Slingshot Machine V1 big air kite 2022

[grigorib]

the Machine turns faster, pulls me better through turns and goes better upwind. A Rally on steroids

That’s what kind of keeps me wondering. Usually upwind and loftiness go along with higher aspect kites. On the other end there’s drift, turning speed and relauncheability.

So it’ll be a trio as an example - Turbine | Rally | SST
The Raptors in my view were closer to Turbine, yet better hanging on the edge of the window in lulls. The GT was a kind of a failure close to LF Envy and I had no chance to try GT2.

So was there a breakthrough in kite design and I should stop thinking of Pivot/XR as closest replacement for a Rally or is Machine rather a Turbine-style yank-me-while-downlooping followed by flying over to opposite side of wind window without any drift like my 9m Turbine does?

[grigorib]

7m Turbine pulls like hell:

HA and way less depower. And that’s why they’re great for boosting and less good for downwinders while totally not suitable for beginners.

[fernmanus]

. HA and way less depower. And that’s why they’re great for boosting and less good for downwinders while totally not suitable for beginners.

A big air kite with less depower is a step backwards. You can’t boost every time you hit a surge in power. The best big air kites have tons of depower.

[Matteo V]

. HA and way less depower. And that’s why they’re great for boosting and less good for downwinders while totally not suitable for beginners.

A big air kite with less depower is a step backwards. You can’t boost every time you hit a surge in power. The best big air kites have tons of depower.

I would disagree. But I would qualify that disagreement by:

1. A higher depower kite will allow you to boost on every gust to a respectable height consistently

2. A more twitchy kite with less depower could possibly allow you to squeeze an extra meter or two, on occasion, but miss out on the big gusts you aren't fully prepared for


It's really "a roll of the dice" and take my advise with a grain of salt as my boosting days are becoming less and less frequent since age is catching up with me, and caution is almost getting up to 50/50 with "going for it".

[grigorib]

Let’s not forget the small Turbines just like the Edges are quite aged - it’s been almost 5 years since I got mine, and they do depower, but far from Rally depower range. You do have choice of gusts of course yet when downlooping - they rocket through power zone to the opposite edge of the window and shoot you forward without much ability to ride out the drift a bit gradually.
They are awesome, just not for beginners and downwinders and that’s why I’m curious about the Machine abilities.

[tilmann]

You don´t need high aspect for going upwind if you have a thin leading edge and a flat profile.

[tilmann]

In the video with the 7m Turbine I am going downwind. Otherwise I would not have reached 82 km/h.
The big disadvantage of this kite was the lack of depower. You can see at the end of the run that I could not get the kite under control anymore when braking.
And: The kite could not eat the gusts due to the thick leading edge and the deep profile.
Turbine means: Tons of power but no control

[skyte]

I have no issues with the Machine depower... my 8m Machine is really comfortable over 30knots and they really do go upwind well. I reckon I've been on the 8m in over 40knot gusts and still felt like I was in control and able to keep my edge. My last SURFR session started in 35-40knots and my first 2 jumps were 12m and 13.5m without really trying. The wind dropped to around 30-35knots and I got 14.1m once I was warmed up and trying. This was off small messy chop.

I've had lots of comments of how much float they have but they don't feel especially floaty to me however they are easy to downloop on the descent which creates long floaty jumps.

You have to just try one. They are easy to fly and exciting to fly... what's not to like?

[tilmann]

That´s what I forgot to mention: the Machine absolutely stable and controllable in nuking winds !!!

[Greenturtle]

Im pretty stoked on how this machine kite sounds, thanks for sharing your experience tillmann. Having had turbines and 7m rally before myself I can appreciate the differences you are describing.
Those kites sat hella deep and built power that made the top end difficult to hold (even though the kite itself was not misbehaving).
Sounds like they finally made a kite with the machine that can be pushed to the edge of the window easier for far better depower (like other big air kites) and the reactivity and speed sound just great. Im excited to try one someday.