CORE Kiteboarding Impact 9m 2016
Reviews / Kites
62,313
At A Glance
CORE have recently started a specialist range of equipment to compliment their very successful current line-up. The Impact is the wake/freestyle specific kite designed for all-out freestylers wanting a kite that will not hold them back. The kite features five struts, a classic C shape with square wingtips and the reputable CORE construction. The Impact uses a 5-line set up, which is, in fact, compatible with both the Sensor2 and Sensor Pro bars. Both front and back lines have three different trim options on the kite enabling you to customise speed and bar pressure.
As with all CORE kites, the Impact uses the incredibly effective Speed Valve 2, which eliminates the need for a specialist nozzle on the pump and will attach directly to the pump hose itself. This, coupled with the larger one-pump hoses, results in super fast rigging to get you onto the water as quickly as possible. CORE are very proud of their construction and materials, and so they should be. CORETex Triple Ripstop is of the highest quality; super strong and durable ensuring your kite will last longer. ExoTex Dacron makes up the struts and leading edge. A new asymmetrical weave increases the strength and airflow enabling the tubes to be that much lighter while still maintaining strength and performance.
Sizes: 7, 9, 11, 13m
The Bar
The Impact is compatible with both the Sensor2 and the Sensor Pro bars, which are very quickly and easily modified to be 5-line with the extra line supplied with the kite.
The CORE Sensor Pro bar is a well-constructed and engineered bit of kit. A 4 or 5 line set up, with a well thought out re-ride system. The bar is made of carbon fiber with a titanium core ensuring it stays incredibly strong and is very light. CORE have worked hard on keeping the Sensor Pro bar as light as possible. Another key difference of the Sensor Pro is that is comes specced with Tectanium lines which have been exclusively developed for Core by one of the market leaders in aeronautical and sail cordage, Liros. They have a 50% greater breaking strength, are 400% more resistant to stretching and are also 10% thinner: quite an impressive line up of figures there! The Tectanium lines really do feel strong and amazing quality when you’re running them through your hands, and the overall feel of the bar is of top spec and high class.
Amazingly it weighs only 200 grams, making it great for travelling and it feels effortless in your hands too. There is a clever line swivel situated just under the bar. Simply pull the bar in and the lines will be squashed, so they untwist. Simple and incredibly effective.
Most noticeable here compared to others is the safety release. It is slowly becoming the industry standard to have a ‘Push Away’ release as this can be deemed safest. However, CORE have done extensive research into the safety aspect and forces involved and have come up with an innovative ‘Twist Release’ system that they believe to be the safest possible option. The release is positioned in the same place as a normal push away, but you merely twist in either direction for the release to be activated.
At first, we were dubious as to whether it would release accidentally if knocked, but we had no such issues. The advantage of this system is that it won’t be affected by rushing water pushing against it making the release harder in a crash situation, and the twisting action requires less force, and scientifically in multiple studies the twist motion is in fact more natural than a push away reaction.
In future we would like to see integrated floats to keep things clean, and on pace with others on the market.
In The Air
First of all, this is not a beginners kite. The kite pulls, and pulls hard no matter where it is placed making it oh-so-good for freestyle, but perhaps a little undesirable if you are still learning to put your board on. The Impact likes to be flown and the more you put into it, the more you will get out.
The kite flies well upwind even when a little underpowered, but does like to be powered to realise its full potential. For unhooked freestyle, flying it fast and aggressively will generate some fantastic power, which all but stops after you are flung forward post release. The Impact sits well in the window with fantastic stability giving you huge confidence to throw all sorts of moves.
Should you miss that bar, the kite sits waiting for you at the edge of the window, but even if it has crashed the relaunch is so speedy and effortless that no problems arise, and you will be back on your way in no time. Though five lines, the 5th line is not used for relaunch, so it is still a back line type technique. For a C kite, it does have quite a deep profile that makes it incredibly stable and was pretty tricky to make it fall out of the sky. Jumps shoot you into the sky fast and high, and loops are great fun while still maintaining excellent feedback.
Overall
We were very impressed with the Impact; it is stable and powerful with both hooked and unhooked performance commendable, and a relaunch more often found on an SLE style kite.
This review was in Issue 54 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit CORE KiteboardingRelated
By Robin and Sukie
With years of kite sport experience combined, you can be sure you’ll be receiving the highest quality of knowledge on the best equipment the industry has to offer.
