Katani

03.12.10 - Liquid Force HIFI Comp Review

Product Review

Katani's Kiteboarding school head instructor Jamie Mills recently gave the new 2011 Liquid Force HIFI Comp a run down at St Kilda. Here is his thoughts for those of you who are interested in jumping on one too...

First Appearance's

The Bag is very well made with a multitude of straps and pockets, for most a bag is just something to keep the kite in when it's in the car or van, but with all LF's 2011 range the bags are made for those who have to carry their kit, straps for your board, pump, bar and lines, and if you don't most of these straps can be tucked into little pockets and forgotten about so you don't catch them on stuff when emptying the car, small things but always a pain in the ass.

The Kite

Previously in the past when I have had new kites I have been let down when opening the bag, I put it down to expecting too much for my money, but this certainly wasn't the case.
As you'd expect being brand new pulling it out of the bag it was all fresh and crispy. You can tell just from the first feel that this kite is made from quality materials.
When you start to pump you really feel the difference the Max Flow makes, now this is advertised as basically you have to pump less, well that's a load of crap, as the pump will still only pump a certain amount of air, however as I said you really do feel the difference as there is virtually no pressure in the pump so the resistance is well none, well not until the last 5 or 6 pumps, when the kite is rock hard and ready for action.
On the line connection side of things you connect the lines directly to the kite like a C shape. You have a choice of settings which are labelled very simply, you have two back line pig tails one nearest the trailing edge which is your 'every day', free ride setting so your kite has a fast turning speed, ideal for kiteloops, big air and hang time. The other pig tail is a setting used for practising wakestyle or park riding where the kites response is slower and delayed so any accidental bar input is not translated in to a painful spanking. Both have 3 connection settings for lightwind, standard, and comp.

The Bar

The bar is short at 45cm and light although solidly constructed has Liquid Forces CPR (Centre Line Push Release) Safety system, which gives you a few options depending on your needs and riding style, 100% flag out 5th Line (like most C shape Kites), 90% depower by connecting to the below bar depower strap, or the good ol suicide leash. The 5th line is a detrimental element of this kite as it provides support to the leading edge just like an SLE using a smaller USB 2.0 (Ultra Stable Bridle). The 5th line is also an aid for water relaunching in light wind conditions when launching a Common SLE is difficult.

In The Air

Upon launching I was surprised by the level of depower, seeing as the lines connect directly to kite I was expecting more of a C kite pull.
So I grab the board and head for the water, after two power strokes I'm flyin along. Sheet in and there is plenty of power on tap, sheet out and you almost stop. I give it a few more tacks to see what this is like for freestyle a few nose grabs and backrolls to toeside, this kite is feeling really sweet, you can commit to doing whatever move and not have to worry so much about over flying the kite.
Bored of fighting with the traffic I head to the kiddie pool.
Now we're in the flat water lets see what she's like unhooked, now it really feels like a C kite, direct, fast turning, zero back stall, I am edging like a demon, and simply riding down wind, no matter what I do this kite will not back stall.
A bad trait of most modern C shape Hybrids is that they back stall after completing a powered move, so again it is another nice feeling that when you are unhooked you can stomp your landings and not have to worry if the kite is going to stall, you really can simply ride away.
The pull from this kite is pretty solid, but still user friendly so it doesn't want to rip you off the water in the gusts. Weighing in at 70kg on a good day, on this 11 in 16 knots I'm rocking upwind, and in 25 knots I'm feeling pretty maxed so it's got a pretty good range, I would say that you could have a 2 kite quiver with just the 11 and the 7 for the full on days, but I think you might just find something missing in the middle, so I personally would be inclined to get the 9m too.

Saying that although this kite is user friendly I would recommend anyone considering a purchase should have at least a season or two behind them, as this kite can be quite punishing as you will see in the pics!!!

Final Say

"Overall I would actually say this kite does exactly what it says on the tin, it meets all the demands of the most progressive wakestyle and park riders, and you can put it in the hands of those who are starting to unhook for their first railies and find their preferred style without getting punished too badly as you would with a full on C kite.
I actually believe LF have succeeded in bringing out the first true C shape hybrid SLE."

Jamie Mills

GET YOUR HIFI COMP NOW

Posted by: Kitesurfing School

Category: Kiteboarding