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Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

For all foil kite riders
stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Thu Sep 20, 2018 1:58 pm

Inside of a Wave 4.5:

Image

Benoît Tremblay has pushed the envelope for a tougher build.

foilholio
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby foilholio » Thu Sep 20, 2018 6:47 pm

Will be stronger but downside is you'll need to open the TE for most repairs. I think the magnet valves on Pansh are a good idea, but you would need more porous cell walls for that with either holes or loose weave.

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Fri Sep 21, 2018 12:56 am

@Tomas: Marc answered your request (my translation from French):
Marc wrote: The Neo and the wave have nothing in commun except that they both are kites. I am not going to comment each kite but how to associate them with a foil. This will be more helpful.

The Neo is a kite that does it all, easy but efficient, with a good lift and big depower, you can ride it with a wide range of foils, freeride, race, wave, etc ... It works with little wing and big wings. No headache and very good to progress with, especially in maneuvers thanks to its good lift.

The wave is a kite for the rider who wants to use the lift of the foil to its max and then forget the kite, this is where it excels. Thus, it must be associated with big winds with good lift (like surfoil wings). In this configuration, this is fantastic, for a rider who wants to do big downwinders and surf the swell as freely as possible, without taking care of the kite with a big windrage, that's perfect. The downside is that it will be harder for hydrofoilers who ride foil with smaller lift and who want to work on maneuvers instead. One must have a good timing and be precise. In addition, with a wing with a good lift, the waves can be used in inland kitesurf spots (small lakes, big rivers) with an easy mind. The Wave is very forgiving and that could be a great + depending on the location one rides.

Here it is. In summary, it depends on what he wants to do with it but they are difficult to compare.
For surfing, I apply the same reasoning. The CA waves works a lot a better with a board that can be used without the kite in the wave conditions (more or less, something like the less powerful and steep the wave, the bigger/more groveler the board has to be). The problem of most surfboards that are dedicated to kitesurfing is that they are too "radical", in the sense that they need too much kite power for my liking. I tend to favour surfboards that I can actually paddle surf in the same conditions. The kite only helps to get some additional speed that helps to jump sections and to ride longer + getting back to the peak very quickly (this is where upwind matters). In the upper wind range (the upper wind range strapless on a surfboard being larger than on hydrofoils), there is however no problem to go out with a smaller board for more strapless freestyle fun sessions (the need for lift is less than for hydrofoils maneuvers).

I hope it helps!

tomtom
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby tomtom » Fri Sep 21, 2018 8:47 am

Many many thanks!

Some thoughts about turning speeds and wind range 4,5 vs 7 Neo? Drift in general and drift in low wind. How wave react to slack lines? Im mean very radical turning into kite.

Thank you very much again - for you effort to translate.

Tomas

p.s.

I rode Moses onda and SB on smallest possible kite. I have 9 Kitech FRS and Neos 9 and 7. What i found difficult about foil kites in waves is that in difficult shore break and go out condition they are slower from full stop and they require speed to pull. In difficult conditions sometimes you have very little speed while crossing first breaking wave. In this condition neos are more forgiving. Foils however follow you on board and HF better. They just keep tracking with you. And i like they light feel on bar - i dont mean light turning forces - i mean feel of light kite on end of lines. Neos are heavy and every time you slack lines you feel weight and inertia of kite when it tightens lines again.

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:01 pm

A unedited video of the smart 4.5 in South of France (I don't know the rider):

https://www.facebook.com/conceptair/vid ... 149839243/

It gives a good idea about how the kite moves.

@tomas: in the meantime I have changed continent ... and the family needs to adapt to its new life. I come back to give you some answers asap (as far as I can answer to your questions).
Last edited by stefFZ on Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

tomtom
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby tomtom » Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:35 pm

Very nice!

No problem - family first! :)

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby airsail » Thu Sep 27, 2018 8:22 pm

Holly crap, how crowded is that spot!!

Regis-de-giens
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby Regis-de-giens » Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:16 pm

... and it is quite empty vs a windy day of august ...

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Fri Oct 05, 2018 3:34 pm

tomtom wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 8:47 am
Many many thanks!

Some thoughts about turning speeds and wind range 4,5 vs 7 Neo? Drift in general and drift in low wind. How wave react to slack lines? Im mean very radical turning into kite.

Thank you very much again - for you effort to translate.

Tomas
Hi Tomas, my wind range for the 4.5 ... it starts for me at around 22/23 knots steady (66 kg with a firewire sweet potato 5'2) and I have not find the upper limit so far. I haven't tried 40 knots + but I have been riding in 30 + without any problem. I have a 3m which I have not tried yet! (and we have stong winds in South of France!)

The drift is something that has to be tested. To give you an example, I could surf front side (using the kite as less as possible) with the kite in front of me and the kite would follow me somehow going backward. Stéphane Goffinet who is the rider in the video West Coast said that he would not come back to LEIs for now (FIY, he focuses on wave riding on hydrofoil and his quiver is CA Wave 3 / 4.5 and now 8.5). In the video, he lets go the bar on one and two waves, and the kite follows. What is nice is that you don't have this feeling of having a "weight" at the end of your steering lines as you can have with a LEI.

As for turning, yes it is agile ... the video gives you a good idea of how the 4.5 turns.

In summary, the CA wave is a hell of a kite for wave riding (for those who like to use the kite as less as possible). The feeling that you describe "hey are slower from full stop and they require speed to pull" is more typical of higher ratios ... the CA Wave is different, very low ratio but thin profile for performance (the aim is not to have a kite for beginners even if it can work for them).
Last edited by stefFZ on Sat Oct 06, 2018 5:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

gl
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby gl » Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:54 pm

I just recently got a 3 meter Concept Air Wave. I got to use it for the first time in just above 20 knots gusting to just above 30 knots (this was measured on a sensor about a couple kilometers upwind of me) . I was using the Slingshot H4 wing on a strapless board. I weight 178 pounds. At close to 20 knots I had trouble getting up on the board above 25 it was huge fun and very controlable. Very easy to use at close to 30 knots I would sheet out a little and could play in the waves, it was almost like the kite was not there yet it was still pulling me along. I have only used it once and need to do some adjustments to the bridle that Ben has just sent me to see if I can get some extra power out of it in the lower end of the wind range. I liked so much on the first go I ordered a 4.5 to go with it.


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