Testing the 2008 Nemesis HP in Brazil: August 3rd - August 4th

Posted Monday 6th August 2007, by Alex Shogren

Friday 3rd August

Friday was windy, I mean super WINDY. It was a day to take the protos to their limits and see what they could take. At Pararucu, it was blowing a solid 33 knots with gusts to 40 and for the first time all season, there were no kites on the water at low tide, until of course the Best team showed up.

I rigged the 10m Nemi HP just to see what it could take and Jeff rigged the 7m HP. I was lit but I could hold it at 190lbs. Jeff was really juiced on the 7m @ 145 lbs. I tried my best to make the kite deform, invert, fold or do other stange things and it was rock solid, plus I had some of the biggest jumps of my life. Then I crashed the kite HARD, leading edge down, right in the power over and over and the kite was perfect every time. Peter has really built bomb-proof kites with the new version of our Canopy Framing Technology and the highest quality rip stop you can get.

I then took Jeff's 7m and took it out for a spin.

You can't tell from this photo, but I was about 50 feet up on the 7m off flat water. Man, these Nemesis HP's can boost!

I repeated my crash test on the 7m and it made it through about 20 crashes without a scratch and at this point, some other kiters hit the water as even though it was still nukin', guys just couldn't sit on the sidelines any more. And even though this guy wasn't doing crash tests like I was, his kite didn't fare nearly as well as the HP's...

We then headed upwind to Taiba for a little lagoon session and I dropped Jeff and Marco off upwind at the Taiba wave spot for them to come downwind to the lagoon. Jeff started pumping the 7m HP and Marco started pumping his 7m Yarga Hybrid SLE. The both started pumping at the same time, but for some reason Marco's kite wasn't inflating.

I saw that he didn't have the hose connected to the pump, but who am I to say anything when I have a camera in my hand?

That's what he gets for using a North pump.

Even late in the afternoon, it was still super windy and Veronica was dying to ride, so we rigged up a 5m Waroo and off she went.

Saturday 4th Aug: Magic Kite

Every year during the testing process, I find myself rigging that one magic kite almost subconsciously. Like last year: wind is 15-17: rig the 11m Waroo Pro. Wind is 20-25: rig the 11m Waroo Pro. Wind is 25-30+: rig the 11m Waroo Pro… This year is different. So far, all the kites are magic. For sure one of the Nemesis HP's will be the standout simply because the Cuben Fiber leading edge gives the kite a huge advantage over a regular Dacron leading edge increasing the turning speed and responsiveness dramatically. Plus, once you've ridden a kite with Cuben Fiber in the leading edge, it's almost impossible to ride a regular kite again.

That said, the 2008 Waroo is in a league of its own this year. Peter, Shannon, Jeff and I have ridden almost every 2007 and 2008 kite available from other brands and we can honestly say there is not one that we liked enough to even try to mimic part of the way it performed. The "bow" kites are just horrible three years after their inception and we are baffled that people ride them (remember, there's a difference between a "bow" and a Waroo. The Waroo is an SLE - Supported Leading Edge - kite). Almost every time we see a guy riding a bow, we give him a Waroo to try because 99% of the time he hasn't tried a Waroo – and then almost 100% of the time he's instantly converted to a Waroo lover and usually owner. It's so nice having a product that sells itself.

Anyway, about this magic kite for 2008… It hasn't emerged yet because they are all so amazing this year. The Nemesis HP has been in development for over a year now and we've probably been through close to 100 prototypes, and I'm sure the magic kite will emerge from the Nemesis line up. It's 9:30 on Saturday morning here in Brazil – the wind is blowing 20+, Peter and Shannon are just starting to move around after a party at one of the Best Test Centers in Cumbuco last night and Gavin just arrived on the red eye with 5 new prototype kites. I'm like a kid on Christmas morning even though we already know that four of these new protos we will have to make at least some minor changes to, but there's one in there that may be a final version, and I'm super excited about it – the 10m Nemesis HP.

For my weight and the wind here in Brazil, a 10m is the perfect size for me. And now that I think about it, the 10m HP protos have been the kites that I've been rigging most often, so this just might be the magic kite this year. Will let you know after our testing sessions today…

Gavin and Jeff pull protos from my truck as soon as we hit the beach while Veronica drinks coffee dissapointed that's it's blowing 30+.

Gavin is our photographer, and he's more of a surfer than a kiteboarder. During the average week down here, we'll maybe do 2 sessions, but as soon as we got to Pararucu, straight off the red eye with no sleep, he rigged the 7m 2008 Waroo proto, stole my board and hit the water.

Jeff, who was a little down on Brazil when he arrived because he was spoiled by the waves in Western Oz this year, has been rejuvinated by the Nemesis HP. the waves were nopthing special, maybe shoulder high, but he was super excited to get the 7m Nemi rigged and go HUGE.

While I'm waiting for Gavin to come in with my board, I pumped up the new 10m Nemi HP proto and gave Jeff a launch.

Of course, by the time Gavin came in, no one took any more photos, sorry. But I went out lit on the 10m and had one of the best sessions of my life. The 10m Nemi HP, at least for a guy my weight, is the magic kite. It boosts huge and keeps you up there forever. It's super responsive and fast, plus by changing a knot on the wingtips, you can slow the kite down for wakestyle. I came in thinking that this was it, this is the version we finally approve after 100+ prototypes, this IS the magic kite. But Peter was on the beach shaking his head - he saw a flaw.

A Flaw? I didn't see or feel a flaw! This kite is flawless! This kite is more magic than any kite we've ever made! And if I can't see or feel a flaw, how could our customers? But Peter was busy writing things in German in his notebook about what he needs to change to make the 10m Nemi HP even better.

Better? How could it get any better? But Peter is the man and definately the most perfectionist / best kite designer on the planet, and I trust him implicitly. So while we wait for the next version of the 10m HP, I will happily ride this "flawed" version with a big smile on my face.