Often overlooked light wind board that toally works is a longboard style surfboard 9ft+
Longboard plus my rrd emotion 17 kite is pretty fun actually and comparable to riding my hydrofoil in terms of how low of winds that can still be ridden.
Plus most people already have one or can get one at a garage sale cheap etc.
Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 4:30 pm
by Greenturtle
To be more on topic- There is a newer kite brand Monjet that specializes in ultra light wind kites. Some are hybrids single skin/closed cell for lightest possible weight plus water relaunch ability
One of these with a really low aspect foil would help push the bottom limits I would expect.
Windfoil has to be more fun to pack/paddle-in when the wind dies. So they would have more fun chasing the truest lightest winds.
When talking about lowest-end, windspeed matters plus/minus 1 knot and is hard to measure. But there's also the wind gradient and wind gusts/lulls to consider. (And air density), so my 4 knots might not be your 4 knots, even if we could agree on how to measure 4 knots!
Here's a question: no idea what the distance record is for foil-pumping(no kite, started by boat or wave), by the lets just say 200 meters. Could a kite foiler, if started by a boat but with zero wind, also pump along for the same 200 meters, while keeping their kite in the air(leaning against it a bit)?
This depends on what the actual wind speed was exactly, but it is below what could be used to foil without the boat to help initiate it.
The board, foil and sail though - none of them have been optimally designed to pump onto flying and maintain it.
Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds
Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 7:37 pm
by grigorib
Who from Slingshot do we need to talk to to tell them we need a mid-aspect, ultralight inflatable kite for freeride foiling.
Gotta have nice delta-shaped LE for relaunch and no more than 3 struts for no-flutter powered output from looping.
I need couple of such wings to replace my aging 2012 Rallys
The windsurfers are convinced they will come away with the crown for the lightest winds needed. The AHD rep for the shop near me tells me with the new foil and special sail they have this year, he can get going in 4 knots and carry on riding on the foil. Now he's a talented rider so I'm not remotely suggesting you'll jump from one to the other and be at the ultimate low end threshold.
Would love to see what they'll have! I've thought about putting a foil on my Starboard Serenity because of how easy it could get to speed and get going with a large foil but with the 17' length of the board it just doesn't seem feasible. I'm guessing the AHD could partially be a displacement hull to generate speed before getting foiling. The thing is that I can't see a small sail getting the AHD foiling in 4knots. But I guess it's not really a problem if you don't mind using big sails.
I think lower wind than the peak is doable : i did this video with a very light double skin that hangs in the air even better than peak (already posted on the Pulsion topic, sorry) :https://youtu.be/cwO5Lho2Xro
This is not the lightest I did but the best with a cam.
To me the better glide of a double skin helps waterstarting and keeping the planning. And over all, you can use kites larger than the 12m of the peak.
Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:16 pm
by davesails7
I have to admit, I'm a believer in the Pulsion and big wing combination now! At a race last weekend, one morning wind was light and slightly offshore, so races were postponed. Two high level racers (both have finished top 20 in HF Pro Tour events) went out anyway on new 20m-21m race foil kites with Mikes Lab foils. One was able to get out to the windier area with some difficulty, the other wound up with kite in the water.
Just as the one kite wound up in the water, another kiter came out with a pulsion 12m and a giant Shinn wing. That pulsion didn't flutter in the least! He rode around no problem.
I'd personally rather be going 20-30 knots on the race gear than 10-12 knots on the Pulsion, but it definitely changed my mind about what the lowest wind gear is.
I have to admit, I'm a believer in the Pulsion and big wing combination now! At a race last weekend, one morning wind was light and slightly offshore, so races were postponed. Two high level racers (both have finished top 20 in HF Pro Tour events) went out anyway on new 20m-21m race foil kites with Mikes Lab foils. One was able to get out to the windier area with some difficulty, the other wound up with kite in the water.
Just as the one kite wound up in the water, another kiter came out with a pulsion 12m and a giant Shinn wing. That pulsion didn't flutter in the least! He rode around no problem.
I'd personally rather be going 20-30 knots on the race gear than 10-12 knots on the Pulsion, but it definitely changed my mind about what the lowest wind gear is.
12m and a giant Shinn wing - that's what I believe in for lightwind - huge foil wing and smaller/faster kite
I have to admit, I'm a believer in the Pulsion and big wing combination now! At a race last weekend, one morning wind was light and slightly offshore, so races were postponed. Two high level racers (both have finished top 20 in HF Pro Tour events) went out anyway on new 20m-21m race foil kites with Mikes Lab foils. One was able to get out to the windier area with some difficulty, the other wound up with kite in the water.
Just as the one kite wound up in the water, another kiter came out with a pulsion 12m and a giant Shinn wing. That pulsion didn't flutter in the least! He rode around no problem.
I'd personally rather be going 20-30 knots on the race gear than 10-12 knots on the Pulsion, but it definitely changed my mind about what the lowest wind gear is.
12m and a giant Shinn wing - that's what I believe in for lightwind - huge foil wing and smaller/faster kite
So true, also my experience - but the kite has to have awesome powerspike, and be really light
PF