It was a random beach chat, you know similar to the ones about peeing in your wetsuit etc. When I found myself comparing the Slingshot Rev to Marmite as I think you either love it or hate it – me I like marmite, but not too keen on the Rev. However, if I was to think of an advert to describe the RRD Obsession it would be Pepperami…. it can be a bit of an animal!
The Equipment:The kite, well it is Italian by design and this is apparent when you unfold and pump it up as it is ‘bling’ right down to the metallic red strut end protectors. However, the design is not all for show and there are some nice touches like the solid surrounds at the valves, plus it all looks very well put together.
When laid out you can see the delta inspired shape and this becomes even more evident when pumped up with swept back wingtips and a quite substantial leading edge. The bridle is very compact and the rear lines have a direct connection with the ‘flap’ that extends beyond the wingtips that I assume acts like a mini ‘V’ bridle and provides a solid stable attachment.
The bar supplied with the demo was last year’s design with the updated touches for 09 and the main difference apparently for this year will be slightly longer to increase turning in larger sizes - not a problem for the 9m, but more on this later and on the bar which came with short (20/22m?) lines.
As an aside the bag although not hugely important, in my opinion is brilliant, not just an afterthought but a functional well designed piece of equipment (those Italians) with excellent padding that would be great for travel and you could easily get 12m and another smaller Obsession in there.
The Flying:
First thing you notice when you get the kite up is just how quick and responsive it is and I don’t think this is just a consequence of the short lines – it is fast full stop! RRD describe the bar pressure as medium, however I actually found it light, but in no way vague as it is still very direct. Also while flinging it about on the beach you notice the power it has, especially from 11 in the window and how ‘grunty’ it is when moving.On the water it took me a little bit of time to get used to the speed as it is really fast, in transitions you could almost loop the kite so a little time to adjust was required. Early in the session the wind was light and here you notice the kite has good low-end power for its size and I could hold ground when others were on 11m Revs. You can also position it quite far forward in the window and really hack upwind on it, which is good because after you start to jump with it you will need this ability!
Jumping the obsession is crazy and you feel it in your core as it literally rips you off the water and then up, but unlike other kites that can do this it also has good glide and float – it is pretty effortless to jump good on this kite. The kite is also really stable making it easy to generate pop and when doing tricks and grabs it just sits there well behaved and you can feel exactly where it is. Also if you do drop it the delta inspired shape means that it is super easy to re-launch and it always seems to be waiting on a wingtip for you. As I don’t unhook (yet) I cannot comment on that aspect of the kite, but I would hazard an un-educated guess that the stability would make the kite good for this.
When the wind picked up it, was easy to depower and the adjuster/cleat was in easy reach for me (shorter riders or groms might struggle when at full power though), however what I did notice compared to other kites I have tried recently is that the power is maybe not as progressive with sheeting. It can go from not a lot to BANG! power and I think this is partly due to the extended throw on the bar to allow for more depower compared to the Type 9 (which I have ridden).This could be helped greatly with a stopper that would also be very useful to spin the bar against to untwist the lines against without it totally killing all the power in the kite. Also the throw without it can be quite large, however, Roberto did state in a recent interview on AS news that the bar will soon ship with an adjustable push through stopper – good.
The Conclusion:
Final thoughts are that I liked the kite and it would only be better with a stopper on the bar, as without it I found the throw too much and it was annoying when un-spinning the bar. However, I feel that similar to when I tried the Type 9 that it is maybe too much performance for me currently – it was like going to one of those days out and getting to ride a performance car that is thrilling on a track, but you would not want to commute in it. A few other riders rode it and everyone generally liked it and all loved how it jumps, but the consensus would be that it was the ‘younger’ wakestyler’s kite and that it had potential hooligan tendencies to scare of us ‘older’ freeriders (hooligan was the exact words of one rider, but this same guy said he has not gone as big so easily)!"