I've finally gotten around to reviewing the Chrono - big, green and oh-so-powerful! 
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Jamie Blackwood
Hartlepool - North East
Pete Jones
Newcastle - North East
George Noble
Fraserburgh
Graeme Agnew
London
Allister Furey
Brighton - South
Matt Russell
London
James Bibb
Southampton - South
Reece Baker
Southwick - South East
Richard Roggan
Pembrokeshire - Wales
Takoon UK on facebook
Nice review Pete, I'm tempted to buy a 15 though I don't really need one, I always had a big kite in my quiver and felt I had my monies-worth out of each one on those 10-knot days. My main concern about big kites is not being able to re-launch from the sea in 10 knots, I'm often way-of-shore in the summer because of typical summer north-winds which is side-shore to Broad-Haven. Perhaps you'll try to re-launch your 15 in 10 knots Pete, I'll be very interested.
ReplyDeleteRichard.
Hi Richard,
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure it will, but will try it out to be sure. Light wind relaunch is always tricky, as when you're being pulled downwind by the kite a little, every bit depowers the wind further (keeping your board on your feet helps a lot). On the chrono I reckon you could probably use the safety line for 5th-line style relaunch, but have never gotten around to trying it. Generally it gets to the edge of the window pretty quickly without, due to the high curvature of the LE.
I expect the 12 will relaunch in the same amount of wind as the 15, as I doubt they've changed the shape massively between the two.
As the wind for the weekend is looking pretty poor, I'll likely get the opportunity to try it out! Will get back to you,
Pete
Thanks Pete. What I found, but with heavier kites, if you only just manage a beach-launch you'll never get the kite out of the sea. I've seen quite a few riders get-caught-out like this. The sea presents a bit of grip onto your kite though as you point-out the Chrono does race-round into the wind very-quickly rather than lumber-about like some kites. I imagine the Chrono 15 turns a little more slowly than the 12 but-then the 12 turns like a much smaller kite yet delivers the power of some 14/15 metre offerings.
ReplyDeleteWe had a couple of days of useable north winds though only useable at low-tide which was a little early for me at the moment, and it was cold.
By-the-way, I rarely, if-ever, drop my kite in the sea. With a side-shore southerly breeze at Newgale, if you do drop your kite in the middle of the bay and can't relaunch it's only a matter of 10/15 minutes before you're on the rocks at the north-end. Generally your kite becomes an ex-kite.
Thanks for sharing Pete.
Richard.