Your new Rebel combines high performance with safety. As always it is very important for you to be familiar with your safety mechanisms and water re launch methods. Let’s talk a little bit about this last one.

We have identified 4 basic situations of dropping a kite:
• Wing-down
• Nose-down
• Belly-up
• Belly-down

Wing-Down
Relaunch from the wing-down position is essentially unchanged from our previous models. When the kite is on the water with one wing down and one up, you pull on one back line, causing the kite to move to the edge of the window and relaunch. I caution riders that the kite has to come up at its own speed, so strong tugging on a back line or the bar can actually slow the process.


Nose-down
Relaunch from the nose-down position is better in the new Rebel, largely because it has more sweep in its outline. What this means is that the tips are swept back just a little more than on the older Rebels. The result is that a slight continuous pull on one back line during relaunch will cause the Rebel to slide to one side and turn to the wing-down position, from which, of course, relaunch is quite routine.
 
One big advantage the Rebel has over kites that lack a 5th line is that in light winds, when pulling on a back line won’t bring a kite up no matter what type it is, the rider can relaunch successfully by pulling a bit on the 5th line as well as one back line.
 
Belly-up.
To relaunch from the belly-up position, you swim toward the kite just a little while pulling on one back line. This allows the trailing edge to catch in the water, which causes the wind to flip the kite up off the water and then over into the belly-down position. It is the increased sweep of the new Rebel outline that makes it flip over to the belly-down position. A tug on one back line helps this along.
 
Belly-down.
Once a Rebel is in the belly-down position, the relaunch bungies on the back pigtails help to keep the back lines under the kite. At this point you just pull in a meter of back line leader line to start the kite into a rotation that will ultimately cause it to turn 180 degrees to the nose-down position. Once you start the rotation by pulling on a back line, you need to swim slowly toward the kite to allow it to continue to rotate. Once the kite is stable in the nose- down position, you relaunch in the usual way by pulling slightly on one back line.


Tip: Try to keep the board on your feet at all times. It will help you to stop drifting thus making your input on the kite a lot more efficient.

Your bar comes assembled and ready to be flown from the factory. Attach your lines, go and have fun! But with time on the water your lines will suffer a bit of stretch from different factors like U.V and salt, tension or those insane kiteloops you’ve been working on…
When this happens is time to do a little bit of trimming on your bar. Don’t slack on it because a bar badly tune will most likely ruin your session, so take 5 minutes to follow this easy steps.

1. Look for a spacious flat area where you can lay your lines. Unwind your bar and sort out the lines as you would on any regular day.
2. Using a screw driver or a stick fix the chicken loop to the ground and engage the chicken loop to the micro loop using the hook on your Iron Heart.
3. Now tie all the line terminals through a stick or a screw driver. Now pull tight and check the line length.
4. All lines should be the same length. So use the different knots on the back lines to readjust front and back lines back into even length.
5. In case your fifth line needs readjustment you can do so using the different knots on the red line above the vario cleat.

Vario cleat:

Not everybody likes our “factory” settings and that why we’ve incorporated an adjustable floating cleat that can be readjusted on height so you can choose the chicken loop throw you’re most comfortable with:

• Lay your lines on a spacious flat area and sort them out as you would any regular day.
• Pull the tab on the back side of the cleat and run the rope up or downwards to your desired height (if the rope is jammed use the tools included on your bar to free it).
• Get the black piece of plastic back to it’s original place and pull the rope tight.
 
  
Now, note that your lines will not be set right anymore so you’ll have to go through this steps to make them right:

1. Using a screw driver or a stick fix the chicken loop to the ground and engage the chicken loop to the micro loop using the hook on your Iron Heart.
2. Now tie all the line terminals through a stick or a screw driver. Now pull tight and check the line length.
3. All lines should be the same length. So use the different knots on the back lines to readjust front and back lines back into even length.
4. In case your fifth line needs readjustment you can do so using the different knots on the red line above the vario cleat.


Depower:

Even though we stand behind the option of personalizing your depower throw we must warn
you of certain threats you might run into.

• Shorten your throw too much will have a huge effect on the kite’s ability to depower.
• Lengthening your throw too much will make your kite more likely to Hindenburg and nose dive and might also make the kite feel a little unstable

Following the North tradition your new scepter bar has again two different width attachment points.

Thus allowing you to have one more adjustment for your kite’s turning speed.

• The wider attachment would make the kite turn faster.
• The narrower attachment would make the kite turn slower.

To change your bar width follow these directions:

1. Slide the floating foams up over the knot.
2. Undo the loop over it.
3. Pull the rope on the other side of the bar terminal.
4. Now slide the loop over the knot on that side.
5. Pull tight and slide the floating

Your new kite has two different back pigtail positions for different configurations. As you know your new kite has a wider arc than a traditional “C” kite and therefore the back pigtail configuration has a different effect on the kite:

• The further back position on your back lines would give a lighter feeling on your bar, more of a “bow” type of kite.
• While the most forward position will give more of a heavy, reactive, linear feel. A Characteristic of all “C” kite. This setting will also be “slower” on feel since it takes more bar input to make the kite steer.

To move your back pig tail position pull the tab and undo the loop. Slide the pigtail onto the new attachment and pull the rope through the loop. Make sure both back pigtails are attached to the same pig tail position. Your back lines don not need any readjustment after changing the pigtail position.

Board stance is a matter of taste but also depends on factors such as board length, rider length and riding style.

Wider stance gives better control over the board, especially in landings. That’s why you see a lot of competition riders use a wide stance. The maximum stance is determined both by how wide you can stand and still feel comfortable, and by how long your board is. The wider the stance, the less board is left between the front foot and the nose. If you set the stance too wide for your board the nose will dive easily. For wave riding with surfboards a wide stance is often an advantage since it makes it easier to dig in the rail and keep the control over the board in hard bottom turns. For strapless riding in waves, a wide stance is required to keep the nose of the board from bouncing. A narrower stance is often preferred by beginners/intermediates and gives a smoother ride since there is more nose free to flex on the board. Also, it feels less strained riding with a
narrower stance, at least if you’re not used to a wide stance.

The flex of a kiteboard has a large impact on how the board feels and performs on the water.
In general, you could say that:
- A a softer board is more comfortable to ride whereas a stiffer board has better performance and pop
- Softer boards are better for freeride/carving and stiffer boards are better for freestyle/new school
- A lighter rider should use a softer board and a heavy rider a stiffer board to get the same riding sensation and performance

This is not the whole truth though, so in order to better understand how flex affects the board, here follows a more detailed explanation:

The flex can be divided into two components: longitudinal and torsional flex.

Longitudinal flex is a measurement of how the board flexes over its length. Imagine that you place the board with each tip on a chair and push down the center of the board. That’s longitudinal flex.

Longitudinal flex will affect these properties in a board:

Comfort
- A longitudinal soft board will be more comfortable due to the board’s ability to absorb vibrations.
Carving
- A soft board will carve better due to the boards ability to bend during turns. Riding performance / pop
- A stiff board will be more direct and give a more snappy feeling. It will also have better pop which is good for new school/competition riding.
Light wind properties
- A softer board will, especially in bigger sizes, get going earlier compared with a stiffer board.


Torsional flex describes how the board reacts when being twisted around its length axis. Imagine that you stick one end of the board in a slot on the ground and twist the other end with your hands. The resistance the board makes is a measurement of its torsional flex.

Torsional flex will affect these properties in a board:
Pop
- A main ingredient to a board with good pop is the torsional flex. The stiffer the torsion, the better the pop. This is because the board twists a lot when loaded before takeoff, and thus a stiffer torsion responds with greater force.
Grip/edging
- Since a kiteboard twists a fair amount during riding, the torsion will determine how hard the rail and fin bites in the water. A board with stiffer torsion will grip harder and respond faster than a torsionally soft board.

Comfort
- A soft torsional flex will make the board smoother and more forgiving to ride, but with the loss of pop and edge performance.

The safety line of a 5th Element line set is the one that passes, at its lower end, through a hole in the micro-hook just above the red chicken loop quick-release handle. At its upper end, the safety line has a loop with blue sleeving.

All 2004 Vegas kites come with a “nose line,” a line about 2 or 3 meters long (varies in length with kite size), that attaches permanently to the webbing loop at the middle of the kite’s leading edge tube. Attach this nose line to the kite as shown in the picture below. Leave this nose line attached to the kite when you roll or fold the kite up after a kiteboarding session.

Then, when you attach your 5th Element line set to your kite before a kiteboarding session, treat this nose line as if it were another pigtail and attached the blue sleeved safety line of your 5th Element line set to the extreme lower end of it – just above the knot.

Be sure to lay all lines out neatly and ensure that no lines are twisted or tangled.

Since each Vegas kite comes from the factory with a nose line built to the correct length for that particular size of kite, there is no need to tune the 5th Element line set at the kite end of the line set. However, there may be a need to tune your line set at the bar.

When a 5th Element line set is new, the thick Spectra line attached to the “D” ring at the top of the depower strap may be about 7cm short. It will stretch to the correct length after 10 or 20 minutes of use. Keep this in mind when you are setting your lines to the correct lengths.

The first step in tuning your 5th Element bar is to ensure that all lines are the same length. This should be the case when the back lines are in their farthest postion from the bar (farthest knot from the bar) and there is a distance of 30cm from the top of the control bar to the bottom of the knot at the top of the depower rope [chickenloop rope – see diagram].

The safety line will seem to be about 15cm short at this time, but that is because there is a section of bungee located about 4 meters above the control bar (see diagram for bungee location). When you anchor the control bar firmly in place and pull on the safety line, you should be able to stretch the bungee enough to make the safety line equal in length to the other lines.

Once you have ensured that all lines are the same length, you can attach and use your 5th Element line set on the Vegas 6, 8 or 10. When on the water, you can fine-tune your lines by pulling on the depower strap as wind conditions dictate.

If you plan to ride a Vegas 12 or 14, you should shorten your back lines by moving them on their leaders lines toward the control bar by a distance of one knot, so that that each one is fixed at the second knot from the end of each leader line.

If you plan to ride a Vegas 16 or 18, you should shorten your back lines by moving them on their leader lines toward the control bar by a distance of two knots, so that that each one is fixed at the third knot from the end of each leader line.

If you find that the depower line (chickenloop line – see diagram) is too long for your arm length or riding style, shorten the depower line AND the back leader lines AND the lower segment of the safety line by the same amount. That is, if you shorten the depower line from 30cm to 20cm, you should shorten those other lines mentioned by 10cm each.

This is not a mistake it is supposed to be like that as if you pull the bar towards you the kite will only fly with the four line as a regular four line kite. With a stopper system the cone of the kite is only allowed to change shape by a certain degree. Therefore when most of the pull is on the Backlines the kite has the tendency to get wider and therefore the mid line will be slack with less tension.

The safety line not only provides safety and relaunch capabilties, but it also helps hold the arc of the kite in its designed shape through gusts and lulls. The fact that it helps the kite maintain the correct shape in gusts means that the kite maintains a more efficient, less draggy shape in gusts and therefore flies more to a depowered position at the edge of the wind window.

You can get even more depower in a gust if you grab the safety line with one hand and pull on it. Grasping the part of the leash near the micro-hook and pulling 30 or 40cm of safty line through the micro-hook can be very effective in controlling kite power during over-powering gusts.

If the back lines feel too loose, your safety line may be too short. Measure the actual length of your nose line and compare it with the design length indicated in the table below. You can easily adjust your nose line by tying knots in it. You can make a new one by tying knots in a spare length of kite line. The safety line never has a high load on it, so knotted kite line will work.

If the back lines feel too loose, your back lines may be set too long (at the leader lines). Set back line length so that when the kite is fully powered up (with the bar against the top of the micro-hook) the tips of the kite flair open in the front by about 10 or 20 degrees.

Since your kite can now depower more easily, you should sheet in fully during the hang time portion of a jump.

When cruising the 5th element provides a smoother, easier ride. You don’t lose any lower end power, but since you have better high end you won’t notice gusts and lulls as much. You can ride with more speed and worry less about having out-of-control speed because you can more effectively dump the power of the kite by just sheeting out.

Rebel O7
Size 3 (Length 70 x 33 cm) - 5 (70 x 78 cm) - 7 (100 x 75 cm) - 9 (130 x 60 cm) - 10 (160 x
50 cm) - 12 (160 x 67 cm) - 14 (160 x 88 cm) - 16 (160 x 114 cm)

Vegas O7
Size 7 (Length 100 x 98 cm) - 9 (130 x 92 cm) - 10 (130 x 114 cm) - 12 (160 x 103 cm) - 14
(160 x 132 cm) - 16 (160 x 151 cm)

RHINO O7
Size 7 (Length 100 x 75 (48) cm) - 9 (130 x 54 cm) - 10 (160 x 36 cm) - 12 (160 x 56 cm) -
14 (160 x 80 cm) - 16 (160 x 101 cm)

RHINO O6
Size 7 (Length 224-228cm) - 9 (255-260cm) - 10 (267-272cm) - 12 (288-293cm) - 14
(310-315cm) - 16 (324-329cm) - 18 (379-384cm) - 20 (400-405cm)

RHINO 05
Size 9 (Length 248cm) - 10 (269cm) - 12 (289cm) - 14 (309cm) -
16 (322cm) - 18 (344cm) - 20 (365cm)

VEGAS 06
Size 5 (Length 190-195) - 7 (215-220cm) - 9 (260-265cm) - 10 (260-265cm) - 12 (277-282cm)
- 14 (303-308cm) - 16 (326-331cm) - 18 (352-357cm)

VEGAS 05
Size 6 (Length 217-219cm) - 7 (238-240cm) - 8 (251-253cm) - 10 (268-271cm) - 12
(287-291cm) - 14 (308-313cm) - 16 (340-346cm) - 18 (337-342cm)

TORO O5
Size 6 (Length 187-191cm) - 8 (220-224cm) - 10 (248-253cm) - 12 (267-271cm) - 14
(300-305cm) - 16 (330-335cm)