Early Impressions of the Nitro Version 3

About three months ago I received my new 12 metre Nitro V.3 and Controller V.2 in the mail. I repeat, three months ago, I get a new kite, and only now am I able to post some thoughts on it here. A situation like this is quite unusual for me, as I am a gear hound who goes to great lengths to get out there and put new equipment to the test. A couple of posts ago, I wrote about our less than spectacular wind this season. And so, after finding myself skunked at the beach more times this spring than I care to admit, this past Sunday about noon, I received a text message from Paul the Flying Dutchman that the wind was up at Pleasant Beach on Lake Erie. Immediately I jumped into action. I hopped on my bicycle, put the phone on handsfree and called my local rental car agency as I pedaled like a madman exclaiming "get a car ready for me in ten minutes!" Within a half hour of getting Paul's text, I had the car packed and hit the road.

The wind was building to 16 knots on arrival to the beach 90 minutes later. Three other kites had just entered the water as a storm front carrying horizontal rain and thunder had just exited the area. I quickly rigged up the 12m Nitro and Control Bar, asked another rider's wife to launch me and I hit the water.

About two hours later, the wind started to wane, dropping under 12 knots and so I planed downwind back to shore. I was as stoked as I had been in months! The water was warm, the sun was shining, and my kite and bar performed flawlessly.

Some thoughts on the Nitro are as follows.

Build quality is as good as ever. Switch hits the mark with every release, and the incremental improvements are noticeable. I especially like the new cover over the inflate valve. I am less pleased about the rubber connecting hose from leading edge to central strut. It's a little too long and kinks naturally, so to fill the strut without some hand manipulation. This is my only gripe so far.

Performance of this kite is amazing! So much improvement over the first Version. It pulls hard through the tight, quick turns, and gets me up on the board moving fast!

Depower is OK, not as stellar as the Element, but this isn't really a big deal for me. I want raw power and grunt, especially through the kite's turning radius.

Upwind ability is superb. No problems there.

Bar pressure is a huge improvement over previous Versions.

And I had to once relaunch when the kite dropped as the wind died. I am happy to report that this kite relaunches in light winds! Superb!

Those are a few of my first impressions. The forecast looks light for the next several days but I hope that things turn around for the weekend to come.

Steve