At a GlanceJN have been around for a long time now and the Italian company has always come up with some innovative products. Concepts like floating battens and the Switchcraft bar have defined their forward thinking in terms of design.
The Mr Fantastic is a totally new kitesurfing kite in their range that utilises a sweptback wing tip design. It is aimed as a ‘one kite fits all’ machine that has a wide wind range and is happy flying in a variety of conditions with a variety of riders at the controls.
Before we tell you what the kite is like out of the bag, the bag itself is worth a mention. Easily one of the toughest and best-made bags on the market it also easily swallows your kite when you have finished with it!
The Mr Fantastic itself boasts some impressive build quality and the kite looks very well made, one pump comes as standard as well and the kite also sports a very simple bridle set up. There are reinforcements along the leading edge and there are plenty of segments and panels to ensure the load is spread evenly throughout the kite.
The Bar
We were supplied with the Switchcraft Bar from JN, there is now a Switchcraft II bar, which has been tweaked and slightly upgraded. The concept is simple, to provide one bar that can be used for a wide range of kites. JN achieve this by making the bar horns swivel, you need to loosen them with a screwdriver first but once this is done you just twist the horns to effectively make the bar longer or shorter by moving the leader lines as well you get 4 lengths of bar in one. In addition to this the entire system can be spun as the safety line runs through the centre of the chicken loop. There are O’Shit handles as well as an added safety feature and the best bit is the bar is supplied as standard with two different chicken loops, one large and one small. So if you want to unhook you can easily put the large loop on and not have to buy something extra. The chicken loop itself uses a very effective quick release, some riders may find it a little bulky, but it works and is easily reached in an emergency.
In the Air
Mr Fantastic is a pretty outrageous name for a kite surfing kite, by anyone’s standards! So we didn’t quite know what to expect when we first put the kite into the air. It certainly looks very different to anything JN have produced before.
Perhaps the most striking thing is the leading edge, which hardly tapers at all until it gets right to the wing tips; this gives the front of the kite a beefy chunky look. The extra volume of air on the corners of the wing tip really come in to their own when you crash the kite as it rolls over really easily and is up and back in the sky before you know it. But you won’t be crashing this kite much, it is really simple and easy to fly, very stable and very forgiving.
The bar pressure isn’t too heavy or too light, giving you a great amount of feedback as to where the kite is at any given moment. As we got to grips with it we realised it was one of the easiest kites we have flown in a while to get dialled into, each of the test team just jumped on and got instant enjoyment out of it. Unhooked it is very stable and delivers a good amount of pull. Hooked in freeriding the kite is quick with a good turn of speed and jumping was amazing. Sometimes when you jump on a new kite it is tricky to get the timing of the jumps right. You either send it back too far or don’t pull it far enough forwards to get your landing right. The JN just seems to fly itself overhead; slight movements on the bar bring the kite back under control and exactly where you want it. Definitely one of the easiest to jump kites we have ridden in a while.
In fact the more we thought about it the more we thought that while Mr Fantastic was a somewhat daring name, it is actually rather apt. The Mr Fantastic flies upwind, puts a smile on your face when you send it through the window and is very easy to fly indeed. Coupled with the easy relaunch JN have really hit the nail on the head with this all rounder. The name says it all.
Pros
Really easy to fly, excellent in the air and fantastic upwind, a perfect freeride kite surfing kite, the ease of relaunch make it well suited to beginners as well and we liked the simple bridle set up.
Cons
As far as the kite goes we couldn’t really find any fault at all, good build quality and great features. Being fans of the simple here at the magazine then bar is a little over engineered for our liking. But that is personal choice; riders out there who love the technical will be very impressed with it.
Overall
One of the best kites we have ever seen from the JN stable, the team behind it should be really pleased. The Mr Fantastic defines everything a freeride kite should be, easy to use with blistering performance.