jumptheshark wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2019 8:38 pm
Increased power per meter, increased reactivity/turning, increased power delivery, there will be a bit of a recalibration of kite sizes to wind ranges. Of course it's my hope that the top end is also improved with increased stiffness, and that the depower is enough to keep up so you don't lose teeth in the gusty stuff.
As someone looking to cover large ranges with as few kites as possible it all sounds pretty good.
I’m Leary of the increased power claim. In one of the OR interviews one of the employees says he doesn’t get more power but does get a better upstroke when starting on a foil.
The last super stiff leading edge kites did not produce more power. They were reactive but were very stiff to turn and had a wide turn radius because the tips did not twist well.
They did however, have a huge upper range but also a thin leading edge.
And while it seems possible that changes in the leading edge geometry and kite construction might allow the kite to twist, the prototypes I have seen so far appear not to be optimized for using aluula,
Perhaps that will change before the production kites are released.
Also, the canopy material seems to me the general limiting factor in kite longevity. So not sure this first iteration will last any longer.
I think it good to temper expectations at this early stage.