New Brand: Epic Kites

[knuthansen]

How long has Cameron been riding for?
That fella got potential..
Is that his mom at 0:48?

[NicoFr]

Had an awesome 5 hours session yesterday with the Screamer 7 in about 25-35kts.
I've landed my first S-Bend DobleLoop héhééééé!!
Fast and stong! Whaaaa.... Epic!

[xray]

Well, the 2011 kites seem to be ready already but still a little review on the 2010 Screamer 10m LTD can't be wrong, allthough there lots of them already.

Had the chance to ride the kite in different conditions for several sessions (thanks Jeroen AKA Geronimo).

Based on this topic and the trackrecord and ridingstyle of Dimitri I was really curious and had high hopes.

To be honest, I wasn't disappointed at all! This is one easy flying, stable, good turning, wide range, up-and-go, easy to fly kite that's up there with a lot of big brands in quality as well. It's a kite you feel confident with right away. I tried a lot of (old school) tricks right away. The kite has good lift and hangtime, it turns well (even in waves), goes up very well after a loop, and for sure has good power. My own Dos 10m still has a better low-end and as far as I'm concerned a slightly better hangtime as well, but for the rest it's more or less up to par or better. It has one-pump, stopper ball in the LE, more settings and a good working unwinding of the front lines.

Improvements are the before mentioned bigger pump, a slightly tighter bar (less gluelines) , a bigger center hole in the bar especially the lower part. One look at a Naish bar and you'll know what I mean. It works good on the Naish bar as well, the kite really does turn (even) better. But for the rest, keep up the good work!

[Dimitri M]

EPIC KITES would like to welcome our new Team Rider "Katie Bowcutt" 13 year old girl from the DR.
http://www.epickites.com/team/kate.php
She did her first PKRA this week in the DR on her new EPIC kites. She became a Team Rider 12 days ago and did not have too much time to train on them, but the results were incredible. I guess she loves the kites.....

Nice job Katie. More pictures to follow.

[RefleXx]

Congratulations to Epic and Katie with this deal. I am sure Katie will do good with the kites For Epic it is a great opportunity to have some good and upcoming riders in the team

[NicoFr]

Another true Epic session yesterday, I rod my screamers 9 10 and 12 the same day, between 12 to 16 knots!

[TommyDuotone]

First impressions of the 6m Renegade(20m lines): I got a lot of water time on the 6m Renegade last week. The conditions where I was riding start of in the low 20's and builds to the high 20's/ low 30's within a few hours, side to side-off wind. And, does get quite gusty at times.

Weight: 195 lbs
Board: 6' 2" Firewire stock surfboard(Flexfire)
Experience: 3rd year kiting.

Before I rigged the 6m, I was a little hesitant because most guys my size were on 8m and 9m kites(everyone was on surfboards/directionals) and this is a place where you do not want to end up down wind due to a cliffy shoreline with limited launch area. I could have rigged the 9m to be sure, however, I did not want to have to come in and rig down when the wind picked up. Also, I like to freesurf the wave as much as possible and rather not be over-powered when riding down-the line.

As soon as the kite went in the air I was impressed due to the incredible stability. The launch area borders a small cliff, so the wind is light before the kite gets above the cliff, making it a little sketchy to launch sometimes when it's gusting. As soon as I started riding I was lovin this thing. The lowend on this 6m is amazing. In regards to high end, I don't know since I was never over-powered during all my sessions. I also really liked the lighter bar pressure and shorter throw to depower. That coupled with it's stability, made this kite such a pleasure to fly in these conditions.
In regards to the performance on the waves: I was a little bummed that we did not get the swell we were expecting so the waves were only head high at best. However, I was blown away how this kite flies when riding waves. It's the kind of kite that you do not have to pay attention to when your on the wave. Which means you can put all your focus on the wave itself. This is the closest I've felt to actual free-surfing since I've been kiting on waves. I am so happy with this kite. For me, it has everything I want in a wave kite: great lowend, stability, power/depower on demand in a short stroke, gust eater, no heavy bar pressure, and fast turning. If you are into waves, you should definetly give this kite a try.

Lastly, I have been equally impressed with the customer service I've gotten from Epic. Many kite companies miss the mark in this category which is really a shame for them. Thanks Dimitri for putting out such a solid kite for waves.

[Stevenb]

Hello every body, I am Katie's father and just thought it will be nice to post something even if it is my first post. So here you go.
The PKRA Cabarete was her first experience at world level.  She placed 9th in the competition which gave her an 11th place world ranking on PKRA . Katie decided to complete just a short time before the competition. She asked me to find her some sponsors. We put a letter together with some pictures and started sending it out to selected manufacturers.  We were pretty impressed with the quantity of positive responses in some case we had to make a decision which direction to go. Katie chose Epic as her kite brand, Cabarete Kiteboards (Plinsi) as her board manufacturer, Lavera Organic skin care, Mi Gym is her moms business so that was a given. She loves to kite and has spent endless hours learning new tricks and evolving as a kiter. She wants to travel the PKRA circuit but, we think that a year more training and she should be able to compete at the upper level. She has several great coaches including Raul a long time instructor on Kite beach and Ariel Corniel (1st overall mens PKRA, Cabarete) has offered to show her some stuff too. The entire experience was a little overwhelming for us both. Lots of waiting and watching. During the competition one the of the announcers asked what was EPIC and the other stated that it was Dimitri Maramenides new line then went on about Dimitri and his extensive background in the kiting world. Finally one of them said hey, this is not the Dimitri show this is the PKRA. Without missing a beat  they both went back in to the commentary about the riders on the water at that time. We found it pretty funny and neither Kate nor I realized until that next morning exactly who Dimitri was. We googled his name and one of the first things that popped up was that Dimitri is the single most photographed kiter on the Planet, among other things.  Kate loved the competition and told me that she did not see a single trick that with practice she could not perform, I agreed. I asked her (only partially kidding) to go over and tell Bruna and Karolina that she was coming after their titles, Kate declined but, we both got a good laugh and wink out of it. Kate has kited several times since the close of her riding time at PKRA Cabarete and has learned a new trick. She was overall a little disappointed in her performance but, will try again soon. Kate is super pleased with all of her choices and loves the kites Epic supplied. Thanks to PKRA for letting Katie ride in the competition and to all of her sponsors. FYI, she is beginning her search for funding for a PKRA world tour in 2011. Please keep her in mind. We will show frequent updates on her skill level and other advancements.

[Geronimo79]

Can't wait to see that girl riding. And making videos.
Good luck and have epic rides.

How come the Renegade and not the Screamer?

[Bryden]

A lot of good press on these kites and for good reason.
I've had my 12m Screamer out in 11-15 knots (190 lbs, 137X41 Twin Tip) and had no problem staying upwind in less than ideal chop. Top notch customer service and so far, great build quality.
Can't wait to see what 2011 brings...