Here’s a quick rundown.
First a quick look at the conditions.
- Lines: Climax 50kg/25m
- Weather: Sunny
- Wind: 0,5-2m/sec (1.5 – 4.5mph) – smooth, onshore
- Temperature: +10C (approx.)
- Location: Sjøbadet Beach, Moss
As you can see, pretty perfect conditions for playing with the SUL version of the Cosmic TC, but let’s get to grips with it’s flying!
Warming up and flat spins
I spent the first minutes carving geometrical figures in the air. The wind was on the very low side and I had to do some ‘pumping’ to keep the kite aloft. After having warmed up, I was ready for some tricking. The first tricks out of the bag were various forms of flat spins; 540’ies, Slot Machines, and MultiSlots. The 540 and the SlotMachine were head-on, slow, and stylish. For the Multi version, I had to work a little. It took some trial and error before I got the setup for the 2nd rotation correct, but as soon as I had figured it out, the Multies were nice as well.
TazMachines was quite a bit harder. The Standard version of this kite hands out Taz’es for free, but the Ghost is a bit more reluctant. Correct setup is required and due to its reduced momentum, you need to be patient when the kite rotates, ’cause it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Pretty cool actually when the kite does those slow rotations!
Axel variations
Axels, half axels, cascades, rising cascades… giveaways! With wrist inputs, these tricks come falling out of the kite effortlessly and Cascades can be tuned just as you like. Ascending, stationary, or rising. Take your choice!
Turtled
The Ghost falls easily over onto its back, just like the other versions of the CTC making easy ground for Lazies, MultiLazies, SnapLazies, and Cyniques (watch your input, it’s easy to snap a spreader!) Flapjacks, and I could go on. Yoyos as well. Multiple rollups are well within reach and after having rolled the kite up, you can easily do Multilazies to. I even managed to pull off a couple of pretty gracious Rolled-up 540’ies with rollout!
I also tried to do Insanes and Rolling Cascades, but I struggled.
The kite seemed to loose speed during the rotations and I wasn’t quite happy about them. I guess they can get better with more practice and longer lines.
Fade an onwards
The fade is easy to get into, but I was a bit surprised about the instability. I really had to tend the fade to keep it despite the favourable wind conditions. Not the the kite loses it immedietely, but compared to other SULs I found the Ghost to be somewhat unstable in this position.
However, loads of fun stuff are available from the Fade. Backspins are a pie. Just a slight input, and the Ghost is floating in the air while spinning on its back. Nice! The BS Cascade is not far away; although I found the kite to descend somewhat during this trick. (I do have a feeling though, that this can be remedied when I get more used to the kite’s characteristics.)
…and just like the other CTC famili members, the Ghost also has a dead spot in the flare.
Cometè
The Ghost will do nice Cometès as well. But you should be gentle with the input. The frame bends quite significantly if you use too much force and it looks kinda scary! However, with a gentler touch and correct timing you can make those Cometès look pretty gracious!
…and I guess that was about what I managed to pull out of the kite during the hour on the beach before the wind picked up so much I was afraid of braking something.
Summary
So a quick summary would be that the Ghost is looking very promising and surprisingly similar to the other members of the Cosmic family. I relly look forward to more time on the field with this kite to really learning to make the most out of it. Hopefully we’ll we’ll have light wind in the days to come!
