Single strut kite questions...

[fatkiter]

Greetings to all,

I have a single strut 9m BWS V1be kite that I bought to be my high wind kite...

I'm 120 kg and on a TT so I am OK with 9m up to around 25-30 knots and its very rarely that we get anything over 30 here anyway

I have used this kite 3 times from new (well not brand new since it was a demo kite) and have never crashed it on water or beach...

1st time around 25 knots on shore wind and waves. Kite was behaving nice turning smooth etc. Maybe one or twice on sharp moves from right to left it would distort a bit but nothing major

2nd time it was about 28 knots side on no waves. Kite was flying all over the place. It was really hard to turn from left to 12 and it was turning way too fast from 12 to left.

I thought something wrong with the bar . I checked the bar everything was OK. I checked the bridles of the kite everything same length ...

3rd time was around 20 -22 knots on shore still same problem but much less noticeable. Difficult to turn on one side and much faster turning to the other . But not as bad as in higher wind ...

I pump the kite to 10psi but still under load when turning fast it looses its shape sometimes...

I think I am either too heavy for the single strut kite and in combination with high wind I somehow change the flying characteristics of the kite or the kite has some kind of problem...

Any thoughts?

Sorry for the long story

[jumptheshark]

Quick answer, I think you may be too heavy for a single strut kite as the right choice for high wind on a twin tip. I am average size and have distorted a strutless 8.5m kite many times when I really loaded it up, and that was foiling. Didn't really matter how hard I pumped it up. The problem got marginally worse with age and in the upper end of its wind range. There have been reports on here of single strut kites distorting along the leading edge near the shoulders when overloaded and I think that is just the way it is. Single and strutless kites have really been developed for the lower power demands of hydrofoiling. I also owned a strutless kite that once got caught in a tree and pinwheeled for a about a thousand revolutions. Kite was actually untouched by the tree, but the lines were toast. eventually got it down, but it never flew straight after that. I checked the bridle and it compared well side to side. I removed and reinstalled the bladder (a couple times) to remove any bladder twist, but it didn't make a difference. I think the canopy itself was warped by the ordeal and it was never right afterward. Managed to mitigate it by using front lines of slightly different length right to left, but it was a poor solution that hurt overall performance.

My advice is that a 9m single strut is likely a great kite for you to hydrofoil on, but not TT. Sorry to say, you likely need a standard 3 strut kite for that.

[airsail]

Got to agree, single struts are great on a hydrofoil due to light weight and being used in lower wind ranges. But not great for TT, struts are there to prevent the deformation you are experiencing. In the winds you are describing I’m on a 3.7 or smaller strutless for foiling.
Sell it to a foiler, get yourself a nice 3 or 5 strut rigid kite.

[iriejohn]

120kg with a 9m one strut kite in 25+ knots? The kite was never designed for the extreme load you're putting on it, as said above get a 3 or 5 strut kite.

[alpaia]

I agree single struts are designed to fly well in low end not to handle high winds / heavy loading, they don't keep their shape and flutter then.
Single strut kites have made tremendous progress in the high end since they came out, but they are meant for the low end - not for overpowered TT sessions .

I am heavy also and use a 13m single strut in 9-15knots foiling/surf, 15+knots on a solid 10m 3 struts, I also tried a single strut there and did not like the handling of gusts.

[fatkiter]

Thanks allot guys for the replies, you confirmed what I was suspecting: the forementioned kite is not suitable for my needs...

Can I somehow check if I have caused damage to the kite frame??

I will put it up for sale but I would like to make sure before that I am not passing a problematic kite to another kiter...

Also the situation calls for a quest for a new kite but I think I will start a new subject full of new stupid questions

Thanks

[leeuwen]

I am no expert on this but this is what I would do:
First I would fold the kite in half and check if everything is still symmetrical including the bridles.
Second is checking the bar. Make sure all lines are still at equal lengths so its not a potential source of any isses.
Last is flying the kite on a beach in low wind conditions.
e.g. take the kite out in 12-15 knots and have some fun: Do steering tests looping the kite etc and check if it behaves properly.
Best would be to finalize it with a session whats its made for: a session on a foilboard or maybe a super light rider on a twintip/wave board.

Thx, for looking out for your fellow kiters and not dumping it on the market without testing it

[Herman]

To check out the kite just fly it on the beach in plenty of room in 12knts of wind. Just be gentle with the sheeting. With care you could even experiment to see to find the buckle point but obviously care is needed. This assumes you know how to handle the onset of backstall by sheeting out and pulling front lines if required etc....and you have done all your line checks for even length.

With regard to the future. I suspect that you are not the delicate type and so make sure you use small bars with small kites to reduce the likelyhood of buckling. For 9m you should be on a <45cm bar imho unless you want to learn how to be delicate.

[Herman]

Should also have mentioned, holding the bar hands together in the middle would also help if you don’t have a small bar. You could experiment with that when checking out the kite on the beach. If your hands match the rest of you they will more or less have to be together on a 45cm bar.

[riddim1]

I had the exact same problem a number of years back. i.e. kite turning quickly one direction, a delayed/slow turn in the opposite direction.
After some closer investigation of my flying lines, I found a knot on one side. This essentially caused a line length issue manifesting in the aforementioned turning problem.
Removed the knot, problem solved.