You too Ramsey. Looked like a fun (if chilly) session. I got stuck on the beach waiting for a call that never came....I should be there today if you want to try a kite.
Check
this out for a visual explanation of the venting.
Simple analogy - on an airplane you open the flaps when coming in for a landing. This permits the wing's angle of attack to be increased without stalling out, so the plane can fly more slowly without falling out of the sky.
With a kite, this is comparable to when it backflys, stalls, or tries to Hindenburg, especially in light wind, when you blow a trick, or the rider oversheets it. The vents allow the rider a greater margin of error, which benefits eveyone from beginners to experts (unhooked tricks, downwind " drift" in waves etc).
Testing the 07 Rise (with an 08 bridle to make all things equal) back to back with an 08 Vented Rise, we also noticed that the vents make the kite more efficient overall and extend the windrange, especially on the low end. Even with minimal power in the kite, the Rise will suck you up wind with ease.
