Gin Bobcat vs. XT 16

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kitesurfa
Gin Bobcat vs. XT 16

Submitted by Astroglide

 

In the market for a speedwing. Mountain flying mostly; anticipate 70% high wind ridge soaring 30% speedriding on skis. I know this may be like comparing two different animals. Just looking for insight for which may be the best all around wing for both performance and stability. Any positive input is well received. Note: 190 lb / 86 kg

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kitesurfa

Submitted by maw74

 

Hi bro,
here you have a direct comparison vid I have found:

SPEEDWING GIN BOBCAT OR OZONE XT16.mp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnzfV-h7oeA

I own a 16,5 Bobcat (like in the vid)and I am super confident with my 85kg naked. Perfect for soaring steep ridges, near ground flying and reaching your desired landing spot. I love the canopy because it is hammerstable in rough air and rotors but then it shakes your backbones like driving a gokart. Speedriding would be very curved riding because of the good glide of approx 5:1!! Also thermalling was possible in the right condition.
Glide would be nearly the same on a smaller size. So for riding better check another product.

Lowlevel Bobcat Action to be seen here on my vids:


and

Regards Marcus

 

kitesurfa

Submitted by mt7wildcard

 

Hello Astroglide,

Interesting name, by the way.

The XT-16 will work perfectly for your 70% chance of ridge soaring. It's great for lightweight hiking and high wind take-offs. It can be used for speedriding too, it all depends on how you attack the slope. But it won't work well for steep slopes (black diamond) as you will have trouble getting it down onto the snow with it's higher glide angle. You can probably make it work on intermediate angle slopes.

A Bobcat 14 would probably be more suited if you wanted to do 70% speedriding and 30% ridge soaring. Although the ridge soaring ability will be limited to fairly high winds at your weight. Any smaller Bobcat will let you speedride steeper and faster but forget the ridge soaring unless you are brave enough for very high windspeeds.

It all depends on what ski terrain you have in your area. Maybe you need two wings.

Scott