Best Kiteboarding Kahoona 10.5m 2013
Reviews / Kites
55,300
At A Glance
Version 5 of the popular Kahoona kite makes it the longest running kite in their current line up, and like the ever popular Waroo before it, it has plenty of fans around the world. The + means the kite is equipped with the EZ Pump single point inflation system so you can spend less time on the beach and more time on the water! That’s the only difference between the two Kahoona’s, not forgetting the price of course. This year small changes to the wingtips and also a lot more Dacron on the trailing edge to help reduce flutter when the kite is depowered. New colours and graphics are across the board for Best this year, gone is the flying fish and a bolder more striking look has been given to all the kites. The kite remains a 4-strut design with no centre strut and utilises a very simple bridle system with a direct connection for the rear lines. The build quality this year and attention to detail from Best is exceedingly good and the product is definitely among the big players in that respect.
The Bar
We haven’t got our hands on the new bar system yet, but from looking at the spec sheets and images it is going to be a great upgrade from the previous Red Line Performance bar. In fact every moulded part of the bar has been re-engineered. The Redline Safety system is the heart of the bar combined with the Pro Cuff Release meaning you can ditch the kite with ease in a hurry and know it will be easy to reconnect should you need to. With no moving parts to get jammed it works really well no matter how badly you treat it! It should be shipping at the end of October, if you can’t wait that long of course you can run the kite on the V2 bar.
In The Air
The 10.5 Kahoona is a real powerhouse of a kite; the large profile area created by loosing the centre strut creates a big power boost in light winds. The profile and shape of the kite combine to offer it almost unrivalled low-end ability. This means you can often get away with a smaller size than you would think. The bar pressure isn’t too heavy, medium to light allowing you to feel where the kite is in the window. It isn’t the fastest of kites in terms of turning speed, but that does afford it some predictability and give less skilled riders the ability to keep things at a controllable pace. And that is where the Kahoona is pitched, the beginners and intermediate riders looking for an easy to fly stable platform on which they can progress their riding. Relaunch is really good, the kite rolls onto it’s side very easily comes back up into the air in a controlled manner. The depower is good too, you can dump all the power from the kite by pushing away on the bar and when you pull the bar back in again the power delivery is progressive meaning you can keep the kite under control at all times. As a free ride kite it will still excite you too, being stable and predictable means you can practice your moves without worrying too much about what the kite is doing. Best suited to beginners and intermediate riders looking for a do it all kite that is easy to fly.
Overall
The build quality this year is second to none, the Double Core Ripstop canopy and extensive Dacron should ensure the Kahoona + V5 stands the test of time. Stable and predictable with a very easy relaunch, the low end power will mean you can take a smaller kite than you might expect.
Videos
This review was in Issue 35 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit Best KiteboardingRelated
By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!
