86 kgs , kiting 10 years , experienced kiter , windsurfing for eons etc , prefer surfboard ( nugget and wam ) and waves , foiling on Jshapes cruzer and freestyle foils. No jumping to speak of.
Use 12, 9 and 7 Neos . Just sold V5 Zephyr.
I use a 5 line click bar on 24m lines
Kiting in generally light tropical winds in Darwin .
I prefer a kite I can switch on and off , drift off the kite and ride the board , not ultra powered up all the time.
Neos in Darwin are a good fit for me , low end and drift plus swap between boards to suit.
But the light wind end plus the foil scenario was a problem . Zephyr too heavy and cumbersome . 12 metre Neo also a bit heavy in light air and often not quite enough grunt to start on the foil.
I read the blurbs about the new Juice which might have filled the gap. Kind of surprised the Juice came up as their preferred foiling kite , not the Mono.
Our local mob at Fun Supplies got one in the other day and offered it for demo.
Initially ... don't know the lingo but ... built very well from lighter materials , leading edge heavier and robust , canopy very light , reinforcing at trailing edge very good. Reminds us of the early Dynos.
Fittings all high quality.
When you roll it out what strikes you first how wide and narrow the thing is. It's a very different looking kite.
Is it going to turn ?
The recommended pressure is 7 psi.
Only 3 settings at the wing tip , none on the bridle or pigtails.
I have had 3 sessions now. Ranging from 8 to 14 ish kts.
First impression , linear power , mod to light bar pressure , bottom end not huge , needs some apparent wind but once going it is super stable , easy power , no stalling , and very predictable.
Upwind is average
Big wind range ...Just plug in and go.
This kite is great for foiling! Light bar pressure , very even progression in power , dumping power is very easy and doesn't load up much going upwind. Downwind super easy.
No flutter when depowered , no downwards drift when going downwind it just hangs , smooth increase in power when pulling bar in.
Did some big fast downwind runs on freestyle foil , super stable , fast and hardly had to think about it. Puetz said it looked like it had drifted back so far in the widow that I was towing it.
Turns very quickly for a big kite , very happy with that.
And it covers our issue of skinny wind , the initial problem of getting up on the foil and then wanting the kite to back off on power. It does this in spades.
Downloops stays powered up , no backing down although if I entered the downloop in light wind with not enough line tension it did stall a couple on times.... but a big reef on lines and it recovered .... my bad , but a sign to me of a well designed kite.
Had a go on the nugget in small waves in about 11 to 14kts. Had a ball , for a 15 ...fast and responsive , drifted better that the specs suggest , I think.
We had a beach session on the 3 settings.
Soft , very responsive , not so solid downloops but good enough. Will drift well. Should be great in more wind.
Medium , best of both worlds for me in light wind.
Heavy , most connected , steady power , solid loops . Usually I don't like this setting.
Relaunch , its width will not allow it to relaunch as well as a Neo , had to use 5th to roll it on its back and relaunch that way.
Very light wind though , maybe 8-10 kts. Once standing on its wing tip it was not an issue. Can't complain.
I was concerned that this kite would be too big for what I want .... but now I think it will be fine.
It doesn't develop the bottom end as a Neo would ... but that is what I want for foiling ( or riding nugget ) as well as a kite which can get me up in light wind. I thought perhaps the 13 might have been a better fit but I have the 12 Neo ...
but because this kite has such an enormous wind range and is so light weight , it fits the bill for me.
In all , I am very pleased with the 15 Blueberry juice. Duotone have had a good think about it put together a really good package which suits me and I think I will use it a lot.
Great for light wind , great for foiling , good turning , good drift , easy power., I suspect its an able booster , solid loops. A mate did some boosts and loops on it ... seemed to go well.
I would love to have a shot on the smaller ones.
Cheers.
