Having been more than a little abrasive about this kite when it appeared a couple of years ago I’m as surprised as anyone to have accepted one in a trade. But I did so here we go
It’s not an unattractive kite. It’s a very conventional shape and design. It’s made from the same sort of materials you’d expect from any other kitemaker. There’s a few oh ? moments in some details but nothing weird or puzzling and quite a few nice touches.
Bridle attaches to the spine below the centre T. Clamped in yoyo stoppers. Base of spine tensioning attaches to sewn in area on sail and 17g. plug in weight. Covered LEs, tied in US, stitched bridle.
The wingtips are conventional nocks, with an end cap tidying it all up. The bridle adjustment has limiting knots to keep you within the working range. Framing is 3PT LSs, P100 LEs and, possibly oddly, a P300 spine (which if we are to believe Prism’s latest design explanation is to give it poorer turn response and more difficult yoyos )
There are a handful of construction issues though. The bridle lines are all lumpy which looks like the inner core and outer sheath have moved relative to each other, the sail standoff fittings have this odd Lego™-bowler-hat look that doesn’t sit flush and I’ve caught 50# and 80# lines in there and finally the sail reinforcement between the standoffs is a soft and flexible fabric (like a low weight dacron perhaps) that looks like it might work but just seems a strange choice. Overall though I’d probably call this the best made kite coming out of China that I’ve seen, possibly even the best non-boutique kite. But I’d still rather have a kitemaker made kite.
All in all, you get a nicely screwed together kite with all the right bits. It’s a conventional design that sticks to well proven practices. So…. to the flying field
I’ve only given it a short work out and on pretty ropey lines but it didn’t surprise me with any bad behaviour. Axels were Fractured, the Back was Spun, the Yoyo Cométe was…. nah, let’s not go crazy But it does the stuff. Maybe it’s a little too eager to turn (ie; oversteers a smidge), I overcooked Snap Turtles more often than not and it took care to pop smoothly into a takeoff Fade. Nothing major and nothing I couldn’t adjust to.
I reckon it’s probably all the kite almost everyone could ever use. It’s absolutely fine.
But….
I can’t stop seeing a CdC kite up there and it’s a well manufactured item rather than well crafted. For the forum-bothering kite enthusiast there are better badges to be seen flying these days with better quality (for a higher price). I’m not sure if this will be a long term kite for me – I’ve already got kites of a similar nature I enjoy more – but I’ll give it a fair shake. I’ll probably find some 5PT LSs too.
Oh yes… the case. This probably explains who this kite is aimed at. Room for two kites, both broken down (so not flown regularly). It might come in handy for something but I’m not sure what.
Having now flown the Zephyr quite a bit more it still strikes me as a more-than-just-OK kite. It’s still a bit eager to rotate so I’ve had to tone down the inputs but doing this has made the kite work well. Those overcooked Snap Lazies disappeared when I just eased off (a lot !). This kite drops quickly and easily onto its back and rotates very reliably once there – Multis, repetitions and reversals are all there for the taking. For a big-ish kite (2.35m) it’s nimble enough to play well on 10m lines but doesn’t look small on 35m.
Precision isn’t a particular strong point as the light framing means a bit of wobble coming out of turns. Nothing major and probably not something the kite will be used for most of the time.
Compared to the QPro, which it trails in Prism’s hierarchy, it goes a lot more out of its way to help you (possibly even a it too much). It’s a lot more user friendly and playful.
However…. even if I like the kite, and I do, I just don’t want to buy what Prism want to sell me. So far the case is completely unused by me. When the kite isn’t in use it sits in a sleeve with the LEs still in one piece as I wish them to be. The case might well be precisely what I need for one or two situations but for everyday use, it’s daft. Two more sets of lines and straps I can do without too. So who is going to spend £200 when (presumably) a chunk of that is going on stuff that they just don’t want to buy ?
I dunno the answer to that one.
Mike.
