We have a couple of Sentinelles made by master kite maker, and Red Bull kite force team member, Ramlal Tien.
I remember seeing a picture of one of these kites in a folder of picture of a festival in Germany in ~ 2001.
I fell in love immediately with how clean and simple the kite flew, but also how well designed it was.
High Flyers Flight Company brought a number of these kites into the country over the years.
They stopped being brought in when High Flyers closed, so why not get them again?
Ramlal finds personalities in his creations.
THE SENTINELS
Gathered in squads, the sentinels fulfill
their mission at all costs : observing, monitoring...
and countering any intrusion.
Stationed at its outer limits,
they guard the domain.
The Sentinelle is not small, but has such a graceful presence in the air.
The kite is made up of 12 rods. The leading edges are made up from 2 rods each, but these rods are over 5' long!
They mate at the middle of each wing with an innovative sliding ferrule.
Then there are 6 3mm rods that spread out eachside of the wings.
They start flying around 4mph, and I personally have flown one in 30 mph wind with out issue.
There is no bridle on these kites, there is a series of holes in the lower leading edge where you attach your line to it; the lower the hole you use the lower the wind, the higher the wind the higer the hole until you reach the very tip of the nose.
They fly very stable and serenly, and if you happen to get a group of them together they act like a school of tropical fish, all turning at the same time, then back again.
You can also very easily stack them by attaching each one to the main line from the tip of the nose point.
Ramlal's kites do not come into the US very often, one of the issues is due to the problem of shipping them as they pack down to over 5' long.
The Sentinelles are 355$ shipped in the US
There are a limited number of these kites available, so get them while you can!