Kiteforum.com

I had a peek at the start and at the end of this thread, what a cluster f*** it is.

grigorib wrote:

mikelet wrote:...Even riding the most efficient boards All LEI kites have the same low end limit ,it's an structural limit, defined by weight ,once you stop or fail a jibe the moment your board becomes inneficient ,your LEI kite will hinderburg.....
A way of widening this limit is to fly a more efficient kite , a foil kite ...But there are tradeoffs as they are specifically purpose designed products...
On a Big LEI you can change board if wind picks up a bit ,and still having fun on a Skim, TT, Surfboard,Mutant, Alaia...Etc...
So for me it's a no sense to have a race foil kite if not using It with a foilboard
Regarding Raceboards,if not a FreeRace with medium sized fins, i find them also harsh and tiring to ride....

The gap is closing though. LEI became lighter and have more structure to keep wing shape falling down - giving you a chance to use that speed for a downloop and back you go. You put large LEI on 40m lines and it's going to give you enough opportunity to move the kite around and fly it so it doesn't fall while a foil is going to suck in looping it and if a foil folds on you or bowties midair - that's going to suck so much more. For a regular rider those are significant factors.
As you said - trade offs.

You don't fly foils, it is obvious from what you've said above.

I fly both, for light wind and light to medium wind boosting, you simply cannot beat a high aspect foil kite.

Also, foil kites don't bow tie in midair, it happens from a messed up jump which ends up with the kite in the air. I have flown foils for 20 years now, 14 of them on water. Never have I had a kite bow tie for any other reason that me sticking it in the water by not flying it properly and I can count the times I have had a bow tied kite on one hand.

grigorib wrote:40m lines

Can you imagine launching someone's kite from half a football field away?

Mossy 757 wrote: ...

Can you imagine launching someone's kite from half a football field away?

32M lines is the longest i have now ; i'v used 40M lines, in an aria that had really bad
wind-gradient, from hills in front of the kiting aria though, and it worked Great !!

Bille

Mossy 757 wrote:

grigorib wrote:40m lines

Can you imagine launching someone's kite from half a football field away?

A (edit) half of a football field is 60 yards which is approximately 55 meters. My longest line set results only in 37 meters and I regularly drift-launch, self launch and self land. No problem at all, works just fine.

Actually being able to ride/jump/backroll a 17m Core XR on 39m lines after my 19m Speed3 Deluxe would not get me on plane anymore (and I know how to fly a foil, still do) was my direction-defining experience years ago. Added easy drift-launch, safer self-landing and easy packing of an inflatable got me to switch to a LEI which lately is the 15m Turbine. I started liking 15m size after riding a Flysurfer Sonic which is a great kite.

grigorib wrote: A football field is 60 yards which is approximately 55 meters

lol, wut?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_field

Tone wrote:You don't fly foils, it is obvious from what you've said above.

I fly both, for light wind and light to medium wind boosting, you simply cannot beat a high aspect foil kite.

Also, foil kites don't bow tie in midair, it happens from a messed up jump which ends up with the kite in the air. I have flown foils for 20 years now, 14 of them on water. Never have I had a kite bow tie for any other reason that me sticking it in the water by not flying it properly and I can count the times I have had a bow tied kite on one hand.

Nah.I fly both, have both, love both. Foils fold midair in lulls or bowtie falling down or rolling on water 9as you said)
Come to ride Midwest inland winds which are little beside of gusts and lulls, with mostly drift-launch self-landing spots - and you'll see why I end up riding LEIs most of time.

Also, to "me sticking it in the water by not flying it properly " comment - if I'm not crashing I'm not trying hard enough

I've had a bowtie twice - once a scary experience on an open-cell depower foil, it started spinning _fast_ and I had seconds to release while being propelled directly downwind with quite a force. Second time after messing up a jump kite rolled on water. Not so bad of experience compared to deflated bladder comparing to LEI kitemares but had to repair cells on two separate accounts too. Trade-offs, treade-offs

Mossy 757 wrote:

grigorib wrote: A football field is 60 yards which is approximately 55 meters

lol, wut?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_field

I said football, not soccer...

http://www.stack.com/a/the-dimensions-o ... ball-field

grigorib wrote:

Mossy 757 wrote:

grigorib wrote: A football field is 60 yards which is approximately 55 meters

lol, wut?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_field

I said football, not soccer...

http://www.stack.com/a/the-dimensions-o ... ball-field

Put down the crack pipe...from your link:

Mossy 757 wrote:

grigorib wrote:

Mossy 757 wrote:
lol, wut?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_field

I said football, not soccer...

http://www.stack.com/a/the-dimensions-o ... ball-field

Put down the crack pipe...from your link:

Total length including end zones is 120 yards. A half of that is 60...