Remember the Sevylor Manta Ray? It was last summer's hottest inflatable pull toy. Watch the Manta Ray video to understand why. In fact, it was so popular, nobody could keep it in stock. At ShipStore.com we had to place Sevylor backorder requests from early summer onward just to keep up with the demand.

The Manta Ray's 13 foot wide wingspan enables the towable to lift off and hover over the water. That's right, no longer were marine towables just for skidding along the water's surface; the era of soaring towables had begun.

Once Sevylor threw down the gauntlet, it was only a matter of time before SportsStuff followed suit with what promises to be a serious contender, the SportsStuff Wego Kite Tube. If the Manta Ray video quickened your pulse, then watching the Wego Kite Tube video will feel like dancing the tango with a defibrillator! It's awesome, so much that I watched it twice.

SportsStuff refers to the Wego Kite Tube as a "next generation action towable" and promises that it'll take you to "a whole new level of excitement". The video supports the claims pretty well. Slightly smaller than the Manta Ray, the Wego Kite Tube is only (only?!?!) ten feet across, but it somehow looks more efficient and more stable despite the fact that it's shaped like a massive disk instead of a wide winged sea creature. Unlike the riders in the Manta Ray video who sometimes wobble or dive as they soar, the Wego Kite Tube riders seem stable and cofident. And they soar as high as anyone could ever even dream of wanting to soar. I want to do it:"Whip across the water like a deck tube, or fly through the air like a bird! Experience the thrill of flight as you rise above the water, reaching incredible heights, leaving nothing but adrenaline in your wake!"I'd love to hear from any of you with experience of either one or both. I think it's time we did a side-by-side comparison...