Gin Kiteboarding Spirit 10m 2021
Reviews / Kites
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At A Glance
At Gin Kiteboarding, the Spirit is their all-around freeride foil kite. Use this kite on the water, out in the snow or on the land… you choose! This versatile closed-cell foil kite is a fantastic choice offering easy handling with great low wind flying capabilities whilst also performing efficiently in high winds for the smaller sizes.
Light and easy to handle - The kite was developed by Hans Bollinger and is used by 11 times world champion Maxime Nocher who helped fine-tune the kite through its development process. Its lightweight construction makes it amazing in light winds, but it is balanced well with its strong wind performance.
Comfort – The Spirit offers direct feedback from the bar enabling maximum control, so when you’re on the water, performance and enjoyment are the only two things on your mind!
Versatile – This kite can not only be taken anywhere, but it can do everything really well. Foil kites do tend to offer greater hangtime due to their construction, but the Spirit really keeps you in the air for what feels like a lifetime. Having this hangtime will give the rider more time to complete tricks when in the air, but the versatility of the kite also allows for easier gybes and tacks.
The Spirit we tested was the 10m. The 10m has a recommended wind range of 11-23 knots with a wingspan of 7.7 meters. Weighing in at 1.6 kg, it’s not only as light as a feather, but it will get you out in the slightest of breeze!
Sizes: 6, 8, 10, 12, 15
In The Air
Foil kites can always be a little sketchy to launch, but the relaunch capabilities of this kite were great. From the initial beach launch, the Spirit inflated quickly without generating a surge of power and yanking you downwind on the beach. When you’re riding a foil kite, no one wants to have a bad crash; the last thing you want is a wet foil kite because trying to relaunch that can sometimes prove quite the challenge. It was nice with the Spirit to have the confidence that if you did crash the kite, the relaunching performance made it easy to get back up to 12.
The Spirit offered a user-friendly experience when in flight and shot upwind every time! I really enjoyed the down loop experience on this kite. When turning around, the Spirit definitely had some grunt and generated great power to come out of the turn. Sometimes on foil kites, we see the wingtips fold in, which can make inexperienced foil kite riders nervous to see, but throughout my experience with this kite, I never had that problem.
Boosting was so much fun on the Spirit. The hangtime this kite offers is great, and with the 10m, it still had quick and responsive turning for those loops when coming out the big jumps. Certainly, a lot of fun!
It seems the team at Gin have got the bridle connections in all the right places. The kite never overflew me and sat on the edge of the wind window without much maintenance from the rider.
Everyone seems to be loving the kite, with people saying the following “I have been flying the Spirit for about two months now and have since sold all of my other kites. It is the most stable, fast-flying foil I have ever flown. The response time is great for boosting big air and just messing around on the water. It’s nice to have a kite that you know exactly where it is at all times and responds like a much smaller kite.”
Overall
It’s clear to state that the Spirit from Gin Kiteboarding is a great all-around foil kite. Whether you’re a beginner getting into foil kites or someone who regularly competes, this kite can benefit all levels of riders and allow them to progress quickly within the sport of kiting and foiling. Foil kites are definitely something you should try before you buy. They offer a different riding experience, so it’s important you understand this and then give it a go. It’s always interesting seeing what the L.E.I kite riders think of foil kites, but with the Spirit, there’s not a lot that can go wrong!
Videos
This review was in Issue 89 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit Gin KiteboardingRelated
By Liam Dredge
Liam fell in love with all Watersports after completing numerous seasons aboard, he then picked up kiting whilst in the warm tropics of the Carribean and has been obsessed ever since! Anyone that knows him would say it's near the only thing he talks about (which drives some crazy), and he loves to keep up to date with all the latest news, equipment and events that kiting has to offer. Liam also runs his own Watersports Centre along the south coast of the UK, LOOP Watersports, which is where our IKSURFMAG Test Centre is located!
