Flysurfer Cool 9m

I reluctantly swapped my 10m Spirit for the 9m Cool because, as a mainly inland flyer, I was getting frustrated at the difficulty of inflating and launching the spirit when winds on the ground could be almost nothing. So I decided that open cell was the way to go, even though I knew I would be sacrificing stability.

I had read a few reviews on the Cools, and whilst a couple of them slated the Cools stability, most agreed that it was pretty good, and much better than the RookieII.

So when the opportunity came up for a swap I took it.

So, usual Flysurfer quality (very good), but a small bag compared to the Spirit's, which would hold both the Spirit and my 4m Rookie, a spare top, helmet pads etc. This new style bag for the Cool won't even take the 4m Rookie as well.

First time out was inland, low winds, but fairly smooth. Got the kite out and ready to launch in a couple of minutes (just what I wanted). It sat waiting to go up. I hooked in, added a little power with the blue trimmer and launched.

Up it went nice and smooth with just a hint of pull.

Flying around the top of the window showed a nice quick turning (for it's size) kite, bearing in mind the low winds. Driving the kite lower gave a hint as to the potential power available from the kite.

My 4m Rookie is a superb kite to fly unhooked in low winds, so decided to try this with the Cool and wasn't disappointed.

Pull the yellow strap all the way in to depower the kite then unhook. Lots more power for the lower winds and was nice and stable too. It didn't luff once on this first session.

Next time out was again in low winds ranging from 0 to about 12mph. This would be more of a test. I was also testing my home built cruiser board with 10' tyres and an underslung deck, so this session had the potential for lots of fun or lots of frustration. (It turned out to be a bit of both).

Hooked in again and up went the Cool. Flying around the tips were tucking a bit and had the occasional luff when the wind dropped to nothing. But any kite would have done this, it was just one of those days when the wind couldn't decide what to do.

Slowly got moving on the prototype board and was very pleased with that, as 7' tyres just wouldn't have moved on this field. But it was hard work. So unhooked and tried it that way. What an improvement. By working the kite I could get going a lot better on the board and as my speed, and hence the kite's speed, picked up, more power was generated and I could almost park the kite, despite the wind only being about 8-10mph. And neither me or my board are lightweights. The Spirit probably wouldn't have left the ground.

After these first few runs the wind started to die and the kite started to luff more, but there really wasn't enough wind at all.

The thing that did please me was the ease of recovery from a luff, even when it looked hopeless, I could still recover the kite, and it would just gently re-inflate which was very reassuring. And when a wingtip would get caught in the bridle, I just had to grab that sides bar leader, give it a couple tugs, and it would shake the wing tip free.

So although this wouldn't have happened with the Spirit, the 9m Cool definitely has far better low end performance than any depower if flown so far.

I had been thinking of getting something like a 15.5 Titan for days like this, but having been able to board with the Cool, I'm not going to bother as I can't see anything getting me going in any less wind than I flew in today.

I think I'll use the money for a 6m Cool instead.

So far I'm very impressed with the 9m Cool. Fysurfer have excelled themselves once more.

I can't wait to use this kite at the beach in a steady 15-18mph wind, I'm sure I'll have a huge grin on my face.

By : andrewjohn