Kite Review:-
MAC Neptune 600

Last Revision: Feb 2007
by Andrew Nicholas

AN

Manufacturer: Mac Para
Model: Neptune
Size: 600 (5.93 square metres - flat area)

Extras: 25m lines and handles, optional power rings.

Introduction

Many of you will have heard about, read about, and even flown the Mac Bego. I had certainly heard a lot about it, but nothing about its sister kite, the Neptune (or Neptun as it says on the label), which is basically a closed-cell Bego. So I asked the man in the know, Al at Atmosphere Kites in Bristol, and decided it could be the kite for me. I was attracted by the promise of Bego-like flying characteristics and low wind capabilities combined with water relaunchability. The kite only has three cell openings on the leading edge and these have 'sock' valves in so they close up when the kite is inflated, preventing water (or sand) from flooding into the kite. I had a lot of questions, mostly concerning how good a closed-cell kite would be in light winds, presumably it would be harder to inflate through only 3 cells, but would stay inflated and so potentially be more stable.

What You Get

Supplied kite only, in a shiny ripstop stuff sack. Even from the outset the build quality looks good, the stuff sack has reinforcement around the cord hole and the cord itself is very smooth and soft to the touch, mmmmmmmmm ;)

First Impressions

On taking the kite out of the bag it is apparent that the quality and attention to detail is incredible, this looks just like a scaled down paraglider. All of the bridle lines are fully sleeved and are individually cut to size (under tension I am told) with loops sewn into each end, making it very easy to replace a damaged line, or potentially to retrofit a depower system. The entire canopy is made of Porcher (sp?) ripstop which is very light, smooth and strong, and just generally feels expensive. Some of the colour schemes are a little, well, different, but the blue and white kites look pretty good I think, and I like the distinctive design.

The bridle is a little different to the average foil kite in that it includes a riff-raff, a loop on the trailing edge through which a brake-bridle line passes so that the wing tip is pulled in a couple of inches on application of the brakes. It is possibly this that helps the kite turn so quickly, but I will get to that later.

Setting Up and First Flight

Using good quality ozone lines means checking the line lengths is a mere formality, and they are helpfully colour and number coded with the handles so even a newbie can get the lines in the right places, although hopefully not on such a large kite. I connected the lines to the bridle to give the setting with more brake, as I would rather the kite was over-braked initially than under-braked and difficult to land. Unfortunately this didn't pay off, more on that in a moment. In a smooth on-shore wind of around 8mph at a guess, the kite sat very tidily on the ground, staked through the handle brake loops, with no tendency to bounce or for the trailing edge to lift as it often does on my PKD Buster. The kite caught the breeze nicely and spread its wings, and what an impressive wingspan! I tried shaking the kite to inflate it a little, but not much happened, it seemed to inflate a touch so I thought I would try to fly it.

On launching the kite leapt up, several feet, then started lurching around, spinning, flying backwards, and I couldn't do thing about it. I thought it would be alright once it inflated, but it never did, so I wrestled it back to the ground and my very helpful assistant pinned it down. I found the cause of this behaviour was that the sock valves inside the leading edge were all screwed up from when the kite was packed, so I fiddled around with these and jiggled them down the inside of the cell to straighten them out and open them up. Now the kite inflated more readily in the breeze, at least the leading edge filled out nicely. Now the kite launched, span around a couple of times, reversed a bit, inflated, powered up smoothly and flew straight to the zenith, and stayed there, whatever I tried to do. I had no brakes, and hence very little manoeuvrability, so I had to bring the kite down the side of the window and yank on the brake leaders to park it, whereupon it slid across the sand to sit neatly downwind of me. After a few more flights I had the kite set up a bit better, I had to shorten the brakes by about a foot on the leaders to get good response without any dragging on the brakes.

Now the kite was set up better and the valves had opened out it was much easier to launch, it would just turn to one side on launching, inflate fully and then fly very nicely. Static flying with this kite is great fun, the power is very consistent and the delivery very smooth, it really gives the forearms a workout. Now to test the lift, the kite is very well behaved when sitting at the zenith, you can still feel the pull but it doesn't tend to lift you as I have found a Flexifoil Blade 2 does. Get the kite worked up for some jumping though and you won't be disappointed, after getting used to the slightly different flying characteristics, and the size of the kite, I found I could get huge floaty airs even in this breeze, and I'm no featherweight.

Progression

Having got the kite flying nicely and having got used to the way it flies I thought I had better get on the mountain board and have a go. The moment I did this I was gobsmacked, it seems this kite was designed purely for this purpose. Upwind runs were easy and fast, and downwind runs very controllable, the power delivery just feels superb for boarding. Unfortunately I have only managed a few runs on the board at the end of my first session with this kite, and a few more on a light wind day inland so I can't really say much more, but it feels good.

Flying the kite inland a week later I was surprised how little wind it takes to get the kite inflated, shaking it for a while before launching seems to pay off as this inflates the kite well and makes it much easier to launch. Even in very low winds this kite flies well, it stays inflated and even gives reasonable power, enough for short scuds and small but floaty jumps, I'm not sure of the wind speed but I know I wouldn't have bothered getting my 4 metre Buster out of the bag. I got the kite tuned a little better as I found it wanted slightly more brake in lighter winds, now I am very pleased with its performance and can't wait to get going on the board again.

I can't really comment on the water relaunchability, yet. The kite does stay inflated well, and when landed and staked it keeps its shape well, but still sits on the ground nicely, it does slowly deflate over the space of a few minutes, I think this should give plenty of time for a relaunch on water.

One slightly strange characteristic I have found is that the kite occasionally wants to land, the kite will just power down and start to reverse, at first I could not do anything about this until the kite touched the ground, then it would take off again immediately. Now I can usually manage to turn the kite downwards and it speeds up again. I think this strange behaviour may have something to do with the kite losing the crease from its trailing edge, I think I will give the power rings a try and see if they can solve the problem.

Conclusion

Wow! What a stunning kite, I just love flying it, even in barely any wind it is fun, and for boarding it seems phenomenal. I can't wait to get more time flying it, especially on a nice open beach in smooth wind. I flew it again the following weekend, inland in very variable winds, it started off nice and gentle, but increased to perhaps 10-12mph with some strong gusts, then I started to get a bit nervous, I tripped and got dragged a little, but overall the kite was still very smooth and predictable. At this point I decided to have a break, the wind settled at a steady-ish 10-15mph and I had a great day boarding with the 4m Buster.

So I am very pleased with my new toy, it has been just as good as I hoped it could be. Many thanks to Al at Atmosphere for supplying the kite and telling me how to get it going.

3 months on...

...and I am very pleased with my choice. Having spent a good few hours flying over the summer, I have become accustomed to the kite and am much more confident flying it, and I stand by the sentiment of my conclusion above. I feel I should offer a few words of advice for anyone considering taking ownership of a Neptune:

I found soon after writing the preceding sections of this review that this kite can be dangerous! Flying in very variable and gusty conditions is never fun, particularly not with a kite like this that takes a good while to get used to. Due to the fact that the closed canopy holds it shape when not flying forwards, the kite is very difficult to land smoothly and hold on the ground in strong winds. I managed to tear my kite apparently just through not being able to stop it bouncing quite violently on the ground in strong winds.

This is a technical kite to fly, it can luff, and when it does, since it cannot collapse, it tends to turn inside out and accelerate towards the ground, the only way I have found to counteract this one is to get to know the kite better and not let it happen, checking it with the brakes as it approaches the edge of the window. Failing that, sprint towards the kite to get the lines slack, then, as it floats onto it's belly, run back again to pull the kite up forwards again, NB. this can result in some extravagant bowties! One thing this kite does not really suffer from is tip collapses during tight turns in light winds, the tips sometimes start to fold inwards a little, but due to the internal pressure they spring out again just as quickly. Having spent some time getting to know the kite and how to fly it, I can get it to behave itself much better and I have not experienced better performance from a fixed-bridle light wind kite. The closed cell construction does not reduce light wind launching capability, and in fact it makes the kite a lot more stable when open cell kites are tending to collapse and fall out of the sky.

The use of power rings does seem to have eliminated the "Bego flop", where the kite wants to land, so I always use power rings on this kite. I have made a set of adjustable power rings using lightweight Ronstan pulleys to let the brake lines run smoothly. Short power rings (around 10-12cm) give good flight characteristics in light winds, and slightly longer ones (16-20cm) give improved lift in higher winds (perhaps 10mph plus at a guess).

AN :)