BEST 9.5m Kahoona 2010 tested by Steve Nyswonger

Last Saturday kiting video: 2010 Kahoona 9.5m Kite tested by Steve Nyswonger

Friday February 19, 2010 BEST 2010 Kahoona V2 testing

Today wind was about 12mph to 16 mph. I went out on the new 2010 BEST Kahoona 9.5m with the red line bar. Kite turns fast and feel tight, a whole lot more improvement than last year Kahoona. It was nice wave riding and unhooked. Wind only blew for an hour or so. Looking forward to testing the new 2010 Kahoona in stronger wind. So far the 2010 Kahoona 9.5m performed beautifully in the low end.

We will have the 2010 BEST Kahoona Kites in stock before February 10, 2010

Are you ready to purchase your 2010 BEST Kahoona Kites! We will have them in stock so grab one now! Click here to purchase them!

October 26, 2009

One of our customer Jim U. from Santa Barbara sent this in:

Bro I rode the 11.5 Kahoona yesterday, I loved it!! it was everything you said and more. The wind got a little lighter after about a hour everyone was walking, I was able to stay kiting and ride waves it was INSANE!!!!! Out of the 7 kites I have this is my favorite!!!

My first new kites were Best Yarga's and now I'm back with Best and happy to be here.

Thanks Jim.

Fun Fun with Kahoona

I am closing this Kahoona Blog with The latest Kiteboarding movie by our local talented kiter: Mike S
http://bit.ly/2LZTHS



We got plenty of Kahoona kites in stock. Grab one for yourself! It is one of the best kite on the market today.

Thursday February 26, 2009

Wind on the beach was 17mph. I was on 9.5 Kahoona all day long... So much fun. Today I was trying to get my F16: unhooked back roll kite loop dialed in on the Kahoona 9.5m fun fun....Not much else to review as I am loving this kite. Scott M. (180 lbs) went out on the 9.5m Kahoona and 128cm Underground 2009 FLX in the same wind and he was boosting some nice high jumps.

Light wind kahoona 11.5m

Yesterday the wind was blowing 10 to 14mph all day long. I took out the Kahoona 11.5m and had a blast. At 12mph I was able to get some nice 10 foot jumps. Mike S. went out and recorded some videos which you will be able to see them soon. Here is a picture of yesterday before the kiting session:

Kahoona 9.5 Unhooked - Unstrapped

Tuesday February 17, 2009 - Kahoona 9.5m performed well in light wind

Wind on the beach was blowing 10mph steady sometimes gusted up to 12mph. This is the bottom end of the Kahoona 9.5m for me. When the wind was steady 12mph, I had no problems throwing unhooked tricks and staying upwind. With 10mph, I had to ride the Underground Freewave 5'8" to stay upwind. The 9.5 Kahoona performed very well today in this light wind condition. I took out the Waroo 2009 13m to test the Kahoona 9.5m against it. With the Waroo 2009 13m I was able to ride my FLX 128cm in 10mph and staying upwind. The Kahoona 9.5m performed well staying in the air without any difficulties in 8mph wind while Mike L. had problems keeping his Caution Answer 9m kite up in the air.

Kahoona 9.5m in action

Monday February 16, 2009: Wind was light today 12 to 14mph all afternoon, just perfect for me to test the low end of the Kahoona 9.5m . It performed in this light wind exceptionally well. I was able to throw unhooked tricks with good pop in this light wind condition.

Sunday February 15, 2009 - Day 4: Kahoona 9.5 on BIG Waves

Today the southerly storm hit us early. By 8 a.m., Tyler C. was already out kiting at Grand Avenue. We showed up at 9 a.m. and Tyler got to try the Kahoona 9.5m in super gusty condition. Picture here, Jamie TW. kiting on the Kahoona 9.5m after Tyler tried. Wind was about 18 gust 29mph or more. Everyone showed up by 10 a.m. Grant E. went out on his 10m HP Nemesis, John S. was on his waroo 9m and then Ben I. later on.

Today, the 9.5 Kahoona has proven itself again in this gnarly kiting condition to be the most stable kite ever. I was out having one of the best day wave riding as the waves on the outside was steep overhead and smooth. Steve N. showed up and he got to ride the Kahoona 9.5 also.

We both then rode downwind from Grand Avenue to Shell Beach. We got some really nice big waves head and half, sometimes double overhead near the North Side of the Pismo Pier. By the time we got to Silvershoals, our legs were like jelly but we kept charging those nice over head waves and the wind was perfectly side on there.

I am hooked on the Kahoona 9.5 for its stability and smoothness in the waves. Hooked in wave riding on the Kahoona is so much fun: you just have to ride the Kahoona to find out.

Kahoona 9.5 - day 3 testing in big waves - 02/12/2009

Some where deep in the ocean half a mile from shore lies my Olympus waterproof camera. :-(((

Today the wind was quite strong 17 to 26 mph. I got to the beach and Grant E. (220 lbs) just came in from riding his 12m HP Nemesis. I gave him the Kahoona 9.5 to test as I need to see how this kite performs with a heavy guy and moderate 18mph wind. Grant went out and got some small 5 to 10 foot jumps. You can see the picture here showing Grant was kiting on the RED Kahoona 9.5m and Mike S. (190 lbs) kiting on the 11.5m Kahoona. The beautiful blue sky was full of these beautiful cumi clouds and I just can't pass the opportunity for some nice pictures.

The waves on the outside were bigger today so I grabbed the 9.5m Kahoona from Grant E. and rode my Underground Freewave 5'8". Victor S. also just got a new Caution kite so I signaled to Victor that I want to take some pictures on the outside wave riding. My Olympus waterproof camera on my right hand was capturing some nice epic footages of today wave riding. I was having a blast riding unhooked strapless on head high waves. I parked on the outside and filmed Victor drop in on a nice head and half wave. This was the last video recorded on my camera. I saw a huge wave setting up so I hurried up and took it. The next thing I saw was lots of white water and my Kahoona totally got dumped in the waves. It then took off straight from the powerzone without any of my inputs and parked at zenith. The result of this drag, broke my camera leash so now somewhere half a mile from shore is my camera deep down in the bottom of the ocean. However, from today session: Kahoona is ONE OF THE BEST AUTO-Relaunch kite I have ever owned!

Not much else to say for today, except that I was having tons of fun on the Kahoona 9.5m and got my ass kicked by the big waves.

Kahoona 9.5m - testing day 2 - February 11, 2009

At 3:30 p.m., nice NW 15mph wind kicked in nicely. I went out on the Kahoona 9.5m and Underground 2009 FLX 128. I appreciate the fact that the Kahoona is super easy to set up to fly right out the bag. Just hook the back flying line to the first knot of the rear bridle line and off you go. In wind 15mph on the beach, I did not have to pull in the depower strap then throw my unhooked tricks. The kite flies perfectly hooked in and unhooked on the same depower strap setting. Other kites would backstalled if I don't pull the depower strap in when unhooking.

As the wind picked up stronger and that I forgot to pull in the depower strap to compensate for the stronger wind, the bar pressure increased. Once I pulled the depower strap, the sweet spot moved closer to my body and hence the bar pressure felt a ton better.

I tested the Kahoona 9.5's hooked-in and unhooked KiteLoops. You really have to commit to the kiteloop as the Kahoona loops through the powerzone slower than the HP Nemesis 10m, a lot more like a C kite's Kiteloop feeling. After a few crashes, I started to boost big on the Kahooa 9.5m and looped the kite at the apex and whoa: it was so much fun.

Handlepasses, S bends tricks on the Kahoona 9.5 were nice and easy just like on the C kites. The Kahoona stayed exactly in the same place and did not drift.

I dumped the Kahoona many times today. It either stayed up there or sat right on the edge ready to fly.

I had so much fun today practicing unhooked tricks on the Kahoona 9.5m and the waves were small so I did not bother to go out on the surfboard.

In summary, the Kahoona 9.5m definitely has more bar pressure than the HP Nemesis 10m. Kahoona 9.5m really a solid, super stable, excellent kite to practice your unhooked wakestyle tricks. Just remember to trim the depower strap when the wind picked up. The Kahoona 9.5m relaunched super fast and automatically. I think a 10m Kahoona with ability to change the bar pressure would be my next favorite kite as it would give me a better low end wind range.

9.5m Kahoon Testing - Tuesday - February 10, 2009

At noon today, John C. reported 17mph NW wind on the beach at Pier Avenue. Sweet! Waves on the outside are about overhead high with butter smooth water on the inside. Mike S. was filming me trying out the Kahoona 9.5m on the new Underground 2009 FLX 128cm then I tried the Kahoona 9.5 riding waves with the Underground Freewave 5'8" unstrapped and unhooked.

Wind was blowing from 17 up to 25mph+ for today Kahoona 9.5 testing session. The 9.5m Kahoona felt really nice in this high wind as normally I would be riding the 7m HP Nemesis in this condition. In the beginning of the session, I was doing wakestyle unhooked tricks and big airs board off tricks. Unhooked wakestyle tricks on the Kahoona 9.5m is nice, fun, predictable and stable just like on the C style kite. Bar pressure is medium (heavier when comparing to bar pressure on the HP Nemesis 10m kite and lighter when comparing to bar pressure Cabrinha Switchblade 10m - about the same bar pressure on the F-One Bandit and North Evo kite). Kitelooping on the Kahoona 9.5m is a little bit slower when comparing to HP Nemesis 10m.
Unhooked wave riding is super easy and the Kahoona does not backstalling. BigAirs and board off tricks are easily to perform with the Kahoona 9.5 as it has great pop and hangtime. Hangtime on the Kahoona is a lot different than Hangtime on the HP Nemesis: on the Kahoona you just go straight up - on the HP Nemesis you go up and also glide!

I dumped the kite in the waves a few times to test the Kahoona relaunch ability as well as the redline safety system. The Kahoona automatically wants to relaunch itself everytime I crashed. This is so far one of the best self relaunching kite. A few times, the Kahoona rolled 3 or 4 times then it just sat on the side windows waiting for me to relaunch.

Overall impression for today: I think the Kahoona 9.5m performs exceptionally well in wind 15mph to 25mph. It does not fluff or shows any sign of canopy flapping in comparison to the Kahoona 11.5m in the 25mph wind. In gusty wind, the kite surged forward with more pulls than the HP Nemesis 10m. The Kahoona 9.5 is ridiculously stable and easy to relaunch, together with NO BACKSTALLING and a nice medium bar pressure making the Kahoona a great first kite for new beginner kiters as well as hardcore wave riders or wakestyle riders.

My only wish is that the Kahoona 10M will be available in the near future because the 10M will be better in low end as well as high end wind and a little lesser bar pressure. Probably the best would be a configuration on the kite to ride with medium or light bar pressure.

Monday February 09, 2009 - Big day for Kahoona

Purchase the Kahoona 2009 kite here!

Today, I took out the BEST Kahoona 11.5m with the stock BEST Red line bar 50cm/25m line. Mike S. who weights about 190 lbs had been riding it all afternoon and he just got in as he thought he needed a smaller 9m kite. I weight 155 lbs (70Kg) so I can see why Mike was quite concerned that I would be overpowered. I told Mike that BEST advertised the 11.5 Kahoona wind range should be around 12 to 26mph so it just perfect for me to test the higher wind range of the Kahoona 11.5m.

Mike measured the wind and it was blowing 23mph on the beach as I kited out into big head and a half waves with the 5'8" Underground FREEWAVE board strapless.

BEST promotes the Kahoona kite for wave riding so with the big waves, strong 23mph plus NW wind, and strapless Underground Freewave surfboard; I have gotten the best ingredients for a great wave riding day.

The depower strap on the bar is pulled in all the way: I am pegged to the max. A nice big wave jacked up and I dropped in for a nice backhand side. The Kahoona 11.5m felt smooth and sit nicely in the wind window as I tried to gun down the line.
Pumping up and down the face of the wave, the Kahoon followed me nicely. So far so good.

A few more waves and I felt super comfortable with the Kahoona. Unfortunately, I was pegged out to the limit so I could not test the Kahoona with unhooked waveriding for today.

My overall impression of the Kahoona 11.5m for today:
The kite turns nice and smooth.
It sits very nice in the wind window so I do get a nice constant pull while riding waves.
I don't like the feeling of the kite fluttering when the gusts hit it. (Probably because I was riding at the max wind range?)
This is the second Delta shape kite that I have tried, (Tested the F-One Bandit dos last year). So if you normally ride the F-One Bandit or North Kites or C kites, I think you will like this Kahoona as it has the similar feels of smooth turns and bar pressure.
If you normally ride wave hooked-in on the BEST Waroo kite, you will like the Red Line BEST 2009 bar. It has a long depower line.