New Yarga Hybrid SLE

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What's the story behind the new Yarga Hybrid SLE?
The Yarga has always been the reliable mainstay of the Best range. It 's the one consistent kite that we 've always made, and customers have always loved it. It has always been an incredibly user friendly kite that has appealed to a broad cross section of riders from beginners right through to our Pro riders.

We've had huge success with the Waroo kites in the past 12 months. This has shown us that riders are looking for kites that offer improved safety, increased depower and greater flexibility.

While the Waroo/Pro and Bularoo kites are perfect kites in their own right, each of them is still only one kite. The Yarga Hybrid is totally different. It 's a hardcore four line wakestyle and big boosting kite in 4-line mode. In 5th-line mode it 's a perfect freeride and big surf kite with pinpoint handling and amazingly simple relaunch. In SLE mode it becomes a depower and kite-looping monster, with all of the depower and stability of the Waroo; making it great for beginners or advanced riders alike.

The Yarga Hybrid SLE offers all the benefits of our great C-kites and SLE models all rolled up into one; the only decision you have to make is which of these four styles of kite you want to ride when you rig your lines.<br />It 's just like having four kites in one, and you only need to inflate it once.

Shannon, everyone knows that the Waroo was the best selling kite in 2006 and the 07 Waroo and Waroo Pro are already making it happen again. With those kites already completed, what else has been keeping you awake at night?
It 's been a busy year at Best; delivering an improved Waroo for 07 was the top priority. Everyone who tried the original Waroo 06 in Brazil said they would buy one, so we knew that it was a great kite and would sell well.

With the 07 Waroo, the R&D team really stretched themselves to deliver the improvements in performance, durability and reliability that we knew could be achieved, managing to make it less expensive than last year 's Waroo was just a bonus. That 's one of the great things about Best; because we deal direct with our retailers and customers, I always know they are getting the best quality product and service at unmatched prices.

The entire team also worked really hard on delivering a Cuben/Dacron SLE kite with unmatched jumping and hangtime performance. We 've been incredibly pleased with the way the Waroo Pro has been taken to by riders. We thought that it might be a little too hardcore for the average rider, with its big boosting ability, but that 's proven not to be the case. Maybe we underestimated the number of riders who want to go huge every time they ride; for these riders the Pro is the perfect choice. It 's definitely going to make a re-appearance in next year 's line up. But, because it is so different from the Waroo, we discovered that the market was confused by the name. In 2008 it will be released under a different name.
Lastly, we worked on the Bularoo, perfecting the SLE design once more but for a different user group. Riders looking to tackle big surf, snowkiting, and landboarding have different needs than the average kitesurfer and the Bularoo gives them the incredible stability, ease of control and absolute reliability that all-terrain riding demands. There 's simply no margin for error when you are tackling huge overhead surf or throwing yourself off snow covered mountains, and these are the riders that the Bularoo was designed for.

Since then, we 've moved part of the R&D operation over to Australia. Peter is here with Jeff Biege testing products, Thomas, our bar designer and board production engineer, is already working out new control systems for 08.The new facility is great, Australia and Brazil really compliment each other as test locations. Having two bases for R&D, with different wind and water conditions, just makes for perfect testing.

Australia is also much closer to our manufacturers, so we have greater control over production than ever. The new Yarga has really benefited from the improvements we 've made right across the board within R&D and pre-production. Riders will be able to see and feel that the minute they get their hands on one.



The Yarga has been in development for a long time, what 's happened since we saw the first protos at the end of last year?
Since we released some demo kites late last year for testing in Europe we 've been working hard at integrating the characteristics that all riders wanted in the new Yarga, and making sure that they worked perfectly in all the different flying configurations.
The Yarga has been through many revisions since we started testing first concepts. Peter is never happy with designing a kite that is &rdquo;just right,&rdquo; it has to be perfect. These things are worth waiting for, and everyone who has tested the kites so far agrees that we 've achieved that. We 've had all types of rider test the prototypes - wakestyle riders, big wave surfers, freestyle guys and complete beginners - everyone of them has said the same thing, &ldquo;That 's the best kite I 've flown this year&rdquo;.

What were the major challenges in integrating the benefits of two different styles of kite into one design?
C-kites and SLE designs are very different. The laws of physics and aerodynamics are the same for all kite designs, yet C-kites and SLE 's have very different design and performance criteria.
Developing a plan shape that works perfectly as an unbridled C-kite, yet still functions ideally as a bridled kite was the first step in creating a great Hybrid design. The airframe had to be wide enough to give maximum performance to the SLE configuration; increased projected area gives increased depower. At the same time, the kite has to be stiff enough to fly perfectly as a 4-line kite, and it has to do this without adding any extra weight to the kite.

Another example is maximizing the turning performance of the design. Many riders want an ultra fast turning C-kite, which pivots on its tips. Riders coming from an SLE background require a fast turning kite that turns inside of its wingtip and sheds power through the turn, particularly for wave riding. With the Yarga everyone worked ceaselessly on finding the perfect layout, canopy shaping and attachment point locations that allowed us to achieve all of these goals. Whatever you want from your kite, you will find it in the Yarga Hybrid.

Blending all types of riders ' needs into one minimal and elegant design, without relying on extra components and excessive overbuilding, was the most significant challenge in realizing the perfect Hybrid Yarga. I 'm 100% sure the Yarga delivers everything we set out to achieve.

So what is &lsquo;Hybrid ' about the new Yarga Hybrid SLE?
The Yarga is true &lsquo;hybrid ' design; it blends the best elements from SLE and C-kite design and performance into one package. It truly is a no compromise design.

We 've been through many stages with the new Yarga, but I know we 've created something special; a kite worthy of the Yarga name. Peter has created an excellent kite.

So what makes it different from other kites on the market?
There 's no other kite on the market that blends the performance and handling of C-kites with the stability, safety and depower of an SLE like the new Yarga Hybrid SLE. The Yarga is pure performance and versatility, with no compromise.

The Yarga will fly perfectly in 4-line, 5th-line, SLE and SLE + 5th-line modes, right from the first time you take it out of the bag. Riders just choose the style that suits them best, 4-line for wakestyle and big boosting, 5th-line for freeride and big wave surfing and SLE for freestyle with depower and SLE+ 5th-line for beginners. In all set-ups the Yarga has huge depower on tap, in SLE mode this is extended even further and it rivals the Waroo for upper wind range and stability.

The Yarga is also simple to use. There are no lines to remove or bridles to take off to swap between modes. The SLE bridle stores behind the LE with Velcro tabs, all the rider has to do is swap the front line knots over; it 's a 10 second job to switch between 4-line and SLE modes, and it 's as easy as adjusting your back lines.