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Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

For all foil kite riders
Regis-de-giens
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Posts: 2006
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:58 pm
Weight: 62 kg
Local Beach: France: St Laurent du Var, Cannes, Almanarre
Style: 62 kg , light wind, waves
Gear: Conceptair pulsion 18&15&12S, OR Flite 10m , Airush One 9&6, peak 5M , Rally 6, Elf 11 &7, 19m2 single skin proto.
foil Ketos, RCS Supreme, TBK Mana, snowskis, kite-boat
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby Regis-de-giens » Thu Oct 21, 2021 2:43 pm

Indeed, same name for very différent kites.
Either a Big mistakes or a lack of Intelligence property protection....
I have just bought a double skin freeride kite named Spirit v2, which is the évolution of a long lasting existing kite from another company, Sky Country, Ukrainien.

Wellcom to confusion...

nate76
Medium Poster
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2014 4:08 pm
Kiting since: 2005
Local Beach: Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska
Style: Doubtful.
Gear: LC Pelican, Gin Marabou/Shaman/Spirit
Brand Affiliation: Tom Bourdeau designs, Gin
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby nate76 » Sun Dec 26, 2021 7:54 pm

Here are a couple unexciting videos with general information and lightwind handling qualities of the 12m Spirit, for anyone who is curious. Should maybe give you some idea of the pros/cons of these kites:



(long comparison video, but I have time shortcuts in the video details so you can fast-forward to what you're interested in)
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B-Roc (Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:14 pm) • RalfsB (Thu Jan 06, 2022 8:26 am)
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B-Roc
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Posts: 105
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Local Beach: Nahant, MA
Style: Kite landboarding and skiing
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Location: Massachusetts
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby B-Roc » Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:27 pm

nate76 wrote:
Sun Dec 26, 2021 7:54 pm

(long comparison video, but I have time shortcuts in the video details so you can fast-forward to what you're interested in)

Nice video and nice comparison. Hope you get to enjoy them on the snow as winter arrives. I haven't been out on the snow in years :(

kitexpert
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby kitexpert » Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:47 pm

FS also had a Spirit :) I still sometimes use even older FS low aspect kite, Maniac, but I've rebuild a modern bridle and mixer in it. Original was weird or just terrible :roll: I also added LE stiffeners. Now it is quite comparable to similar shaped foil kites of today, if not better. Closed cell kite

nate76
Medium Poster
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2014 4:08 pm
Kiting since: 2005
Local Beach: Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska
Style: Doubtful.
Gear: LC Pelican, Gin Marabou/Shaman/Spirit
Brand Affiliation: Tom Bourdeau designs, Gin
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 46 times

Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby nate76 » Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:58 am

Nice video and nice comparison. Hope you get to enjoy them on the snow as winter arrives. I haven't been out on the snow in years :(
Thanks B-roc; been a really slow start to the season in CO, but things are starting to shape up a bit now. Hope to be getting out more in the coming weeks!

derek440
Medium Poster
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Apr 03, 2019 2:47 am
Local Beach: Perth
Favorite Beaches: Coogee
Style: Frothing the foils
Gear: Surf kites, strapless surfboards, foil gear, foil kites
Brand Affiliation: Gin/Flymaax dealer for Australia
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby derek440 » Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:18 am

On the subject of Gin Spirit reviews I have sent a 12m Spirit to "our kite life" youtube guys to test out and review (but its currently too cold there to kite on water and they want to test on both water and snow), will be interesting to hear what they think, its an awesome kite. Am also going to send one to Adventure Logs when a demo kite is free or maybe even the new Instinct HB.
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direnc (Thu Jan 20, 2022 8:31 am)
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seppalord
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby seppalord » Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:37 pm

Does the spirit has an adjustable mixer?
In the video it seems that it is not the case.

Any news regarding new reviews?

derek440
Medium Poster
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Apr 03, 2019 2:47 am
Local Beach: Perth
Favorite Beaches: Coogee
Style: Frothing the foils
Gear: Surf kites, strapless surfboards, foil gear, foil kites
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby derek440 » Sun Apr 17, 2022 3:12 am

The mixer isn't adjustable other than by using loops and different attachment techniques to zero the short mixer. I haven't had to bother with my Spirits or Instincts as they don't go out of tune much but generally the A line in the mixer would eventually get longer relative to the others and you can shorten by re-attaching it to the rest of the mixer with a larks foot or double loop connection to make it shorter again, making the mixer zero again. I have had to do this on some of the race kites - the boom but they are three row bridles/mixers and almost all of the weight is on the A lines which are also smaller diameter. For info on the way to loop a line's attachment to shorten it check out the new Ozone R1 pit stop, the section is called "How to to shorten a bridle line using the double loop technique".

RE reviews I have sent a 12m Spirit to youtube channel "our kite life" and I heard back that they love it but have just moved house/cities so the video review is delayed. After riding it they actually bought the kite so that's a good sign they like it :)
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seppalord (Mon Apr 18, 2022 7:44 pm)
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seppalord
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby seppalord » Mon Apr 18, 2022 7:44 pm

Thanks for the reply derek.

I'm currently using a foil kite which is very light (9m - 1,4 kg). Very good in low winds but you have to be super careful, since the material is very fragile. Furthermore do I have mixed feelings using it on a TT for jumping. The Sprit seems to be good compromise between using it for low wind foiling and more heavy duties when using it for TT jumping.

Can you confirm that despite its low weight the spirit is robust enough to take a beating ?
Do Gin use coated lines on the mixer ?
Do you know whether you can send the kite to Gin, or some representatives to tune the kite, if its out of shape ?

Anyhow, I hoped for a easy trim checker possibility like on the FS kites. It is a just a matter of time when the mixer looses its shape and you have to adjust.

I have read lots of good reviews, but most are biased or the usual magazin crap. Without possibility to test this is the only resource I can get. I just try to figure out whether the praises are for real :)

derek440
Medium Poster
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Apr 03, 2019 2:47 am
Local Beach: Perth
Favorite Beaches: Coogee
Style: Frothing the foils
Gear: Surf kites, strapless surfboards, foil gear, foil kites
Brand Affiliation: Gin/Flymaax dealer for Australia
Has thanked: 12 times
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Re: Gin Kiteboarding Spirit

Postby derek440 » Wed Apr 20, 2022 10:33 am

No worries, yeah I have been saying we need more independant reviews hence me sending kites to our kite life and others soon. RE the mixer you can adjust/zero the short mixer really easily but I have never had to do it for a spirit. Also the LMT marks from Flysurfer are something you can do yourself with a sharpie and I actually do that myself but not for Spirit, just for my race kites.

RE the canopy material we aren't supposed to say which supplier it comes from but I can say its one of the two world leading paraglider canopy material suppliers and its their premium material and I think its the best mix of weight for durability available. The Spirits are a very light kite and during the season I used them I only damaged it once and it was totally my fault. And at the end of the season I sold the demo kites and they still flew perfectly. The canopy material and construction technique are done using Gin Paragliders systems and suppliers and construction etc so if you want an idea of how robust the Gin Spirit is you can get an idea from looking at Gin Paragliders over the last two decades, generally they have been very high quality and have lasted well.

As for riding them I can confirm that they are probably the best free-ride foil kites I have ever ridden. More responsive and fun that a Soul and more trustworthy and stable than race kites or free-race kites. Super easy and super high performance, I reckon the closest thing would be the latest Chrono in terms of performance.
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