Power.

[cglazier]

I originally was riding small kites, but now I ride the same size as others on twintip. ..

Absolutely. As you progress in foiling you can learn to enjoy more power. This allows you to go faster, jump higher, point upwind better, point downwind farther, do tacks and jibes easier and generally rip past other kiteboarders with ease. I am much happier with power in my kite.

This doesn't mean that I ride aggressivley all the time, I can easily reduce my power by sheeting out, pointing high upwind or going deep downwind.

CG

[bragnouff]

The feeling of super efficiency, milking the smallest amount of energy out of the wind is quite exciting, but when chasing that low end, I found out that I'm struggling more riding toeside, where I find it harder to load the foil and stay up than when riding on my heelside. So for that, a bit more juice helps to even it out. And I think over time, I've acquired a bit more confidence and control in handling a bit more power. So now that I've added a 12m Enduro to my 9, I tend to happily use the 12 in the 10-15kts range where I was riding the 9. Allows less effort and it's still very smooth.

[plummet]

I originally was riding small kites, but now I ride the same size as others on twintip. ..

Absolutely. As you progress in foiling you can learn to enjoy more power. This allows you to go faster, jump higher, point upwind better, point downwind farther, do tacks and jibes easier and generally rip past other kiteboarders with ease. I am much happier with power in my kite.

This doesn't mean that I ride aggressivley all the time, I can easily reduce my power by sheeting out, pointing high upwind or going deep downwind.

CG

Yeah man. That's how I feeling. I guess too I like to be powered on the TT so it makes sense that I like power on the foil too.

[junebug]

I'm still a relative noob (about 1.5 years of foiling), but I still like riding with low power. It is still really fun to loop my 7m anywhere in the window at 13 knots.

That said, I'm working on learning tacks to toeside (or, if you prefer, upwind 180s) and, at least for now, it is much easier with a bigger kite because it gives a little more power when powering up the bar to cut across the wind.

[Mossy 757]

With the ability to backsheet foil kites, it makes it a lot easier to ride overpowered versus a tube kite. This is where I get so frustrated with those that only fly tube kites and want to get into this conversation about being powered or not, it's so totally different, especially when you add the variable of a foil.

[TomW]

I went out overpowered on my 7m kite. We were supposed to race 6km across the sound, but when I tried to take the course to the mark, it was broad reach and I was keeping kite low doing "speed of light" across a 1m windswell and breaching, or keeping kite high and getting lifted off the board by the kite and breaching.

I gave up, chickened out, didn't want to get out in the shipping lane without control. My skills and cajones not ready.

If I would have been ok on a push windward or down wind

[Mossy 757]

I went out overpowered on my 7m kite. We were supposed to race 6km across the sound, but when I tried to take the course to the mark, it was broad reach and I was keeping kite low doing "speed of light" across a 1m windswell and breaching, or keeping kite high and getting lifted off the board by the kite and breaching.

I gave up, chickened out, didn't want to get out in the shipping lane without control. My skills and cajones not ready.

If I would have been ok on a push windward or down wind

How much wind is overpowered on a 7m kite? I've been out in 30kts+ on a 7 and felt under powered...

[Kitemanmuc]

So. I've done the peter Frank stupid small kite hydrofoiling for a while. Now I hunger for speed and power.

Whose else is wanting to grunt up the hf and ride powered.

Im with you. Now i like to ride powered foiling. 12m foil kite up to 20 knots.

[TomW]

Mossy,

I was a bit confounded too. 22-25 knots. It's a North Mono 7, and others were on slow LF foils and 9m dice and a 9 Best Roca I think. They managed, but have a little more HF skill than me, but not much more. I think HF they have- the old Lf, one of them with bent fuselage, compensated. Another foiler was on a Alpine with element wing (?) and 7m Storm Voyager,doing OK, crashing a bit, but he's 20kg heavier than me.
Other guys my size of 78kg.
I think it's combination of low skills, relatively powerful 7m kite, and pretty fast efficient foil.

Leaving for NE Brazil in an hour and have my surfboard, HF gear + 5,7,9,12 kites.
The 5 is a new-used Ozone Reo. Come spring, L'm probably going to replace my 7-9 with a Reo as I find used ones. The Mono 12 I'm very happy with.

[lovethepirk]

Rode the 12m switchblade in 22knots today on the Delta race foil in some weird chop was intense. Fun as f*** to control that power tho and boost. I fucking love that feeling when you are so overpowered going downwind fully sheeted out in total control high above the water....then you decide to carve into the wind and you go from 15knots to 30 knots speed immediately!

First time I was overpowered on the foil I was on a 14m NRG in 22knots and had no idea how to handle the power and the kite got real low...holy shit was that a fearful experience. Never let that kite get low overpowered!