Rider: Weight 98k,Level advanced
Style: Freeriding, Surf, Wake, Freestyle
Weather: 14-22 knots
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10

Disclosure: own a shop







My Comments: Better late than never.
The Varial 10M is a fantastic all round kite. I personally would excel at free-style on this kite. Comments from other riders were that it was a very nice kite to ride & had a good amount of power for its size, because of its smooth & positive flying ability. Moderately light on the bar, fast turning but not erratic, recovered nicely when attempting tricks. Huge boosting ability. The relaunch is easy, if you can't recover the kite in time (which most of the kiters that tried it, did).
This kite is a hybrid in my opinion, I wouldn't say it is a Bow or Delta (evo) type kite but more a C & SLE type.?
See the Pics. ( & tell me)







Build Quality is second to none, extra reinforcements on the struts to the LE. One pump system. The canopy is made up of mainly vertical panels with some horizontal stitched panels between the end two struts. I assume this is to achieve the ACTive Engineering (Active Conical Tension) that helps the kite fly so well & have good recovery. There is also Two scuff pads on the trailing edge of the kite, to add some weight to balance the kite so It drops back in the window to recover when over flown or to the edge of the window, rather than falling out of the sky. But in no means does the kite stall at all.
A new V3 Bridle System seems of good quality with Ronsen pulley, these pulley have a metal shaft running through the plastlc wheel, not those all plastic pulleys that heat up & fuse then chew the bridle line.



The Bar is. Yes a smart bar! Push in the pin & the one bar goes from a 55cm bar to 45cm.
A simple punch out Quick Release. It has a good sized chicken loop with a Donkey Dick that can be flicked out of the way when unhooking. The depower strap has toggles, easy to reach power on power off.
This is how it comes out of the bag but there is an optional cleat swivel for below the bar depower adjustment. Oh Yeah, there is a below the bar swivel so you can untwist your safety line after tricks whilst on the fly. Slider stopper ball as on the previous Airush kites.







Well done Airush. I think this is a very well thought out Product. Will love to fly this kite for 2010.
This kite is avail for Demo on the Sunshine Coast @ Sunshinecoastkitesurfing Co.

Hi Blake,

Seeing as no one has answered you, I'll pass on my thoughts. An upgrade depends on your current level of riding. If you mean an upgrade in performance from the kite because you have the skills to fully exploit the performance of your current Flow, then no, the Varial is not a massive leap forward in performance, it is a better kite than the Flow to be sure, so it really comes down to what you want your next kite to do for you.

The Varial is a little faster (depending upon model of current flow you are riding), and has similar boost and similar depower. It is a little easier to relaunch, has better upwind capability and has a better bar and safety system.

I would suggest if you are looking for a bigger performance upgrade, then you may be looking for a Vapor III, or Vapor X if you wait another 4 months or so.

If you are just looking for a newer kite with a few more tweaks and whistles, then yes the Varial is the successor of the Flow FT and will suit your purpose.

You are welcome to come and demo one if you are in the area. We have 10m and 7m Varial for demo daily.

Cheers mate,

KH

Hello, i'm new in this forum and i want to ask you how the varial work unhook?

Thanks and good winds !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

regardless of whether this kite works in any abstract aerodynamic sense, the graphics are so bad i think i'd be too nauseous to remain upright if i ever had to fly one. the colours and the combinations of fonts make for a washed-out, incoherent dog's-breakfast. the adjustments on the bar sadly add to the cobbled-together-homemade look.

in the post-fossil fuel, mad max diy world of ten years from now we will surely all be kiting on thrown together stuff, if we're kiting at all, but for now, while there is still access to mass-production facilities there is no excuse for making equipment that looks like all you had to work with was left-over '80s windsurfing gear.

king88mob said...

A bit of background:
90kg, living in Wellington NZ, and have been riding for 10 months. Currently ride a 14m Vapor II and a Cabrinha Switchblade 3 10m.

I'm looking for a kite in the 6-8m range, preferably 7m, and I'm generally happy with both my kites. Specifically, i'm looking for a kite to take out when it's 24-30knots when the SB3 is completely overpowered.

So the question is: Is the 7m Varial for me? Is there an airush that would fit better? Lithium? I'm looking for something with boatloads of depower, good flight characteristics and good relaunch.

Thanks.

why would you not just go the Vapor 7 ????