Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

A forum dedicated to Hydrofoil riders
Flag53
Frequent Poster
Posts: 290
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 5:19 pm
Local Beach: Rhosneigr
Favorite Beaches: Rhosneigr

Cayo guiermo
Style: Mixed
Gear: Mixed
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby Flag53 » Mon Oct 03, 2016 5:18 pm

Hey Tomw I'd be interested in what you think about the Mono as I was thinking of getting a Foilboard specific LEI and the mono is on the list of possibles .

Cheers D

TomW
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 3585
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:43 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: Vejbystrand, Lomma
Gear: TW Surfboards hydrofoil board 110
Gong Veloce M, 100cm carbon mast
Ozone Hyperlink V1 7m
Hyperlink V2 9m, 13m
Concept Air Wave 4,5m
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Sweden
Has thanked: 53 times
Been thanked: 193 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby TomW » Thu Oct 06, 2016 7:06 pm

Flag53 wrote:Hey Tomw I'd be interested in what you think about the Mono as I was thinking of getting a Foilboard specific LEI and the mono is on the list of possibles .

Cheers D
Ok, going to Brazil in 2 weeks and will try it out both on foil ( which will be my 4th session on foil) and on surfboard. I'll compare it with a 9m RRD Obsession from 2010( a fantastic kite BTW).
I can imagine getting a Mono 12 for home light wind conditions if I can learn to ride the foil...

Right now I'm getting up, going 10m and crashing.

lebast
Rare Poster
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2016 12:05 am
Gear: 15 FS Boost, 9,7,5 Naish Pivot, 4 Naish Slash, Ketos 118, Wave Xl, G10 350, 83 Rfx, standard fuselage
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 18 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby lebast » Sat Oct 15, 2016 1:22 am

@opie and Peter Frank

Can you give some feedback/review on your 3,5m² kites. Has someone tried more than one 4m² or smaller kite with a foil and wants to give some more info on those?

I was trying 5m² (Cabrinha Radar) and 4m² (Airrush DNA) kites on an estimate of 22/24 knots to 30knots gusts and felt quite overpowered especially when trying to ride in the "waves" (baltic sea wind waves). Felt more like getting pulled away from the wave once the foil got accelerated by it. I really enjoy riding, jibing and playing in and around the waves in 14-20 knots to 24 knots gusts with my 7.

So 3- 3,5 seems like the next size to test in stronger and gustier conditions to still be able to play around with/in waves. On the other hand it feels like no one else (maybe some schools/trainer kites) uses such small LEI kites hence there is no market for it and not so many different models to choose from and forget about finding used ones... Any advice where to look for a used/"cheap" 3- 3,5m² LEI kite? Anyone selling one here?

Peace,
Basti

opie
Medium Poster
Posts: 178
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2016 2:30 pm
Local Beach: sherman island
Style: foiling
Gear: Ketos Fr2, Fr2XL Cloudkites, Pansh A15 15m, 12m
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby opie » Sat Oct 15, 2016 3:13 am

Can you give some feedback/review on your 3,5m² kites. Has someone tried more than one 4m² or smaller kite with a foil and wants to give some more info on those?
I use a BRM Cloud 3.5. I need 24 knots minimum, with a LF Fun Foil, my 85 kg and one season kiting. The guy who designs them, Greg, says he uses them from 19 mph up. I haven't learned to loop my kite yet, which is probably why I need so much more wind.

They are not cheap though. He gives quiver discounts but if you just want the 3.5 its listed at $1050. He does have some 4m on sale for $500 but I never used one of those. Used kites are listed on his website but there are no 3.5's at the moment.

The clouds drift well since they are so light (strutless), and they all depower great, especially the 3.5, which only needs maybe a foot of bar travel to depower completely. This makes them great in gusts.

TomW
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 3585
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:43 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: Vejbystrand, Lomma
Gear: TW Surfboards hydrofoil board 110
Gong Veloce M, 100cm carbon mast
Ozone Hyperlink V1 7m
Hyperlink V2 9m, 13m
Concept Air Wave 4,5m
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Sweden
Has thanked: 53 times
Been thanked: 193 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby TomW » Sat Oct 15, 2016 1:12 pm

Lebast, BRM won't ship outside USA.

Interesting to hear about you using 7m kite for 14-20 knots. I just received North Mono 7m and was thinking to use it in that range. I have only pumped it up and it has medium aspect, compact shape, rather large LE diameter, as big as my Core XR3 12m.
We get a lot of wind in that range I usually use my 12m on surfboard.

User avatar
Peter_Frank
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 12735
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Denmark
Has thanked: 1007 times
Been thanked: 1187 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby Peter_Frank » Sat Oct 15, 2016 1:45 pm

Hi Basti - I haven't got my 3.5m2 yet so dont know anything yet about how this particular kite works, except the build quality is top and $530 now they have gone online (had one in my hands before ordering, so same build as the other 2016 models in bigger sizes 5 and 6m2 I know inside out).

But I do know, that when it hits 20 knots my "normal" 5m2 becomes too big on my wave hydrofoil.

And you are spot on, on the wavefaces you need even smaller kites, so you dont get pulled when accelerating - it means a lot that you retain the options for riding any course you want, on the waveface :naughty:

I will let you know when I get it and have ridden in some wind, whether it is a "rare thing with limited use and difficult" because it COULD feel odd with such a small size, or whether it actually works fine - I dont know myself either.

We are having 35 knots average wind today and these days, so could have used it now, even for my normal surfboard where a 5 is too big also some days :roll:

8) PF

lebast
Rare Poster
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2016 12:05 am
Gear: 15 FS Boost, 9,7,5 Naish Pivot, 4 Naish Slash, Ketos 118, Wave Xl, G10 350, 83 Rfx, standard fuselage
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 18 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby lebast » Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:18 pm

Thanks for the fast replies.

@opie
The clouds look tempting, but as you mention yourself they are quite an investment (being a student...) and not as easy to get or try in europe as TomW points out. I will try to find someone who uses them here to get some in action experience myself. It is cool to see that there are still adjustments and changes being made in kite production in a wide field of riding styles.

On the other hand I am quite surprised about Gregs windrange on them (posted on his page), since a few people mention in forums, that the clouds feels/behave more like 2m² bigger strutted LEI kites in the aspect of power per m². So 3,5m² cloud size should feel more like 5,5m² strutted LEI? Maybe their high end feels/is the same, because of their outstanding depower? The fact that they drift back in the window when you depower them fully seems nice. Which the smaller kites that I tested did not at all. The opposite was more likely. These would fly really far forward when depowering fully in a gust, so the kite was almost pulling me straight up.

@TomW: With my 7 waroo Best from 2008 I can already get going when most at the local beaches have problems with 12s and surfboards to stay upwind or even get going at all depends on the wind characterics of the day. Still in awe with so much efficiency. I always tell the non foiling kiters: It feels like it doesn't really matter what LEI kite concept/age/brand you use, since the new foils just have so much performance compared to the non-foiling board concepts (in the realm of non racing freeriding where 1-2° up-/downwind angle or knots top speed does not matter that much).
The kite pure upwind performance is less important and the ease of handling, turning speed and light wind (within their individual size based windrange) behaviour seems more important. (As it is the main tenor in the other threads of this forum and of course based on personal preference)

@Peter_Frank: I am excited for your report once you get the chance to test it in some windy waves. Please keep us updated. The challenge of gustier, more turbulent wind and water adds another level of fun to foiling, I think and lots of dismounts.

I might get a used 3m2 Airush Supra inflatable Trainer Kite. Lets see if it will work in this condition and if it can withstand these for a longer period of time ; ). Cheapest solution that I could find that is worth a try, I hope.

Waiting for more info from foil fanatics that use tiny sized kites.
Basti

nothing2seehere
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1667
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2014 3:25 pm
Kiting since: 2012
Weight: 72
Local Beach: Calshot, Hayling, Meon - Southcoast UK
Gear: Duotone Rebel, Evo SLS, Flysurfer Soul/Peak, Ocean rodeo jester, Airush Ultra, shinn boards
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 204 times
Been thanked: 292 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby nothing2seehere » Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:18 pm

I have seen the guys from houston kiteboarding riding a trainer kite:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BGotxYfyHo>

Maybe an ozone uno might work (4m)?

User avatar
Peter_Frank
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 12735
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Denmark
Has thanked: 1007 times
Been thanked: 1187 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby Peter_Frank » Thu Nov 10, 2016 9:55 pm

First off, I have NOT ridden my Takoon Log 3.5m2 yet...

But almost ha haa :naughty:

When I got it last week, it was blowing perfectly the very next day, so took off to a spot with almost dead onshore wind (out alone, so would NOT go out at the next side-sideoff spot in these temperatures close to zero).

Could not get out, too big a shorebreak - so only managed to get out once, and just before I got up foiling I crashed the kite - stupid - and was into the shorebreak immediately again :o

And then it got dark, as the light shuts down here just after 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so REALLY difficult to get out after work, particularly when you got 1½ hour drive like in this "rare" wind direction.

Okay, I gave it a try the very first day possible at least, and can say one thing: AMAZED how good it feels in the air - it is not an overlively squirrely fast thing, great !

It has somewhat higher AR than the 5m2, and is tuned "down" so it feels good on a "normal" bar length.

The powerspike is awesome because it is so fast in speed with this tad higher AR - perfect :thumb:

Tried looping it once on land - WOOOOW it is quite scary. eventhough it was perfectly powered for hydrofoiling :o

Launching is a bit more tricky than normally I found out - as when so small it does not twist like bigger kites when you pull a rear line - it is more compact and stiffer so to speak, so maybe back it up or on its back - dont know yet but it was definitely different because of the small size but still strong build.

Here ready to launch for the very first time:

Image


Airborne

Image


Shorebreak alone was a challenge, more than head high :wink:

Image



And sometimes you felt SMALL and difficult to poke your hydrofoil through these, with no help from the kite as close to dead onshore...

Image



One time I made it out between a set, and just got up, but crashed the kite, bugger - and then it was dark so had to stop.
Nevertheless, I have found out how it felt, and know it will work now when out in 6m2 waveboard conditions where you need a 3.5 for hydrofoiling - last pic with flash before driving home

Image


Two days later it seemed like okay windy, not sufficient but MAYBE with a bigger wing just to feel how it worked - but it was not enough...
Rode with the small wavewing and small rear wing instead the next 3-4 hours, with my 7m2 - bullseye :rollgrin:
It looks REALLY small, compared to a "huge" 7m2 kite, David and Goliath :naughty:

Image

Sorry, no riding experience yet - will keep you posted when it happens.
But it is snow and minus 7 degree celcius some days now, so dont know when it will happen :roll:

8) PF

airsurfer
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 653
Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 8:53 pm
Style: surf and hydrofoil big air and kiteloops
Gear: Ozone,Firewire, Moses, Zeeko,Levitaz, NP, ION
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: hydrofoiling in "normal winds"

Postby airsurfer » Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:40 pm

What I have found so far is that with a hydrofoil I can use almost any size kite on any given day here between 8 to 25 knots except for the very high end and low end of the range it almost doesn't matter just depends on the style of riding you're after. To test this out I rode a 12m 7m and 6m Reo back to back in 20 to 25 knots the other day. Sure I was lit with the 12M and the 7M was the sweet spot. So I can imagine a 3.5 could be great as well :)


Return to “Hydrofoil”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: alekbelia, bitxopalo, evan, Leon van Bergen, mede and 193 guests