Welcome to behind the design, today we are speaking with RALF GRÖSEL about the new EVO SLS.
Welcome to behind the design, today we are speaking with RALF GRÖSEL about the new EVO SLS.
How much of a challenge was it to work with these new materials and for everything to blend harmoniously together?
It was a huge effort, it was definitely a project which took me quite some time. I think I have never done such a huge amount of prototypes before in my career on a single product. We ended up having over 60 prototypes in the end, which is a massive amount and definitely not the standard. The reason we did so many prototypes, is that I really wanted to get the best out of it. You can't simply order a new set of materials on the existing shape, it doesn't work like that. The material is so different that you have to start to understand, how it behaves and that is the reason it took us so long. We had the feeling we can push more and more to have something truly outstanding and I think all of this testing reflects in the end product. The upwind performance of the kite for example is completely different, the angle you are able to go against the wind is much bigger. The lightness of the material and the overall lightweight construction allows you to get going in such light wind conditions that you will have never experienced anything like it before, all packaged into such a well rounded product. Development was challenging to really understand the material at first and then we spent time to abstract the best out of these materials.
With Dacron being the material for so long, from a designers’ perspective it must be an exciting time to explore the possibilities with these new materials.
It is fascinating. On one hand it's fascinating and on the other hand it's been a huge challenge. It’s a new era of kite concepts. It's not only the Penta TX that is responsible for all the changes, it is down to several variables that we have changed. The new lightweight construction details, such as the thinner bridals, have changed every little construction detail on the kite to make the kites as light as possible. We introduced these lightweight construction details last year with the Juice kite, making the Juice 15% lighter than its predecessor. Now we have the Evo SLS with all these refinements and combined with the Penta TX. It has been a great challenge in the development process, but we have reached an incredible point and everything we have learnt in this process we can carry forward into future kite models, so all the work has been totally worth it and the future looks very exciting.
You also design paragliders, is there much of a crossover in design concepts that can be carried over into your kite designs?
I would say paragliding development has been a big influence to me and my kite designs over the years. I designed my first paraglider when I was 14 years old, which is 27 years ago now. Over the past few years there has been an increasing demand in hike and fly paragliders, which means you take your entire equipment and hike up the mountain. For this purpose, the glider and all of the equipment has to be as light as possible. There have been materials around for many years that are extremely light, which are too light for use in kiting. In paragliding there is the constant pursuit of designing the lightest equipment, while still maintaining a structurally stable performance wing and this has absolutely influenced the path when designing my kites. The work we have done with Penta TX and some of the new construction details mirror ideas I have developed within the paragliding world. For example, small details such as the new pigtails that are featured or the connection loops on the new kites.
I can only recommend you experience this for yourself, it’s a totally new sensation, generating apparent wind and riding at angles upwind that you've never experienced before. It's a huge benefit on both the high and low end performance, it’s not so much that you can hold down the kite in much stronger conditions but it's just that the kite has a larger sweet spot when it’s reaching the limits. The standard Evo eight meter can also ride in 40 knots of wind, it's just it will be at the edge of its structural stability. The Evo SLS in the same situation will feel more composed, the way it talks to you is just a little bit different, it feels like a competitive and performance oriented kite.
The kite is not creating drag through the air as a standard Evo might, this slower drag feeling from the standard kite is actually something novice riders will appreciate, as they just want a slow and steady pull in one direction so they can work to adjust their body and board position. So, you definitely should be proficient at going up wind, I think you should be able to do little jumps, because otherwise you won't be able to abstract the best out of the kite. The Evo SLS is still an Evo and still an all-rounder, but like the Golf GTi it has the abilities to push harder and using that same analogy, the harder you push a sports car the better it becomes and this is also true of the Evo SLS. If you know how to ride and you know that under certain circumstances you should gain speed and let the kite fly, if you understand this then the Evo SLS is absolutely the right kite for you and it won’t be a problem to jump on the Evo SLS and have a great session!
With the Evo SLS when you swing the kite up and let it flow and sheet in the bar, you will realise the lift the kite creates is very stationary, so you are not getting pulled downwind with the wind, you are hovering at one point. The kite has a huge tendency to fly against the wind and in some cases, you can even soar with the kite. If you are on a dune and jumped, you would begin to fly almost like a paraglider. So, when you go for a high jump, you have to adjust your jumping technique in a way that you should let the kite shoot up a bit further over your head, to create the lift that it wants to create. This might sound a little complicated, but you just have to remember the kite wants to fly up and against the wind and this makes jumping different. With the right technique the jumps are insane! With this in strong winds, you go super vertical and in combination with the hang time you have extremely high and long floating jumps. If you use the kite for mega-loops, the turning speed and the way the kite hooks you up as it’s completing its loop, it's really nice and intuitive. I would also say it is punchy, it creates a lot of horizontal pop, but it also catches you really nice. When I listen to the feedback from Lasse or Aaron, I would say it's their preferred kite of the moment together with the Dice when it comes to mega loops. It's worth to keep in mind that the Evo SLS may require some different technique and you may require a few hours to adjust, but the benefits are quite incredible!
Great, thanks for taking the time to take us through everything Ralf, I believe you’re off to Cape Town now for more testing! It's very much, yes, I can't wait to get to Cape Town and jump on the Evo SLS and the other models soon and give them a spin!