Phantom / Vareo

I've yet to have a go in the Phantom but this weekend I managed to scrounge a go in a Vareo albeit there wasn't enough wind to make a proper decision on whether to buy one or not.  I do have a few thoughts on them though.

The mainsheet block on the floor seems a long way back and the toe straps don't seem to come forward enough to give you any chance of getting your weight forward to lift the arse of the boat out of the water when going upwind.  Having said that I looked at a Phantom the next day and it too seemed to have everything very central/rear biased.

With the kite up it held a reach tighter than I thought it would and even in moderate wind it certainly made the reach more exciting than sailing my Blaze in the same conditions.  Downwind was hardly a blast but certainly more interesting than sailing the Blaze.

I didn't like the sail shape but that was most likely due to the fact that as soon as you applied any cunningham the sail dropped four inches and it's one of those delightful systems where the main halyard is cleated at the top of the mast so you have no chance of fixing it on the water.

The steering is really heavy.  I had the boat flat going upwind and any change in direction felt like I was trying to fight a bad case of weather helm.  

There's no denying the Phantom is faster, the PY tells you that, but part of me thinks I'd rather be occupied by two sails than bored by one.  What I really need to do is try it again in more wind and then try a Phantom.