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We are just back from a very successful trip to Mexico and a very quick trip to Europe. The flying in Valle de Bravo was just as consistent and sweet as ever. Please join us next year if you haven't been there before. While in Europe, we attended the annual Gin Gliders Distributor Meeting and we visited Advance in Switzerland. Here are some notes that you might enjoy.
MEXICO
We logged some quality time on the Advance Epsilon 5 and the Sigma 6. Most interesting for our dealers was the Epsilon 5. We observed that the E5 the most well rounded DHV 1-2 we have ever flown. When flying the Zulu in the same (strong thermal) air, we found that it provided more feedback and a different, more "lively" feeling. Naturally, we really enjoy the type of pilot that develops from flying a Zulu but at the very same time we can imagine that a huge number of your clients will want a 1-2 that performs with the best of them and still inspires the pilot to relax and maybe let go of the outside brake to take a picture. Both types of gliders certainly have their place and we are overjoyed to be able to provide them to you. The Sigma 6 is a great DHV 2 alternative to the Zoom. A bit like trying on shoes, some of your customers may find that the Sigma 6 fits perfectly. Let's make this opportunity available to them.
EUROPE
We didn't walk more than a half a mile the whole time we were there. We drank more coffee than you can imagine, slept very little, didn't drink any water to speak of and learned more about the products that we handle than you can imagine. We also learned that 150 km/h is about 100 mph and is a very comfortable speed under the proper circumstances. The Autobahn rules! Gin Gliders devotes an entire week to educating their distributor and to receiving feedback about the brand. This means more than 8 hours a day and a tremendous amount of preparation. Very impressive.
Advance hosted us at their facility in Thun, Switzerland just down the road from Interlaken. Advance was everything that you can imagine; their attention to detail shines through in every aspect of their brand/ organization/personalities. We learned a lot about their line, their service program and their plans for the future. Advance is a very conservative brand without any sort of "pie in the sky" aspirations. As we departed, they cautioned us: "we don't need to sell more gliders in the US, we just want to have good professional representation over the entire country."
GIN NEWS
-Boom Sport, the new 2-3 has already passed preliminary tests and will be certified in the next few weeks. NEWS FLASH, BOOM SPORT M CERTIFIED. This is an upper end 2-3 with performance in the neighborhood of the Boomerang 4 at trim speed.
-The Genie XO and Genie II harnesses are no longer available. The Gingo and Genie III have undergone some slight changes. The new Gingo reserve container is even better and the Genie III has a re-positioned speed system grommet to allow full travel, leg straps that are adjustable at the top, more internal pockets and new shoulder strap construction to prevent them from slipping to the side. Also, the Genie III will accept a 17 cm back protector although it doesn't fit quite as well as the 14.
-Gin have a new "yeti tandem" it is a Beetle 38 that weighs 6.5kg with two harnesses and fits into a small(new) Gin backpack.
-An interesting item of note: The Yeti Glider (light weight Bolero Plus) are wearing very well over time. Erhard Loretan flew his Yeti off all fourteen 8000M peaks and has logged more than 300 hours on his Yeti. The Yeti backpack has been improved with more padding and sweat management along with a new, more comfortable waist strap.
-Over the longer term, we can expect a competition harness and a tandem reserve from Gin Gliders.
-FLY GIN – Gin Gliders has an extensive clothing and accessory line that has grown exceedingly popular worldwide. We will stock more and more FLY GIN products and we encourage our dealers to do likewise.
-The lineup for Gin Gliders in 2006 is; Yeti, Bolero Plus, Zoom, Zoom Race, Boom Sport, Boomerang, Beetle. A new DHV 1 will come in the Fall and a new DHV 2 can be expected next year.
GIN KITES
-Robert Graham spent a huge amount of time and effort on the new Eskimo foil kite. It is meant to be an absolute "state of the art" power kite for Snow Kiting, dirt boarding and buggy kiting. We would like to see each dealer own an Eskimo kite. This is a great way for you to expand you business if you haven't already. Ever dreamt of being able to get a piece of the Kite Boarding market? This is your chance. Gin aims to grow their kite business slowly and thoughtfully through people like YOU! The Maori is competitive with any inflatable kite on the market. Let us know how we can help you to make your kite business prosper.
ADVANCE NEWS
-The Impress harness is a beautiful combination of traditional functionality with the option of incorporating a super competitive pod feature. If you haven't seen this harness, it is a work of art. They are in very high demand, but we have reserved a few.
-Advance promises a new line of harnesses. Like a fine wine; in time.
-The Advance lineup includes Alpha 3 (DHV 1), Epsilon 5 (DHV 1-2), Sigma 6 (DHV 2), Omega 6 (DHV 2-3) and Bi-Beta (Tandem).
-Advance expects to debut an Omega 7 (DHV 2-3) with thin lines by mid-summer.
-Advance is naturally very proud of their 2005 achievements; Paragliding World Champion (Steve Cox), PWC Champion Christian Maurer, PWC Woman’s Champion (Eva Wisnierska) and OLC Winner (Chrigel Maurer).
-We have demos of each model circulating already and our first orders are all pre-sold. If you have customers interested in demoing, please find out what color they like to demo so that we can send demos that they might like to own.
IN CLOSING
We are looking forward to a great year and we want to everything we can to build on our mission statement of making it "fun and easy to fly and buy the best possible products." Each market is different and nobody knows your market better than you. Please let us know what it is going to take to make this the best year ever. Please know that we welcome your calls and emails. Our manufacturers have urged us to not hesitate to contact them about the smallest details. We would like to ask the very same of you.
We remain at your service,
Jeff, Chris and Beci
MEXICO
We logged some quality time on the Advance Epsilon 5 and the Sigma 6. Most interesting for our dealers was the Epsilon 5. We observed that the E5 the most well rounded DHV 1-2 we have ever flown. When flying the Zulu in the same (strong thermal) air, we found that it provided more feedback and a different, more "lively" feeling. Naturally, we really enjoy the type of pilot that develops from flying a Zulu but at the very same time we can imagine that a huge number of your clients will want a 1-2 that performs with the best of them and still inspires the pilot to relax and maybe let go of the outside brake to take a picture. Both types of gliders certainly have their place and we are overjoyed to be able to provide them to you. The Sigma 6 is a great DHV 2 alternative to the Zoom. A bit like trying on shoes, some of your customers may find that the Sigma 6 fits perfectly. Let's make this opportunity available to them.
EUROPE
We didn't walk more than a half a mile the whole time we were there. We drank more coffee than you can imagine, slept very little, didn't drink any water to speak of and learned more about the products that we handle than you can imagine. We also learned that 150 km/h is about 100 mph and is a very comfortable speed under the proper circumstances. The Autobahn rules! Gin Gliders devotes an entire week to educating their distributor and to receiving feedback about the brand. This means more than 8 hours a day and a tremendous amount of preparation. Very impressive.
Advance hosted us at their facility in Thun, Switzerland just down the road from Interlaken. Advance was everything that you can imagine; their attention to detail shines through in every aspect of their brand/ organization/personalities. We learned a lot about their line, their service program and their plans for the future. Advance is a very conservative brand without any sort of "pie in the sky" aspirations. As we departed, they cautioned us: "we don't need to sell more gliders in the US, we just want to have good professional representation over the entire country."
GIN NEWS
-Boom Sport, the new 2-3 has already passed preliminary tests and will be certified in the next few weeks. NEWS FLASH, BOOM SPORT M CERTIFIED. This is an upper end 2-3 with performance in the neighborhood of the Boomerang 4 at trim speed.
-The Genie XO and Genie II harnesses are no longer available. The Gingo and Genie III have undergone some slight changes. The new Gingo reserve container is even better and the Genie III has a re-positioned speed system grommet to allow full travel, leg straps that are adjustable at the top, more internal pockets and new shoulder strap construction to prevent them from slipping to the side. Also, the Genie III will accept a 17 cm back protector although it doesn't fit quite as well as the 14.
-Gin have a new "yeti tandem" it is a Beetle 38 that weighs 6.5kg with two harnesses and fits into a small(new) Gin backpack.
-An interesting item of note: The Yeti Glider (light weight Bolero Plus) are wearing very well over time. Erhard Loretan flew his Yeti off all fourteen 8000M peaks and has logged more than 300 hours on his Yeti. The Yeti backpack has been improved with more padding and sweat management along with a new, more comfortable waist strap.
-Over the longer term, we can expect a competition harness and a tandem reserve from Gin Gliders.
-FLY GIN – Gin Gliders has an extensive clothing and accessory line that has grown exceedingly popular worldwide. We will stock more and more FLY GIN products and we encourage our dealers to do likewise.
-The lineup for Gin Gliders in 2006 is; Yeti, Bolero Plus, Zoom, Zoom Race, Boom Sport, Boomerang, Beetle. A new DHV 1 will come in the Fall and a new DHV 2 can be expected next year.
GIN KITES
-Robert Graham spent a huge amount of time and effort on the new Eskimo foil kite. It is meant to be an absolute "state of the art" power kite for Snow Kiting, dirt boarding and buggy kiting. We would like to see each dealer own an Eskimo kite. This is a great way for you to expand you business if you haven't already. Ever dreamt of being able to get a piece of the Kite Boarding market? This is your chance. Gin aims to grow their kite business slowly and thoughtfully through people like YOU! The Maori is competitive with any inflatable kite on the market. Let us know how we can help you to make your kite business prosper.
ADVANCE NEWS
-The Impress harness is a beautiful combination of traditional functionality with the option of incorporating a super competitive pod feature. If you haven't seen this harness, it is a work of art. They are in very high demand, but we have reserved a few.
-Advance promises a new line of harnesses. Like a fine wine; in time.
-The Advance lineup includes Alpha 3 (DHV 1), Epsilon 5 (DHV 1-2), Sigma 6 (DHV 2), Omega 6 (DHV 2-3) and Bi-Beta (Tandem).
-Advance expects to debut an Omega 7 (DHV 2-3) with thin lines by mid-summer.
-Advance is naturally very proud of their 2005 achievements; Paragliding World Champion (Steve Cox), PWC Champion Christian Maurer, PWC Woman’s Champion (Eva Wisnierska) and OLC Winner (Chrigel Maurer).
-We have demos of each model circulating already and our first orders are all pre-sold. If you have customers interested in demoing, please find out what color they like to demo so that we can send demos that they might like to own.
IN CLOSING
We are looking forward to a great year and we want to everything we can to build on our mission statement of making it "fun and easy to fly and buy the best possible products." Each market is different and nobody knows your market better than you. Please let us know what it is going to take to make this the best year ever. Please know that we welcome your calls and emails. Our manufacturers have urged us to not hesitate to contact them about the smallest details. We would like to ask the very same of you.
We remain at your service,
Jeff, Chris and Beci
posted by superflychris at 5:32 PM
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