Blake wrote:Bingo!
Zob and Zact both nailed it right on the head....Naish are trying to capitalize on the work of Board Riding Maui by rushing "their" strutless kite to market, hence the one size only.
I am not going to speculate about intentions of other people / companies, but to be fair, the Fly came in one size, the Ride and Parks were introduced in 3 sizes so this is not unheard of for naish to introduce something in few sizes.
It is pretty common across industries that things are developed in parallel because it might be a "natural" next step. I do think it is awesome what Greg has done, and I can understand why other companies would explore that idea. Greg was definitely first to market, but the idea has been fluttering in the industry. I think what Greg did was make it work. A tight design and a canopy that fits the frame has been the big differentiator. He also did expose that there is a market for simplicity. I have only ridden 8 cloud once, but really enjoyed it.
Every single person I have had try my ride has liked the kite. Every one. One of my best buddies resisted for the longest time. Even when his wife tried the kite and liked it...he ended up getting one and now prefer it over all the other kites he has.
If you look at the Ride which is a Naish kite you'd see much of the same in terms of design. It has a canopy that fits the frame, there is no need for a lot of extra battens and 7 struts because the kite has a very tightly designed canopy. For me personally if you had presented a no strut kite when I was still on my 7 strut raven I would have said NO F$$#ing WAY!! For me riding the Park, then the Ride has opened my mind to the idea. So in that sense Naish has been part of opening this market. The kiteboarding market is like surfing...very conservative. The point being that it all the variables matter.
I am not saying what is right or wrong, I am just trying to illustrate that there are many variables at play. I do think there is room for both...
Personally I really like the idea, and I think this definitely has a future in the sport...actually more than a future. I think this is the future...for parts of the industry. The implementation doesn't have to be completely strutless, but light weight, and much tighter designs. The pack down that Naish is making a point of is not trivial...to me that is huge.
I love the commitment Boardriding maui is showing, and the videos are killer!! I am so happy about this development that I am giddy. I am still going to order drafts too...because for the racing application it makes sense to have a more complex kite (high AR).
In relation to what Starsky said I agree with a lot of things, but I think the strutless has a market for more general applications. Not only light wind. I would say making a light kite for drift on a wave make so much sense. It also means we can ride a medium sized kite in medium to light wind and kite kite can drift.
either way this was a way too long post. I need more coffee.