Page 1 of 1

Leader Cruize : new Race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:20 pm
by Regis-de-giens
Benoit Tremblay from Concept'air designed a new kite, more race oriented than the Pulsion :

They tested it in a ski race and finished at 3rd and 4th place ( 2 Sonic2 won with professional riders and looooong skis of 238cm , but also other sonic2 behind with more standard riders if I may say)
Leader.jpg
Leader.jpg (22.75 KiB) Viewed 4223 times

Re: new race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 6:00 pm
by Regis-de-giens
Image

Re: new race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:59 am
by socommk23
Regis-de-giens wrote:
Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:20 pm
Benoit Tremblay from Concept'air designed a new kite, more race oriented than the Pulsion :

They tested it in a ski race and finished at 3rd and 4th place ( 2 Sonic2 won with professional riders and looooong skis of 238cm , but also other sonic2 behind with more standard riders if I may say)

Leader.jpg
Good to see more kite development. But being behind a kite that is usually behind the likes of fone/elf and ozone....maybe more work to do?

Re: new race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:23 pm
by Regis-de-giens
I think it is a bit early to judge, knowing that the 2 winners had apparently not the same skills and skis, while other sonic 2 racers arrived after; But it seems an honorable result for its first race;

However I would not be surprised if Benoit's philosophy is something else than the ultimate race kite, but rather propose a kite in between free-ride and performance for non-competitor , like the chrono 2 or sonic 2. I do not know to be honest.

Re: new race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:58 pm
by socommk23
Regis-de-giens wrote:
Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:23 pm
I think it is a bit early to judge, knowing that the 2 winners had apparently not the same skills and skis, while other sonic 2 racers arrived after; But it seems an honorable result for its first race;

However I would not be surprised if Benoit's philosophy is something else than the ultimate race kite, but rather propose a kite in between free-ride and performance for non-competitor , like the chrono 2 or sonic 2. I do not know to be honest.
Chrono 2 is no race kite. But i thought the sonic 2 was a race kite.

Re: new race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:08 pm
by Regis-de-giens
As you just said sonic2 is maybe not the winner against elf, diablo's ...
I have also heard that in some situation is was a bit less fast than sonicv1 despite its higher AR. I may be wrong, it was just to illustrate that a petformance kite is not necessary the race winner of the year , but can accept a kind of "pleasure" or "accessibility" compromise like chrono v2 , sonicv2, navy2, and Pulsion in a more freeride oriented approach.

Re: new race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 1:50 am
by davesails7
Regis-de-giens wrote:
Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:08 pm
As you just said sonic2 is maybe not the winner against elf, diablo's ...
I have also heard that in some situation is was a bit less fast than sonicv1 despite its higher AR. I may be wrong, it was just to illustrate that a petformance kite is not necessary the race winner of the year , but can accept a kind of "pleasure" or "accessibility" compromise like chrono v2 , sonicv2, navy2, and Pulsion in a more freeride oriented approach.
socommk23 wrote: Chrono 2 is no race kite. But i thought the sonic 2 was a race kite.
Sonic 2 is definitely a full on race kite. I had a quiver of sonic 1's. The Sonic 2 is clearly faster upwind and downwind. My all time top speed jumped from 32.8 mph after over a year on Sonic 1's to 35.8 mph on my third time out on the Sonic 2.

Sonic 2 is also easier to ride than Sonic 1. From what I've heard, the R1V2 is also much faster and much easier to ride than the R1V1. The new race kites are faster AND easier to ride.

Leader Cruize : new race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 9:49 am
by Regis-de-giens
So its name is Leader Cruize , available in 7m and 10m . A friend tested the 7m under 10 knots,
he is a beginner on a hydrofoil (7x2 hours in totality) :
https://vimeo.com/218222593

strange to see a 7m under this light wind.

Re: Leader Cruize : new Race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 11:46 pm
by Regis-de-giens
I have tested the 7m on the beach (11 knots) then hydrofoil (15-18 knots back to strapless after one year with straps) then TT (15-19 knots) ;

pro :
- impressive stability at zenith and extreme window even if you let the bar go ; excellent drift.
- fly fast when straight in line
- can turn very tight (helicopter turns without seizing pre-lines) on its wing but with almost no power when turns so tight
- impressive upwind ability in TT (and HF obviously)
- huge power in straight line and jumps high ; I think the low end is about 9 knots on HF and 14 on TT to stay upwind which is very good for a 7m kite.
- very short power/depower stroke (I think the trim system is not mandatory due to its little size + high AR = little chord

cons= most standard cons of a performance kite, i.e :
- on / off power on very short bar throw so if you use a bar common to other kites of your quiver, so you need to be very precise (not easy in downwind in waves for example) on the bar.
- to get a long hang time you need to release the bar throw during the jump to avoid killing the power, and make a large circle to repower before landing back to water (otherwise bad reception...)
- strapless HF is harder on gusty conditions (for my level at least)
- huge power difference between loops and straight line which gets the jibes on HF a bit more difficult as this 7m is very reactive so accelerate promptly. But you get rapidly used to that.

Overall I had very fun and confident sessions with the Leader Cruize (far more than with the more radical ELF Joker that I know), clearly faster than Pulsion, more on/off power if your command from the bar is not accurate ;
...and strange thing to experiment that the low end for planning and the low end to stay upwind is almost the same on a TT.

Re: Leader Cruize : new Race kite from Concept'air

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:50 pm
by Regis-de-giens
2 new tests now with video to see the kite;
- with a directional board (appox 12 knots and everybody were with 10 to 15m kites):
https://vimeo.com/231188341

- with a hydrofoil , approx 11 knots
https://vimeo.com/231190173