Hi There Mthomo,
I have a 7.0m Halo and also the 10.0m. I absolutely love these kites, but let me explain ....I decided on a change from Reactors and Lift Pro's from the last few years. Main reason I changed is I could see some real positives for wave riding over the traditional kites with big depower.
First time I flew "bow style kites" I was less than impressed. I found them to be difficult to "feel" their position and what they were doing in the wind window due to the 2:1 pulley system, I also found I was luffing them in bottom turns on the waves . With the luffing came relaunch problems and I was swimming them in a couple of times a session on the first two times I rode them.
These initial problems have now been cleared up as I relaearned how to fly these kites. Due to their pitching tendencies you just need to fly them higher in the wind window, this is a problem on "c" kites due to the upwards pull but with the depower it isn't a problem and over the last few sessions I havent had them crash let issues with relaunch.
The Halo 7.0 is quick and hugely powerful with a solid wind range. I've been comfortably powered in 20 knots whilst others are on much bigger kites and have been equally comfortably powered in 35 knots. Dont know what overpowered wind strength is as we haven't had wind strong enough yet, I would suggest around 40 knots. However, dealing with this kite in 35+ knots takes an amount of care.
Boosting is ridiculous as a couple of jumps I have been looking down on the top carpark at Scarborough and float time for ages, so much so that landings tend to be fast and hot. Too much time in the air
Everyone complains about gusty days but I haven't had a problem, enjoying every minute on the water. Once you get used to the bar pressure and feel, there is no real difference to these kites and others in feel. The Halo is a step up in performance from other bow kites I have flown and thats where the trade off in stability for performance has come from.
To fix the stability issue I added an 8mm bungee to the bar to replace the stock 4mm stuff and this keeps sufficient light pressure on the bar to prevent luffing through slack bar pressure. It's now solid! All it took to rectify a minor issue was a dollar worth of Bungee
I would have to say that the 7.0m Halo is probably the most fun kite I have ever flown now that I am used to it and there would be little chance of going back to traditional "C" kites now I am more dialled in. This kite is definately a kite for the more skilled pilot, I wouldn't recommend them to beginners but to intermediate - advanced, it's a great ride.
Hope this helps
