Well, AFAIK the Modulus has been around for about a year now. It's intended for buggying. I've seen and played with them, but don't own one. The claimed advantages are wide wind range ( just zip sections in and out ) and control ( it being a 4 - line beastie ). Opinions differ markedly on its effective - ness as a buggying tool in comparison to Peels/Quads/Infiniti's/Flexi's. I'd say that if all you were after was a soft four liner, go for a medium sized Quad, but that if buggying was the aim the Modulus deserves a fly or three before parting with the several hundred pounds it's going to cost you. Mark de Roussier The Modulus is astounding in that it at one and the same time the most expensive (at least in bucks per square foot) *and* least impressive power kite, combined with the fact that it comes with the Mick Parsons political baggage. The zip concept is a good idea, but it is poorly executed. In a head-to-head light wind reach, I've seen a Modulus powered buggy manage only about half the speed of a similar-sized Peel. Andrew Beattie The following review is put out by Spider and should be considered an advert, but is included to show that there *are* people who like this kite... The arrival on the buggy scene of the first modular kite, the Modulus from the Welsh Sport Kite Centre represents a significant step forward for buggy enthusiasts. On first sight many are put off by it's apparent complexity, which is misleading, and by it's highly unusual design but it soon becomes obvious that the modulus is not only very easy to live with but fast, powerful and versatile. The advantages of four line kites from a buggier's point of view ought, by now, to be understood by all enthusiasts but to re-state, time spent on the beach is spent buggying, and not launching or recovering (or untangling) power kites. The biggest single advantage of the Modulus, (not one kite, but a bagfull) is in it's portability - as a quadrifoiler I would arrive at the site toting a rucksack full of lines, handles and quads, with the modulus I have one bag (equal in size to a 2 or 3 meter quad) containing handles, lines, stakes, spares and the modular kites themselves. This bag attaches neatly to the rear axel of the buggy, leaving another hand free for some of the more important items (beer, sandwiches, spare jumpers, cool boxes etc). That the bag is mounted onto the buggy is what sets it apart from other kites - the whole system is always available - you don't find yourself four miles from the car park with too much or too little sail. On top of the bag is a small pocket for two sand stakes (supplied as part of the kit) which you would normally carry with you and which gives another less obvious advantage - you leave the site with the same number of stakes that you came with, and don't find them re-apropriated to somebody elses kite bag. Setting up is speed and simplicity itself - you open the bag and pull out the two kite handles, (clearly marked as a pair) and walk away from the buggy, pulling out the lines which are supplied as 300lb x 35 feet and then (depending uo how the kite was packed) the kite will either parachute launch or can be pulled from the bag manually. As soon as the handles are staked another difference between this and the quadrifoils becomes apparent - because of the short chord-length (it's long and thin, what aeronotic types call high aspect) the kite will sit on the ground ready to be launched without any further attention. In this position the kite is totaly stable - so long as the stake holds the kite will stay where it is, which makes for much more relaxed lunch breaks. Additionally the short chord-length make the kite easier to hold on to in gusty or very high wind strengths and will give the buggier a higher potential top speed. As supplied, the handles are among the best quad handles I have seen, they are well sleeved, long enough, there is adequate space to attach harness lines and are as comfortable as any. The lines supplied may at first appear to be nightmarishly short, but you soon get used to them, for inland and gusty sites many fliers will add longer lines (this tactic will improve performance in marginal light conditions) but for a site with clear wind (given a kite as controllable as Modulus) 35' is generous - we have flown down to 15', and I suspect shorter would be possible, given practice. The modulus itself comprises 7 different sections, colour coded so that a drunken halfwit in the dark could recognide them - two unkeeled units of a meter square (red) two keeled units of the same size (green) a central panel, the mini module of approcimately half a meter in a tasteful shade of purple and a pair of end cells (0.3 meter each) in black. All are screen printed with the modulus logo and have a small portrait of El Mick himself on each, to remind us all to stick to our day jobs. Up to three(ish) meters -which is how the kites are packed- the rig is simplicity itself in that the bridles from the two unkeeled units are rigged to the lines, the two units are zipped together with two zips (front and back) and the kite is in it's most basic 2 meter form. The bridles can be separated to allow the kite to fly as a single unit at 1 meter, but with the wind as it has been this year I have yet to try this. As a two meter unit the Modulus is astonishingly manoeverable in that it performs as well as a 2m Quadrifoil but will track straighter and will stay where it is indefinitely when staked. To adjust this basic setup to cope with a little less wind, the end cells can be attached to either end, or the mini-module connected to the unkeeled units - the end cells have two zips each and two bridle to clip-on. The mini-module has four zips, both changes take less than a minute and this allows instantly change between two and three(is) meters. In either of these formats the kite is still wonderfully manoeverable for static flying and given a stiffish breeze is a seriously quick buggy tractor. As the wind drops further the more adventurous will start to want larger sails still, and at this point the Modulus requires five minutes or so of alteration. To step from 3.1m to four meters the mini-module and end cells are removed, and the two green keeled units are attached outside of the unkeeled units. Both of the keeled units have top and bottom bridles to be connected, but with this accomplished you are back to simple adjustments - to increase sail size, add the mini-module to the middle or end cells (if you hadn't guessed) to the ends, to bring the kite to it's full 5.2 meter square. In this format it differs most from the quads in that the kite has to be flown more like a Revolution than a Quad (you cannot stunt the kite in the same way but have to use the brake lines to steer it) but it flies very fast, generating huge ammounts of lift compared to the sideways drag associated with a large Quadrifoil. As for buggying, the kite is on its own - for the sake of a few small adjustments the kite can be set precisely to the wind conditions at the time, so you are never struggling with too much or too little sail, and all the adjustments can be made easily by one person. For cross country events - and all modulus owners are looking forward to when they start - I am confident in saying that nothing else will come close, and for short circuit racing they will remain hard to beat for some time to come. As for cost the initial outlay of 575 may seem heavy, but if you compare that with a bag containing 2, 3 and 4m Quadrifoils with line and handles then the economics are obvious, for a kite with a much wider wind band and better all round performance. In 3m format, there is little to choose between the Modulus and a 3m Quad, apart from the fact that Modulus is easier rig, pack and park. In summary The Welsh Sport Kite Centre have come up with a very practical package that in all round performance is by itself; two line enthusiasts (and I count myself as one of these, too) will probably retain a healthy scepticism for some time, but all in all the Modulus is worthy of international recognition as being Britain's first serious entry in to the buggy-kite market, having been designed soley with this task in mind. Congratulations to Mick and his fine team - if you need convincing yourself, come up to Pembrey with us and try some short circuit racing, it's wild.