2013 Gaastra Jet 17m Review

Rider: 95kg adv.
Style: surf / freeride / Race in light winds
Weather: 7-11 knots (BOM readings) sea breeze picked up to 15 knot gusts
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: I paid for it

So I wanted a BIG light wind kite for my North LTD race board with meanline fins. . and I mean light wind. I use my race gear in the ocean only, so its the most fun when its light and the sea is clear and calm.

My reason for purchasing the JET. . it was near new, it was cheap, and got a reasonably good review online. Only one review available... so I'm adding my two cents worth.

So the bar and lines look very well made and the lines look very good quality. The operation of the race bar was very nice, the trim line worked well, with what I'd call medium pull require to trim (compared to a double pulley block I had on my xbows it needed a light to medium pull). With only one pulley block each inch had a large effect on power which was better than my old set up, you can beat upwind and trim precisely.

In the air the kite is super stable, and never once looked like falling out. In really light airs, bar pressure was VERY light (its on the lightest setting on the kite) and the kite needed to be fully powered on the factory trim settings to get low end grunt. even an inch of trim line depower took a fair chunk of power out in the 7-11knts (I was thankful for its effectiveness when it hit 15-17knts).

It hammers upwind, is very fast through the air, and I'd say average turn speed for a big kite.. . a tad slower than the 2010 cab xbow 13m.

I don't think it would be an epic freestyle kite as while its really slick through the air, turn speed would limit boost I think... I'll check on a TT...

When the wind came in a bit 12-15 (BOM was reporting 22knt gusts...I didn't think it was that strong and didn't notice any bullets), it was easy to hang onto on a race board, pull a few inches of trim in and the kite is light and hooks up wind.

I can't compare to edges and the likes as my last big kite was a 20m 2004 CO2 : ) its a LOT better than that.

Overall build quality appears excellent, its stable, bar pressure is light, and turn speed is ok. I'm very happy with it and would recommend it for racing and light wind antics. The kite is crazy light, when it arrived I thought they had put an 11m in the bag.

Hope someone finds this info useful.

Yes ,my opinion is I sold my gaastra as my safety would release for no apparent reason on a couple of occasions. I put this down to the magnetic magnet 2013 model. Other than that was a good kite it was a jeckyll . After researching other people had the same problem, but gaastra did not want to talk to me.My 2 cents regarding the bar that is.

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skebstebamal said..
Sheez thats a worry... ill have a look at that on mine. cheers

You have to be super careful , one grain of sand and the safety won't seat in properly. What I disliked was with other brands you would have a pin so the quick release would have to move at least 20mm before releasing, with the gaastra it would only need a little knock of 2mm and the magnet would release. Just make sure before launch the safety is seated correctly . I did read about some faulty magnets overseas, maybe I got a bad one.I was also a bit disgruntled when gaastra would not even talk to me. Don't get me wrong I loved the kite and would have kept it , but did not have another bar that flagged to one line.

Oh and I forgot to mention that he hasn't had any dramas since is actually a pretty good system.