Kites that are easy and fun to fly but can really take to the stratosphere if that's your bag...
Access all 105 pages of the Ultimate Test #3 including this year's results.
The BOOST is the flagship freeride kite from Flysurfer’s LEI range. The German kite brand keeps on pushing the R&D using their technical background in paragliding (Skywalk paragliders) and soft kites (they produce some of the most respected foil kites for kitefoil racing on the market) and have complemented this with a comprehensive range of
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The out and out boosting model seems to be an essential addition to most major brands this season and we could certainly be seeing a King of the Air and WOO effect strongly influencing design from established brands. Slingshot join the party with the all-new Raptor model. It sits on an open C five-strut platform
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So far North’s new kite range has been quite discipline-specific and focused on the task in hand, with the Orbit aimed at boosting, the Carve very wave-orientated, and the Pulse catering for unhooked. All-rounders are a key kite for any manufacturer and perhaps the most difficult to pull off design-wise. North are filling the void
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Season 25 yields another variant of the Pivot, making it among the longest standing flagship kite models in the Naish range. It goes without saying that the kite has proven itself with a couple of solid King of the Air wins along the way. Built around a three-strut swept tip platform, the familiar build elements
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CrazyFly have now established their Hyper model into something of a boosting benchmark. There are relatively few high-aspect five-strut kites left on the market, so when we get to test them in decent conditions it’s something of a treat. With the Covid enforced UK based test this year we got to take the Hyper out
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The CORE XR series now reaches its sixth iteration, with the XR5 breaking various jump height records over the last couple of years. It is on the same fusion of a delta and bow platform with five struts and a pronounced concave in the trailing edge. So how does the XR6 differ from the XR5?
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Originating in 2004, the Lift was Airush’s formidable high-aspect all-out boosting machine, and the subject of early noughties kite legend. It is great to see this landmark model return to the product range, albeit now with a highly modern design and feature set. Technically there are quite a few key points to digest. For the
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