Postby OceanAdventures » Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:38 am
Yes, the 2013 turbine is available at XLKites.com.
There is not much if any difference in speed and handling from the 2012. The biggest difference is that the 2013 has two different settings on the wingtip.
The 2011 turbine pulled like a truck, and the 2012 lost a little bottom end but handled better as the wind picked up. The 2013 has two setting, one for low end (like 2011) and one for higher winds (like 2012). I have personally ridden this kite with a spleen door in around 6-8mph, but I weight 140lbs. Still it's one of the best light wind kites that we've flown, and we fly a lot here.
The only other design change is there are inserts at the trailing edge near the wingtips to put batons in to firm up the sail. Neil said this would help the kite perform better in higher winds, but we have not gotten to play with those yet.
Overall great kite, relaunches in wind that's two light to ride most times. Sorry but I with my weight a 17 and a race board doesn't work well, so I can't talk about it as far as racing, but being a low aspect kite I would think that it may not be the best race kite, but I honestly don't know.