Griffin 2010 review?

[gglamenace]

Hello,

I am interested by the new Griffin 2010, in size 9m and 10.5m.
Is someone has already tested it and could give his opinion?
What about the wind range for these 2 sizes?

Thanks
Jerome

[kitesurfwarehouse]

here is a link to the only one i have seen so far.

http://www.extremekites.com.au/forums/v ... iew=unread

[powerkitefan]

Here is one

http://www.powerkitesdirect.com/griffin-kite/

[gglamenace]

Thanks for the links guys!

It seems to be a good "millesime"

[king88mob]

just had my first serious session on my new 2010 7m Griffin. I have to say, I'm digging this kite. It was about 25knots average with gusts into the 30s. I'm a 95kg rider with a 133x42 twintip.

Things I liked:
great water relaunch (better than my cabrinha and airush)
great handling of gusts. Just push the bar out and it handles it like a pro
quick turning (my first 7m though, so it could be a factor of the size)

Things I learned:
there's no point in trying to setup the lines for anything less than full power. There's enough depower just with the bar that having the lengthening the back lines just robs you of low end. I had it rigged for shortest lines with about 2" of depower on the cleat and that was great

Overall, considering the very competitive price here in NZ, i'm very satisfied with my purchase and am now eyeing a 9 or 10m argo to go with it (to replace my SB3)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[Trant]

There's a good thread on the 10.5m on Seabreeze
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topi ... C_ID=57085

I have the 12m and love it, I'll be picking up a 9m to compliment it soon.

[kitesurfwarehouse]

They are now on the way for UK and Ireland.

Im looking forward to trying one out.

Griffin have come a long way since the early days , with big improvements every year.

[gglamenace]

just had my first serious session on my new 2010 7m Griffin. I have to say, I'm digging this kite. It was about 25knots average with gusts into the 30s. I'm a 95kg rider with a 133x42 twintip.

Things I liked:
great water relaunch (better than my cabrinha and airush)
great handling of gusts. Just push the bar out and it handles it like a pro
quick turning (my first 7m though, so it could be a factor of the size)

Things I learned:
there's no point in trying to setup the lines for anything less than full power. There's enough depower just with the bar that having the lengthening the back lines just robs you of low end. I had it rigged for shortest lines with about 2" of depower on the cleat and that was great

Overall, considering the very competitive price here in NZ, i'm very satisfied with my purchase and am now eyeing a 9 or 10m argo to go with it (to replace my SB3)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Hello,
Thanks for the review!
I test a griffin 10.5m in few days, if it's OK for me I buy one.

What about the other model, the Argo?
At this time I have a Genetrix hydra 2008 9m. It is a very good kite to learn and for cruising because of the massive wind range and smooth riding, but now I am looking for a kite with more speed for wave riding, big jumps and a good relaunch.
Perhaps the argo is a better kite than the griffin for me.
If you have ever flown the argo, what about it?

Thanks
Jerome

[koma]

I reviewed the 2010 Griffin 10.5m over on Extreme Kites after i was given it to play with. Overall very impressed with the kite. I've pasted my review below for you.

==============================================

I had the chance to try the 2010 Griffin 10.5 and can honestly say whilst i won't be giving up my Torch any time soon it was a very nice kite to fly. I believe the one i flew has had a bit of time on it and a few riders to tune it properly, so what i got might not be the same as out of the bag.

Turning speed is great - it moves like a 9m. Having just come off the water on my 12m Torch i wasn't expecting to be going as well as i was. A couple of sines to build up speed and it came on song nicely! It really loves generating apparent wind and rewards fast planing speed.

Unhooking on the Griffin is far better than i was expecting with some nice solid pop, but hooking back in is quite a challenge. The Griffin just keeps pulling almost immediately after you pop - no slack lines here! In the light'ish winds i was flying in (~16-18kn gusting to 20) i was honestly astonished at the power it had.

Safety system was effective, but worth mentioning that the one i tried didn't release as soon as i had pulled the QR. It seems the pin got stuck or at the wrong angle and it was a moment or two before it flicked over and released the chicken loop. It was a controlled test so i had slowed down in the water and there wasn't much if any load on the kite so perhaps with a bit more power going to the chicken loop it would have popped instantly. Once flagged out it still pulled a little bit, ~%50 of if the kite was depowered with the bar completely out... which is 50% of not much, but still more than a 5th line setup.
Re-rigging the CL whilst standing in the water was very quick and easy, and once ready to go the relaunch was excellent. Just pull one back line and wait about 3-5 seconds and it's up-up-and-away.

With the bar pressure setting on the low option, my criticism was that i had no where near enough bar pressure and feedback to let me know where the kite was. I'm sure if i had another chance to try it on the higher bar pressure option that would fix that.

I can honestly recommend these kites as great all rounders. I'm really keen to get my hands on a bigger one in lighter winds to see if the grunt is consistent across the range. A 14m Griffin may prove to be far more usable than my current 15m Fuel.