I've been riding an old 2005 CB 16 with a monsterdoor in light wind and can hang on to ~20kts when I have to. I've gone straight from it to my 9m SB. I had to replace it and I went with the new 2010 CB 16.
A couple weeks ago I went out in really light wind and could not even water relaunch it. I struggled and tried everything I could think of. I tried reverse launching, I tried getting it to flip on its back, I tried holding the lines as high as I could reach but I couldn't get it to get off the surface of the water.
I tried it again this past Saturday
http://kiteboard.ning.com/profiles/b...little-session and had a blast when it was in the air - even when I had to work it a bit. But man, when it drops, it's a biyatch to get out of the water again. I had to dig my door into the water to get some more resistance. Eventually I got it to flip over by moving to one side and quickly back the other way. It rotated up and then fell on the trailing edge which put it perfectly positioned for a hotlaunch. It worked, but man what a chore.
In light air, I need to have the best relaunch possible. I heard the 2011 CB is going to correct this, but I haven't found anything on the web to support this. I'm contemplating bringing the kite back and getting an old contra 17. If only my old CB 16 could just hold on a few more years.
Kent - is it true that the 2011 CB 16 is redesigned to improve the water relaunch? Are there any tricks to make it easier to get the damn thing back in the sky?
thanks in advance
