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My first experience with a hand held sail was a skatewing, www.skatewing.de - I had looked at the Kitewing website www.kitewing.com - seen their videos but just could not afford one. The skatewing gave me a taste - it was easy to see it's limitations and even easier to imagine the freedom and ease of using the kitewing. The kitewing 4.8 is available in dacron with vinyl windows or in full monofilm with some x ply panels in higher stress areas of the sail. I went with the 4.8 monofilm. Being in Canada my primary use was going to be winter - on ice and snow. The wing is well made and easy to assemble. The first time I took it out (on a frozen lake with skates) I was amazed at how the wing would just float in the neutral position - then sheeting in it was like hitting the throttle on a motorcycle. Tacking and gybing were a dream - very easy to maneuver the sail. On ice not much wind is needed at all because of the low friction. With snow on the ice skis become necessary and more wind is needed. Deeper snow - more wind. Nordic skates (www.nordicskates.com) or short track speed skates are my chosen vehicle on ice. The instant acceleration is truly amazing. I have a mountain board on the way because I need a fix. The ice and snow should be back in just over a month - can't wait. The skatewing gave me a little taste of the wind, but the kitewing made me an addict. I've only just begun getting into Foil kites - for the light wind days - but the ease of handling in very high winds instills excitement, not fear. By : GOLDY

THE SKIMBAT KITEWING 4.8 This weekend i finally got to give the kitewing a good run for its money. Wind was around 18mph gusting upto 30mph. But i'll start from the beginning so you know what your dealing with... 1. First Impressions Comes in a rather large bag, because the kitewing has a large cetral pole which comes in one piece, they have to come in very long, awkward bags. I have to slide it in through the boot of my car and have is sitting down the front passengers seat, so the bag is not too convinient to wonder around with. 2. Second Impressions When i pulled it out i was very impressed with the quality of the machine, and then i thought, why the hell am i impressed; these things are damn expensive... the build quality bloomin well should be top notch! 3. First Flight I quickly discovered the kite wing is built for STRONG winds... VERY strong winds. I was pleased about this because i now had a toy i could play with on those heavy wind days when most other kites can kick you! My first flight was interesting, but not exciting. I got to grips with how to hold it, but there really is no way of knowing how to fly with these things without actually going ahead and doing it... so i'll move on to this weekends flight... 4. First PROPER Flight So... This weekend, the wind was very gusty in felixstowe, but there was a constant 15mphish wind with the ocassional crazy gust... it was on these crazy gusts that the kitewing came to life and we had a lotta lotta fun! I kinda wish i had the 5.5, which i see myself getting in the future, because that would allow fo gliding, which i don't think i'd be comfortable doing with the 4.8, but still, the 4.8 totally utterly rocked my socks straight off when it had the wind in it. I was riding on grass, with a mountainboard, so i needed a lot of wind to fight the traction i was creating... i would like to try in on concrete soon as i'm sure you could get going in less wind. This thing doesn't half give your arms a hiding when it doesn't quite have enough wind, it will get your rolling but you will have to be supporting most of the weight of the kitewing, with yours arms above you head, so the lactic acid whips up your arms and it can create some aching. When its got the wind though its a dream, all of the weight of the wing is gone and you just hold of for dear life! I managed to just about pop a few little jumps. We found the best way to get going was to hold the top of the bar (above the rubbered part) at first, this allows the wing to choose its own direction to fit the wind best, when you get some momentum, grab the rubber part and tweak and pump and squeeze the power out. They deliver one of the most amazing feelings in the world when they have the power in them. I crashed into a kids playground oops. No kids were there unfortunately we were flying right at the end of the grove because all the wind seemed to pile up around there. So in conclusion... These kitewings are brilliant, when its blowing hard. Without the wind they are pretty useless. They are however the perfect heavy wind addition to any kite flyers collection and i recommend them to all! By : domdino