If you have not heard of this kite, then I would not be surprised. However there are a number of low-volume specialist Sport Kite manufacturers around now, producing excellent kites like the Virus and the Opera. The Sea Devil is produced by Lam Hoac of Canada. Lam is a highly regarded international competitor, and an AKA Grand Master kite builder. I first spotted the Sea Devil at the Tricks Party World Cup when Lam was using it in the competition. Basically I have a broad mental picture of what my favourite sport kite looks like, and notwithstanding the Celtic graphics (not really my kind of thing) the Sea Devil fitted the template pretty well. When I flew it I was convinced that this was one kite that I had to own.
There is a reasonable lead time after ordering the kite, which I ordered via Lam’s website (Sky Sport Design). I needed to send an international money order to Lam and after delays with the construction of the kite it took nearly three months to arrive. On the upside, due to the delays Lam ended up sewing the sail himself (they are normally sewn by a US sail manufacturer) so this example is a genuine Lam Hoac kite.
Upon first inspection there are lots of fascinating details. I ordered a “competition nose” for the kite, and just expected the nose piece to be heavier Cordura or similar. It did not become clear until the first flight, but the whole leading edge has an extra layer of non-slip material added over the Dacron. This means that the leading edge has low friction, and as a result if the kite is level when you yoyo it, you find the yoyo-stoppers almost every time. Trust me, it really works!
There are no elastic bands or bungees to worry about. All of the tensioners are made from bridle cord and real thought has gone into how they all work. I have always disliked the need for elastic tensioners on sport kites, and the Sea Devil has the best wingtip tensioning mechanism that I have seen to date (ED: I have seen the production Deep Space since.) There is an innovative leech-line/trailing edge tensioner as well and again it works quite well. However it is complicated to look at and I had to use the maximum adjustment just to tension the sail for its first flight. The leading edge pockets are ample enough to allow the leading edge rods to move freely, making folding and packing relatively simple.
The Sea Devil felt immediately willing on its first flight. The frame is Skyskark 5PT (7PT is an option) and the wind was gusting from moderate to strong, so I was taking it easy. The basic flight characteristics are pleasant and there is surprisingly moderate pull even in a strong wind. For sharp precision flying the best results appear to come with a Fury-esque pop-double-pull technique. The kite seems to react better if it is man-handled rather than coaxed and it is capable of razor sharp precision. With no adjustment to the bridle, the spin turn is actually quite wide and outside the wingspan of the kite. I like noisy kites, and the Sea Devil does make a healthy rasping sound. The straight leading edges give it a purposeful appearance and the white sail and Celtic graphics really make it stand out.
I was surprised to find that the bridle has no adjustment whatsoever. It is tied to be rigid and none of the dimensions can be changed. Given that the precision feel was not in my “sweet spot” I would have preferred some options. When everything else about this kite is so good, I am perplexed as to why a competition-spec kite would be restricted in this way. It looks like I am going to have to make my own bridle for it.
Notwithstanding the restriction of the bridle, the trick performance is really first class. With so many superb sport kites to choose from these days, it is perhaps unsurprising to find a kite that will Comete, Jacobs ladder, Yoyo and Multi-lazy. The Sea Devil does have a certain panache about some of its tricks and especially yoyos and yoyo combinations.
The low friction leading edge (a mandatory option in my opinion having flown this kite) means that the completion rate for yoyos is very high and the level of control after the yoyo is normally excellent. It releases you from worrying about basic control and recovery and enables you to find out just what else can be done with a kite in a yoyo. I was producing yoyo-540s and yoyo-slot machines with very reasonable reliability. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that this kite (with its straight leading edges) will dead-launch with ease. I kept this to a minimum since there is no reinforcement that I can see on the spine and the white sail will mark very easily.
The kite is very pitch sensitive and will fade from a dive with the slightest of punches. It is also quite easy to rock straight to a yoyo from upward flight. I did find that the kite was also prone to just stopping half-way through a complex precision figure when I let the tension on the sail slack a bit. This kite does demand your full attention, but the results are very satisfying indeed.
The exchange rate with Canada means that a competition-spec Sea Devil will cost you around £180 included postage. When you look at the cost of equivalent French machinery, the Sea Devil actually starts to look like very good value for money. It has a performance at least equal to the best sport kites in the Europe and in the right hands it could be a competition-winning kite.
If I have one bugbear about it (apart from the bridle of course), it is that close-up the kite actually looks too good to fly. The low friction leading edge has a shimmering appearance, and the stitching and detailing is to the very highest standard. I found myself wondering about the longevity of the low-friction material and worrying about whether I would damage it when I was flying it. Having said this, it has had a good workout so far with no ill-effects whatsoever. The predominantly white sail means that this kite is unlikely to venture out on my bag in the English winter. You can buy the Sea Devil with a black sail instead, and whilst I do not think that it is as attractive, with hindsight it has to be the better bet for anybody wanting an all-year-round kite that they want to use regularly.
The Sea Devil is becoming an increasingly popular kite in the US but there are still only a few of them in Europe. If you want to stand-out on the kite field for both the quality of your flying and having a kite that looks like no other then the Sea Devil is definitely worthy of consideration.
Could you expand on that just a little bit more was it just the fact that the bridle isn't adjustable or is it more than that?
, I am frequently last to leave the field) 
