Testing the 2008 Nemesis HP in Brazil

Posted Wednesday 1 August 2007, by Alex Shogren

Monday July 30th: Shannon saves the Day!

It was the day before Jeff was to arrive with the latest 9m Nemi HP prototype and the latest 9m 2008 Waroo prototype, and we were all riding at the Best lagoon and R&D center when we saw Shannon dragging accross the lagoon holding his board and something else ...

The "something else" turned out to be an old yellow bag that was ripped to shreds with a baby sea turtle all tangled in it.

The threads were actually choking him ...

So Dr. Shannon & Dr. Alex went to work with Peter's handy Leatherman tool.

Then freedom at last! Veronica displays the little bugger while in the car heading for the ocean.

Just a quick shot with our new friend before we send him out to sea.

He swims away as Veronica watches ...

Wednesday Aug 1st: Jeff arrives with new toys

Peter, Shannon and I had been waiting like kids right before Christmas for Jeff to arrive here in Brazil with the newest version of the 9m Nemesis HP and the newest version of the 2008 Waroo 9m. The Nemesis HP is almost done and we were hoping to be able to approve the 9m Jeff brought and we couldn't wait to test them both!

So Jeff and I headed to Pararucu for a low tide flat water / wave session. At low tide, it's really the perfect spot to test kites because there is flat water, wind chop and nice waves, but in order to get there, we had to cross the (now famous) breach in the Tiaba lagoon - yes it's still there ... So I sent Jeff out to test how deep the water was to make sure we could cross with my truck.

It was a little too windy for Jeff to ride either of the 9m kites, so he rigged the prototype 7m Nemesis HP.

Jeff and the 7m Nemi skimming accross the flat water...

Yesterday, we were at Pararucu as well and there was a guy there with a new 2008 Cabrinha Crossbow. Peter, Shannon and I always like to test other company's newest gear as a benchmark for our own product development, so we each took it for a spin.

Out of respect for cabrinha and their customers, I won't get into exactly what we thought of the kite, but I think Peter summed it up best, "If this was the only kite to kitesurf with, I'd start windsurfing again."

We let the guy with the new Crossbow test a Waroo too, and when we showed up to the beach this morning, he showed us his new purchase. A picture is worth 1000 words...

Shannon and Peter hadn't shown up yet as Peter was still working on a kite file, and they had the new toys in their truck, so I rigged the 10m Nemesis HP proto and did a quick loop session.

Shannon and Peter arrived while I was on the water and quickly rigged the new 2008 Waroo 9m.

Peter launching Shannon on the 2008 Waroo 9m.

What do you think of the new color/panel layout? Post your thoughts here ... http://forum.bestkiteboarding.com/viewtopic.php? t=5679

We let a bunch of guys who fly 2007 9m waroos test the new 2008 proto and they were SUPER stoked! They all reported that it turned faster, chased waves much better, jumped higher and felt super comfortable and easy. The we let another bunch of guys who ride '07 Waroo Pros test the Nemi HP and they were even more stoked with all of them saying, "Can I buy one now?"

After some serious testing in the waves with both twin tips and surfboards, the tide started coming in so we packed up and headed for the Best lagoon and R&D Center in Taiba.

Shannon rigged the yellow 9m Waroo and I rigged the blue 9m Nemi HP.

Here's Shannon going huge on the proto 2008 Waroo 9m.

Here's me doing a kite loop on the 9m Nemi HP proto. Damn that thing is fast!

Peter, Jeff, Shannon and I all traded kites comparing the new toys to both the previous versions and to the 07 kites, and at the end of the day, we were thrilled with the kites, but of course, they weren't perfect enough for Peter who is now at his computer making new kite files for the 9m Waroo and the 9m Nemi HP...

The four of us have the best jobs in the world! (can you tell I'm sucking it in?)