Switching from foil kite to high aspect LEI kite. Worth or not?

[Kristan]

tl;dr

[Nem0]

You should demo Flysurfer Boost!!!
Or wait for the new model which will come beginning of 2021.
https://www.thekiteboarder.com/2020/11/ ... flysurfer/

[Pump me up]

Slow in the turns, inert, heavy bar pressure, gusty conditions becoming fight for survival, and it's always getting hella gusty with winds above 14 knots, plus other kiters don't know how to land it, or start to panic, forgetting my instructions. Self landing is not always a good option where I usually kite, because shore lines there are quite narrow and have obstacles, as for other kites, camping tents, kite stations themselves or even passing cars.

Hey Kristen. You mentioned problems with other riders not knowing how to handle the idiosyncrasies of ram air kites... unfortunately, it's a REAL issue. One of the main issues with choosing a weird and idiosyncratic kite is that the only people who know its handling are, well, weird and idiosyncratic:

GEEKS, WEIRDOES, & SOCIAL MISFITS
Inflatable riders tend to hang out and help each other; there's a high level of collegiality. Ram lovers tend to be regarded as outsiders and slightly weird. This is because ram lovers are a tiny minority on the beach, inflatable riders are unfamiliar with the special requirements of ram airs, and partly because, as a group, ram lovers DO tend to be weirdoes. Middle-aged slightly obese men with grey pony tails tend to prefer ram airs. One of the simple practical problems with being part of a weird minority is that it can be difficult to find people to help launch and land your kite, eg http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kite ... -on-beach/

Moved to a foil kite 5 years ago (flysurfer pulse 10m). As far as RAM air kiters being weirdos I can honestly say that you find out who your real friends are on a kite beach when you switch to a RAM air kite! Many of the people who used to help me launch suddenly lost their hands as I flew LEI kites for 3 years before trying a RAM air I would have to say the guys on beach changed their attitude towards me rather than I became weirdo overnight!

I just dont understand how kiters cant grasp the concept of landing a foil kite... For some reason the center of the kite is their favorite place, especially after explaining it. Add in trying the turn it inside out after grabbing it. Or trying to land it from down wind, this happens way too often. But a random non kiter on the beach can understand and land it every time...?????

It is unreasonable to expect inflatable kiters to have to learn the idiosyncrasies of inferior and dangerous ram equipment. “Foilholio” states that inflatable riders try to help him launch/land from the "centre" of his kite.... HOW DANGEROUS IS THIS!!!??? The risk of getting tangled in ram air bridles and having to learn the idiosyncrasies of ram air kites is unacceptable. It’s interesting to speculate on the causes of weirdness in ram lovers… maybe their weirdness is self selecting, i.e. There must be some sort of psychological problem in the first place to deliberately choose inferior kites in the face of overwhelming evidence of the superiority of inflatables.

Cheers,

...... Pumpy

[PrfctChaos]

Linking a seabreeze thread from 2009. Lol, a bit out of date. Much like the whole inflatable vs foil kite debate. Plenty of kiters have both.

[PrfctChaos]

Linking a seabreeze thread from 2009. Lol, a bit out of date. Much like the whole inflatable vs foil kite debate. Plenty of kiters have both.

[Kristan]

Cheers,

...... Pumpy

[airsail]

I got a reply from Pumpy, that’s made my day. It’s nice that he is still around, I think he might actually be a Flysurfer employee, on here to create debate, allowing others to contradict Pumpys views.
Seems to be working, since Pumpy has been around Flysurfer has gone from strength to strength.