Just WOW ..... Single skin kite to use on water ... very interested to see it in person .........

My wish for Gin is that they would bring back the Eskimo III. The only changes they'd need to make would be to add a landing strap and and shorten the steering leader on the kite side by 3" and the kite would be perfect. I've told Fabienne that on occasion but Gin seems focused on single skins and LEIs leaving foils in past.

That being said - promoting a SS on water is pretty cool though I'd think you'd be screwed if it crashed in a wave or did take on water some other way. I like to plan for the worst case and hope for the best.

Sweet! So cool to see so much innovation lately in the SS lane. Whupp!

Looks a bit familiar. Monjet still seems to be stuck "in development."

Quote: Originally posted by Randy

Looks a bit familiar. Monjet still seems to be stuck "in development."

This was my thought too. Cheddarhead first posted about the Ninox prototype here on PKF in 2016:

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=31497#pid30...

I wonder if this simply represents parallel serendipitous R&D? More pessimistically, the fine folks at Gin may also have seen the early Ninox information and thought they could get to market relatively rapidly and gain first-mover advantage.

You can read more about it here: https://www.ginkites.com/shop/marabou/

Though Gin hasn't had distribution in the States for years, Hardwater Kiting is now listed as their official US distributor so... Feyd... what's the dealio?

What a game changer this is . So as the us distributor wht kind of prices are we looking at .

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl

What a game changer this is . So as the us distributor wht kind of prices are we looking at .

Prices are already up on his website for those interested. Would be nice if he popped in and shared some words.

And asked Fabienne to remake the Eskimo III

There are no prices listed on the hardwater website for the marabou kites.

Quote: Originally posted by B-Roc

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl   What a game changer this is . So as the us distributor wht kind of prices are we looking at . Prices are already up on his website for those interested. Would be nice if he popped in and shared some words. And asked Fabienne to remake the Eskimo III

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl

There are no prices listed on the hardwater website for the marabou kites.

there are if you click the "more details" button or simply follow this link there https://www.hardwaterkiter.com/store/p86/GIN_Marabou.html

$1263 for a 4m with bar. Think I'll pass. Anyone remember the days when complete FB kites cost $100-125 per meter and DPs were $125-150? Guess they are gone forever.

ahh yes now I see it on the website thanks, on another note yea those were the days, gone are the days when kites were reasonably priced. Flysurfer was pretty expensive but Ozone took things to a whole new level about a year ago with their pricing on the chrono v3 and R1 v2 they were askin over 3000 dollars for kite only. are these guys nuts? I am pretty sure sales went down the toilet. good thing is that the used foil kite market seems to be collapsing as ive been seeing sonic2 and speed 5 for half price or less lately.

Quote: Originally posted by B-Roc

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl   There are no prices listed on the hardwater website for the marabou kites. there are if you click the "more details" button or simply follow this link there https://www.hardwaterkiter.com/store/p86/GIN_Marabou.html $1263 for a 4m with bar. Think I'll pass. Anyone remember the days when complete FB kites cost $100-125 per meter and DPs were $125-150? Guess they are gone forever.

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl

ahh yes now I see it on the website thanks, on another note yea those were the days, gone are the days when kites were reasonably priced. Flysurfer was pretty expensive but Ozone took things to a whole new level about a year ago with their pricing on the chrono v3 and R1 v2 they were askin over 3000 dollars for kite only. are these guys nuts? I am pretty sure sales went down the toilet. good thing is that the used foil kite market seems to be collapsing as ive been seeing sonic2 and speed 5 for half price or less lately.

That's why I find Gin's pricing so disappointing. They were always on par with Ozone or FS in terms of quality but at a much more reasonable price. I suppose there price is still reasonable compared to Ozone and FS but it's by no means "reasonable" anymore. This has become a rich man's sport clearly more driven by single investor sales than sales to the masses. I know the kites last forever if reasonably cared for but $4000+ for a three kite quiver... ouch.

When I compare to my new hooby of Electric Unicycles these prices are insane.

You can buy a top end EUC for around $2000.
40mph, 100km battery, lights, music, action.
The teck in these is shocking and at less that the price of a single skin????

Is there any wonder why I quit buying kites?

Quote: Originally posted by Bladerunner

You can buy a top end EUC for around $2000. 40mph, 100km battery, lights, music, action. The teck in these is shocking and at less that the price of a single skin???? Is there any wonder why I quit buying kites?

I agree. The fact that kite makers charge $400+ for a bar and lines is unbelievable. 2' long hollow carbon bar probably costs less than $20. Pulley/mixer, $5. Leader/mixer lines, $15. Kite lines themselves, let's say their cost is $50. So their total cost of production is likely under $100 yet they charge 4-5x that. Great margins but maybe I'll have to look into EUCs or just take my family to Disney and save some money.

Quote: Originally posted by B-Roc

I agree. The fact that kite makers charge $400+ for a bar and lines unbelievable. 2' long hollow carbon bar probably costs less than $20. Pulley/mixer, $5. Leader/mixer lines, $15. Kite lines themselves, let's say their cost is $50. So their total cost of production is likely under $100 yet they charge 4-5x that. Great margins but maybe I'll have to look into EUCs or just take my family to Disney and save some money.

Having done a lot of bar-building I respect the amount of time and skill required to do the R&D on a bar. It's easy to get wrong.

Philip

For all the money made on bars I would expect GPS, lights, speakers and a blue tooth app to run it all out of R+D.