Hi Reno, you've had a bit of time now on the 2023 Dice SLS, give us your impressions of the kite.
The Dice SLS is a really cool kite.The combination of the SLS material has made this an amazing kite. The kite is way more reactive and amazing for kite loops. It's way better when you're looping in not-so-strong conditions and the kite catches you much quicker, so you feel safer to throw even bigger kite loops.

For handle passes, the way the kite reacts through the wind window gives the kite better pop and better slack for handle passes. These are my favourite two disciplines to do with the Dice SLS. If I really want to push, like really focus on kite loops and extremity of the kite loop, I love to use the Dice SLS because it gives you a lot of yank and pull. Also, for shooting photos or videos the loops look very impressive. 

When I'm at home, one of my favourite spots to ride is usually 15 to 20 knots and flat water, I put my boots on and it brings me back to when I was competing on the PKRA. I can still do all of my handle passes, Back Mobes, and sometimes some KGB fives and I really like to do all this on Dice SLS. The kite has great pop and great slack on the bar making it easy to pass the bar. It's a great kite that I can combine with kite loops, so I have one kite to do two of my favourite disciplines and sometimes also, I kite in front of where I live in Rio and do some wave riding as well on the Dice SLS. It works great as the kite is really quick, with a fast turning speed, which is perfect. So I think it's a really nice choice to combine all of these disciplines at an extreme level and do some hardcore riding.

One thing we've seen this year, is some riders who are doing the king of the air event, are choosing the Rebel SLS over the Dice SLS. Can you tell us a little bit about why that is? And how would you compare the two kites?
I'm sure most of the people are changing to Rebel SLS or bow kites to do extreme big air, because over the years the level of the sport has been a little bit stuck. The big air discipline was a little bit stuck at one level. So what happened with the Rebel SLS or a bow kite is that you can go higher and stay longer in the air, but more importantly the Kite Loop is much smoother when compared to the Dice SLS for example.

So yeah, I think everybody wanted to have more progress in this discipline and the Rebel SLS, allows you to do more technical tricks because the kite doesn't pull as much. You cannot compare the loop from the Rebel SLS to the Dice SLS. I remember back in 2016 when I made the finals of the king of the air when we were all on C kites, we were doing massive Kite loops, with two rotations maximum. You could see the lines going slack on a 20-meter mega loop, which was crazy, insane, dangerous and extreme. Now you don't see this pull or yank anymore because the bow-style kites don't allow it. 

They don't pull so much, but you can go much higher, you can have so much air time and because the kite doesn't pull so much during the loop it allows you to incorporate more technical tricks, so now you'll see crazy tricks, many spins and guys taking the board off and flipping the board. So the Bow kite allows you to have more time in the air, the loop is not as crazy, It doesn't have a crazy pull in the loop and it gives you way more confidence to improve, to learn new tricks and the control is much easier. When riding a C kite or Hybrid when you loop, you have so much pull (yank) that you are almost just trying to save your life to land, depending on how high you go! With the Dice SLS, nothing matches the exhilaration it produces from a kite loop.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So tell us out of all of the kite sizes in the Dice SLS range, do you have any favourites?

Yes, my favourite sizes now this year from the Dice SLS is the 12 for freestyle, but I have to say I love the 10 meter too, I was really impressed with the Dice SLS 10 for loops, before it was really hard, especially for my weight because I'm not so heavy, to do kite loops with the 10, it used to be really hard to catch me, but with the new Dice SLS, the 10 is amazing. 

I almost like to loop the ten more than the nine which is crazy, the nine pretty much in every brand is the magic size to loop, but the Dice SLS 10 has a perfect loop, catching you easily. You don't even need to be that overpowered to do loops and the kite still catches you. So I have to say that the 12 is my favourite for freestyle and I'm loving the Dice SLS ten to loop, because sometimes you don't have the perfect conditions for big air all the time, with 35 knots. So with just 25 knots, I can do some really cool loops on the 10, which brings me a lot of pleasure, especially as I don't have the perfect conditions for big air all the time.

So for people who are deciding which is the right kite for them in the Duotone range, who would you say the Dice SLS suits best?

I suggest the Dice SLS for riders who really like hardcore sessions and for people who are looking for a super dynamic and agile kite. It’s amazing how fast the kite is and the reaction time from the turning speed and also how hardcore the riding can be. The jumps can be super extreme, shooting you up, because the kite reacts and travels so quickly through the wind window, so the jumps are super extreme.

I just really like this kite, the kite loops are extreme and it's good for freestyle. I think for people who have a more aggressive style of riding, the Dice SLS is the perfect kite. You can do amazing and sick kite loops with a lot of yank which is really nice for freestyle. I also use the Dice SLS a lot when I go wave riding, it’s a good kite as it has good drift and turning speed. So yeah, it's a good mix and I think it will suit sporty people who are more likely to go hardcore and extreme.