Twist again

Shown for the first time at the KTA, the Twister is American manufacturer Spectra Sport's new product for 1997. This kite has a somewhat classic shape, with a moderately deep polyester sail which is quite flat at the nose, with a broad, flat tail and a long spine. The sail is quite tight.

The panelling and choice of colours are fairly nice but conservative in style. The overall manufacturing quality is good, all seams are rolled. The leading edges are in spinnaker fabric, while the nose and stand off reinforcement are made from a plasticy vinyl material. This tends to undermine the kite's overall finish.

As with many American kites, the Twister's bridle was set for strong winds and we had to lower the factory settings substantially, by 1 or 2 cm to get the kite to fly in a lighter wind.

The kite did show a tendancy to oversteer and was clearly not at its best in light conditions. The factory setting is only good for use at winds over 10 mph The oversteer makes the kite unstable and it lacks precision. It is not crisp on angles, and although it turns well, it is difficult to pull out of a turn exactly when you want to. The Twister stalls easily, but always tends to want to tip to one side or the other when recovering normal flight. Sometimes it's the Twister which decides which side to perform an axel on: with the kite going naturally towards the left, you have no option but to pull it to the right.

When performing freestyle, it does the basic figures with ease. Tbe same applies to some more difficult moves.

To summarize, the Twister is suitable for anyone just starting out. Its not designed for light winds but could be a definite help for learning freestyle tricks. This very American-style design has little in common with many European kites.