'll most likely find that every brand gets better every year, and each kite has something for someone. Enjoy
