2016 Slingshot Wave SST

There has been much excitement about this new addition to the Slingshot range. As the name suggests, this is a kite with a purpose: ride it in the surf! Although the Wave SST has that characteristic open Rally-style profile, the tips are squarer and the outline boxier. It looks like it means business.

The Surf Tough seams are there and the Wave SST has Teijin cloth with a new Rip Stop surf grid pattern in high stress areas, and with Pat Rebstock on the team you know that it has to be prepared to take a few beatings…

In the air and there is that ‘Slingshot feel’. Pull on the power and it is there – immediately – there is no hesitation and you’re good to go. Turning is very pivotal and quick – it takes a few minutes to get used to as you really can spin the Wave round in a nano-second and the performance and handling is pretty incredible.

For onshore riding this responsiveness is great – you can drive off the bottom and really snap around the kite as you come back off the lip ensuring it is in the right spot as you line up the next section. It is very satisfying.

Then if conditions really turn on and you need something that is going to get you into the waves but then let you ‘just surf’, the Wave SST shows real class. The low end is good so you can get yourself going and into waves easily and then you really can just switch it off when it’s time to drift and it will just roll with it. It doesn’t ‘dip’ or at any point look like it’s going to come down – even with a whole lot of slack line – and it still responds to those vital steering inputs when you need to lift it a little higher as you come up the face, or when you need a little bit more power to get around a difficult section.

Overall this is a very welcome addition to the surf kite club – it does feel ‘different’ and we think a few other brands might be flying it around over the next few months and asking: just what is it about that kite?!