| After a
flight test with the new Nobile 666 HP - Jon Oakley tells
us his thoughts!
Conditions >
14-20 knots
Size
Tested > Nobile
666 HP - 12m >
It was Tuesday afternoon and things were
looking up. I had the rest of the week off and the wind
gods were with me. Whilst packing the van, it dawned on
me that I wouldn’t get away with five days of wall
to wall kitesurfing.
Handling >
Once you’ve had a short play on this baby, the advantages
soon manifest themselves in the form of a broad grin.
The Nobile 666 HP does feel like a C-Kite
but has the benefits of full de-power and a 5th line. Whilst
waveriding, it was extremely quick for a 12m and by working
her in the window would accelerate you through your top
and bottom turns yet when needs be, you can dump the power
whilst the kite simply tracks back with you.
I decided to spend some time trying to perfect
my backloop kiteloop transitions. I got the feeling immediately
that this bit of kit was made for this type of riding. I
found it easy to feel where the kite was at all times and
it was seriously fast through the loop, coupled with my
Nobile 666 board maximising the pop boosting level with
the downloop of the kite. I would have to admit that the
666 inspired me to push my riding as far as I dared.
Jumping >
I gotta say that the Nobile 666 HP doesn’t disappoint.
Once you have this baby dialled, you can
get some proper air!
Water Relaunching
> Water re-launching the
Nobile 666 HP was a doddle either off the 5th line or at
the edge of the window on a wing tip. Yes
I ditched her a few times whilst kitelooping!
Build Quality >
The first thing that struck me was that the bag looked relatively
small. Making assumptions, as you do, I thought that perhaps
the build quality maybe a tad light weight.
I removed the packaging and unrolled the
kite to find that I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The build quality was up to the standard laid down by the
majority of the ‘big players’.
The struts and leading edge are reasonably
narrow with the aspect ratio being mid to high making this
quite a fast kite.
The stitching along the leading edge has
a reinforcing strip for added strength and the wear strips
appear in all the right places.
I’m not too fussed whether my gear
is one pump..More gadgets with the potential to go wrong
in my opinion, however, the system rigged on the 666 seemed
well constructed with very flexible pipes that locked off
easily.
It was interesting to see that there were
several attachments for the lines that would enable you
to fine tune the kite to your personal requirements.
Control Bar System
> Nobile 666 HP 5-Line
Control Bar, simple and easy to use, one bar fits all, keeping
overall costs down.
Overall >
Who is this kite best suited? Well - intermediate to advanced
riders, however, a novice could put the Nobile 666 HP to
good use!
The best application, in my opinion would
be wakestyle riding with kiteloops and waveriding, however
it's no problem for using it for cruising.
You
can view more information on the Nobile 666 HP Kite here
>>
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