I got to fly the 2017 14 m Apollo and 19 m Contra for a while on Saturday during a demo in Pompano Beach. I really like the smooth flight, power and ease of control of the Apollo. The Contra was a fine flyer as well, feeling like a lot smaller kite than 19 m, quick to turn and responsive. Here is a curious thing, the power out of the two kites was quite similar. They say the high aspect of the Apollo is more efficient than conventional shapes. This experience supports that conclusion.
I have the opposite opinion on the contras. In our low wind area my 13 and 15 are my go to kites at 210lbs. Never had any kite losing shape or anything like that. They've got strong low end grunt. I wish they were faster, but hey it's a big kite what do you expect. My contra beats the other lw inflatables I've tried (for tt)
rddvet wrote:I have the opposite opinion on the contras. In our low wind area my 13 and 15 are my go to kites at 210lbs. Never had any kite losing shape or anything like that. They've got strong low end grunt. I wish they were faster, but hey it's a big kite what do you expect. My contra beats the other lw inflatables I've tried (for tt)
I agree with the two previous posts. I think the Contra is a super light wind kite. I demo'd the 2017 Contra 13 a few weeks ago, and it's a great kite. Also spent a season riding the 2015 Contra 17 for go-to light wind kite. Depends on riding style, of course. Bar pressure and shape is not good for unhooked, but it's a truck for airstyle and aggressive hooked-in riding in lighter wind.
I also demo'd the Apollo 12. Again, for hooked-in riding, it's smooth and consistent. A lot of riders say it feels different from other LEIs, but it's easy and fun to ride. With a long skinny race-style shape, it's somewhat slow in turning, but it will pinwheel loop if you are aggressive with it, and it never loses shape or power. It's not a rip-you-off-the-water booster, but it's got good float, it's forgiving, and the power is very consistent and substantial (without the bar pressure of the Contra). All in all, a very nice kite, IMHO.
Tone wrote:I cannot believe the Contra is being given praise.
It's a horrible lightwind kite, really horrible.
I didn't like it either, 2016 15m. Was ok on the foil, wouldn't hold it's shape on the TT when loaded. Maybe it's better for little guys...
It's a light wind kite. It's not meant to ridden "loaded". The idea is to have good performance, quick steering, light bar, easy relaunch, and ability to unhook in the lower end of the wind range. If you want to ride loaded, we have other kites that will work much better like FX, Apollo, and Switchblade.