I've used the Waroo for the past three seasons, 09-07, and I've been impressed with every one except the 08 which i thought was just a little too different from what I had come to expect from the marque.

I'm not the worlds greatest rider, far from it, but I'm comfortable cruising around in the flat and waves and throwing the occasional 'big-air'. Of course I probably think they are bigger than they are, but i guess that's the benefit of the smooth landings and good hangtime that I'm used to with the Waroo.

On opening my new 11m I was surprised, the kite is a very different shape, swept back wingtips, more Dacron in the wingtips and it now has Best's Twister Tech sewn into the leading edge. Once you inflate the Waroo you immediately notice that it has a very different shape- they call it a Delta Wingtip design, and it does look quite Delta, though maybe not as lo-profile as the F-one Deltas and the North kites. It looks like a halfway house between the old Waroo and the current Kahoona, and I have a 7.5m Kahoona, so I like the idea.

I self launched the first time out and like the Kahoona it rolls over in the sand onto a wingtip nicely, much better than the old Waroo for doing a drag launch at 90 degrees to the wind. In the air it feels rock solid, flicking the kite side to side with pretty slack back lines it feels like it might not be as fast as last years kite, funny thing is it feels like it has more 'rhythm'. It's like Salsa dancing with my boyfriend, there's a definite flow to the proceedings, you can't rush it, but once you get into the rhythm you feel mentally connected, like both of you move as one. (Of course If you'd ever seen Chris and I Salsa you'd know that's not strictly true).

I sessioned the kite for half an hour in moderate 15-20knots winds, i found the depower comfortable, the bar throw is the same as last year and if anything it feels like it is a little more 'gutsy' at the bottom end. Like the Kahoona you can ride it slow across the bottom end, the Waroo always needed a little more flight speed to give up its low end secret. The 2010 Waroo definitely feels very different depending on where in the depower range you have it, with back lines loose and the kite depowered it will reach right out around the edge of the window, almost sitting in dead space as it hauls you upwind. From this high upwind position it can be quite unresponsive to steering input. Once you pull the bar back a little and bring the kite back into the window your control over the kite opens up and it becomes much more lively and responsive to bar input. Maybe they designed it this way so it feels a little more sedate for beginners who aren't going to ride it powered up, while the experienced guys can still get it to perform for them. I think this variability might take some getting used to, I'm not against the added flexibility, but there's no mention of this anywhere on the Best website and neither did my dealer say anything.

After a drink break I headed out again with Chris, who had rigged the back lines on the AA settings, even though the manual said not to. The kite felt a little tighter and righter, certainly more responsive to first steering input. Now it timed more like I'd expect from a Waroo, I didn't feel like I was riding a completely new kite, the timing on my jumps started coming more naturally and I'm sure it has a little more float than the 09.

We spent the rest of the afternoon chasing the waves down the bay, we always drop the truck off downwind and bum a ride off one of Chris's buds if the wind direction is suitable. With the kite on AA and heading down wind I really felt like I was making progress, I'm not great in the waves, I've only been riding strapless since we went to Cozumel this summer and I think my Slingshot 5'4 has just a little too much volume for me. I love the waves though, you never know what's coming next and I adore how it feels when you connect your turns and start to flow from top to bottom. The new Waroo feels better in the waves than the old one, it didn't pull me over the nose so much in transitions, helping me make more turns without taking a bath. I did need to think about what I was doing before I did it, holding the power on before a turn- but once you get into the groove it felt really....fluid!

I took a bath on several occasions, once getting tumbled away from my board. It's no trouble to drag back upwind, the lighter bar feel helps and so does the upwind ability. the couple of times I put my new Waroo in the water I never struggled to get it back up, far from it, it's not Kahoona fast to relaunch, but it's close enough.

I can't tell you what my new Waroo is like to kite-loop, I'm not there yet. It flies well, a little different to my expectations. It has great upwind, depower and stability. I think the new graphics suck, I like 'flying the fish', being part of the Best crew certainly appeals to me, we have lots of Best riders locally and this kite is going to sink into the background visually. It's not about the looks though, right? (Yeh try telling that to Chris and the boys). The current bar is a disappointment, Best have been left behind in the bar design stakes, the lines are great though. Build quality is first class, Chris had to replace a valve cap on his kite out of the bag though.

Overall I like it, it feels like progress, but maybe they should have called it the Waroona....!

XX
Dee