I had the privilege of taking a 12M Slingshot Octane out for a spin today.

All I can say is this Kite is designed for all you guys who love nothing more than sending it hard as you can and going big, over and over again. The upwind performance was impressive when you pulled the 5th line in and depowered the trim, it just wanted to truck upwind in no time so you can boost yourself all the way back downwind again.

I was out riding when everyone else was on 10m Kites or smaller in 25KTS+ (I'm 82Kg), I was impressed with it's top end range . The Kite is high aspect and looks smaller than it's actual size in the air with most people thinking it was a 9M when they first saw it.

The first thing I noticed when flying it was bar pressure required to turn, it was very light and the kite turned as quick as my 9M Diesel. It was easy to relaunch with the 5th line, there was no drama's getting it onto it's back with the high aspect ratio.

Slingshot have gone all out with the bar design and it's impressive, the first thing you notice is the chicken loop, it seems a little bulky, but I had no dramas with it on the water with it getting in the way. The chicken bone can be set in three different modes, shackled, fixed off to the side or removed all together by undoing a screw, which I thought was a good idea if you wanted to put the chicken bone back on again after removing it. The bar has an elongated hole for chicken loop rope on the bottom side, so there is no torsion on the rope when turning which I believe gives it's light bar pressure for turning. The fifth line was easy to operate and works well as the safety, it now runs outside the chicken loop rope (not like the early fifth line kits). The kite is constructed almost like the Machine, with half length struts then battens to the trailing edge, as per usual for Slingshot gear it seems very tough in construction.

I'm not claiming this Kite is the be all to end all kites and one kite will cover all wind ranges and styles etc etc. It's exactly what they designed it for, going big and going upwind. I'm not sure if the wake style riders will like it or how it will stand up in the surf, but for the dingle dangles, cruise riders you will love it, as I did

Hi, would the octane suit a intermediate rider or is it more suitable for an advanced kiter. dose the 12m cover the range of a 9m. how about light wind i hear that the 12m octane is similar to a 11m in other brands is this true. i am interested in getting a octane all information good and bad would be appreciate.
Cheers,
Ray.