Postby adamj2281 » Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:09 pm
Here's my quick review, although it's incomplete at this point, I only have 2 sessions on it. I'll come back and give a more complete picture once I have some more time with it.
Background:
Coming off a full Roam quiver (7/9/12) - mostly into strapless surf and foil, with a bit of twintip mixed in (5% of the time). I am a big believer of getting kites that suit the wind range properly, i.e. 12m (75% foil/25% surf), 9m (65% surf probably, 25% foil, 10% twintip - when I feel like not being an old man and boosting), 7m - probably a split of surf/foil. It seems I like to foil when it's really light or when there's a bit of wind but it's flat, I just never really want to be overpowered on it. My 9m range really doesn't get a ton of foil use. My quiver this year will probably be 12m Roam/9m Crave/7m Roam
I was on the Razors before the Roams when I still did a bit more twintip riding, mixed a Prodigy in there for a year as well.
Initial Thoughts:
The initial thing you will notice is the smaller LE, the kite is light, and really agile in the wind. On a surfboard, it took a bit to get used to coming off the Roam, not in a bad way, it's just different. The Roam drifts really well, but it's not super quick to pivot and turn off a bottom turn. This is where the Crave shines, so....if you are coming into the flats and looking to redirect into a wave either by downloop or just a turn, it's much quicker and a tighter window than the Roam. I think it's very well suited for aggressive surf and I'm sure it will boost amazingly well. I mostly rode a surfboard, but when the wind dropped off, I brought out the foil. I'm not an expert foiler by any means, I'm barely half a season in, probably 15 sessions or so, but I can foil rather confidently, ride toeside, etc. I foiled with it a bit as the wind dropped, to be honest it was less than perfect conditions to try and foil, so.....I'll hold opinion back, but it seems the Roam is better suited with respect to a nice slow drift on the foil.
So, who's this for? If you are into a mix of strapless surf with some freestyle mixed in, this is your kite. I think in a direct comparsion with the other kites in OR's range, it's definitely got a quicker/tighter feel compared to the Roam, so you can redirect in a smaller area than the Roam, and then out the back it doesn't stall out as you drift down the wave (this is where the Razor would start to stall). If you are riding in mostly onshore conditions or foiling a large majority of the time, I'd go with the Roam. If you are in sideshore waves and going for a bit more aggression - Crave. Also, again, probably because of the smaller LE and overall weight, it feels incredibly nimble in the air. I'm going to fly it back to back with my Roam to see the difference and report back.
It's like they took the turning aspects of the Razor and toned it down enough to drift and be smooth enough to surf. Great for downloops into waves and quick redirects in the pocket.
I'll post a bit more once I get some more sessions.
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- Digdawg (Wed Jun 10, 2020 9:50 pm)