Gaastra Kiteboarding Jekyll 12m 2008
Reviews / Kites
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At a Glance
If we were to tell you that Gaastra have been making sails for over 100 years you probably wouldn’t believe me; but they have, they started in 1897! They have been in the wilderness a bit here in the UK without an importer to really promote the product. But this is all about to change as Surf Sales take over the distribution of the kites. The Jekyll is billed as being an all terrain kite suitable for all sorts of disciplines. It is a bow kite with a medium sized bridle that is fairly simple, no pulleys here! The bar is very well designed with nice soft ends for kite loop moves. There are several set up options so that you can tune the kite to the way you want to ride. We liked the short safety line that you can clip your leash into. This allows the kite to totally depower on the front lines should you need it too. Gaastra are using a one-pump system as well, which is very similar to the tried and tested Slingshot design. The construction is also good and the whole airframe feels very rigid and well put together.
In the Air
Whenever you launch a new kite for the first time there is normally something that grabs you straight away. With the Jekyll it was just how solid it feels in the air. It sits very still in the window and doesn’t drift about too much; it also delivers a meaty pull; for a 12m there is a lot of raw power in the kite. Once out on the water the kite demonstrated its excellent upwind ability, the canopy really likes to attack the front of the window and cruises upwind with ease. The jumps while maybe not the biggest certainly give you lots of float, the kite seems to hold the rider in the air for a few seconds longer than you may be used to. Perhaps the most impressive characteristic, which we weren’t expecting, was how good the kite is unhooked. You can throw sweet kiteloops with this kite all day long and it delivers plenty of pull through the loop. We even got spanked a few times which doesn’t often happen with bow kites! The stable airframe also makes it perfect for learning new un hooked moves as the kite will generally be exactly where you left it once you have finished spinning about. One comment we will make though was that the bar pressure was a little heavy compared to some of the kites out there on the market. Not an issue if you are used to a kite with heavier bar pressure but something you will definitely notice if you normally ride a lighter on the bar kite.
For
Super stable, great unhooked, good floaty airs and impressive upwind ability.
Against
Some might not enjoy the heavier bar pressure.
Overall
Gaastra have definitely come up with a winning formula.
This review was in Issue 5 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit Gaastra 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!
