Predictions for Ram Airs in 2021

[Matteo V]

Definitely interesting times in kite development.

Yeah, frickin finally!

But awesome post, too. Cool that Peter (and this forum) can take some credit for your stoke and enhanced kite experience.

And the reason we are all hearing about on the main page is Pumpy!


So does anyone know the first person to get the seemingly dumb idea to take a Peak 4 out on the water to see if it would work? I mean a lot of people owe that guy quite a bit. It'd be nice if he could get some credit for it, and I'd just like to know the story.

[Trent hink]

So does anyone know the first person to get the seemingly dumb idea to take a Peak 4 out on the water to see if it would work? I mean a lot of people owe that guy quite a bit. It'd be nice if he could get some credit for it, and I'd just like to know the story.

In a quick review, it seems as though Horst Sergio was on to it pretty quick, at least.

viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2401224

[Peter_Frank]

Very true, Horst was the man to share his stoke of this very different type of ram air kite, eventhough not riding waves.

I was from nature sceptical but curious, but got convinced to try, from Tom and Horst, still being sceptical though, but have never looked back ever since, NOTHING compares to these kites, in terms of riding small or big waves, and in general freeride and ease and fast rigging and packdown, and stability in even the worst crap wind.

I just shared my experiences without having any bias whatsoever

Truly a game changer.

Peter

[jumptheshark]

Absolutely, Horst istheman! So much good info from him, but many thanks to others: Tomtom, Armin, Dsurf, Slappysan, jjjlaudenslager, Jakemoore, Jatem and many others for their early stoke. All of which were way ahead of me. I am not much of a leader, but often an early adopter.

I single out Peter because I knew his likes and dislikes lined up well with my own, and well, who doesn't trust Peter ?

I ordered my 5m within hours of his initial review.

Would love to buy each of them a few beers.

Cheers fellas!

[drsurf]

All hail Horst!!

He's the man that got me onto a Flysurfer Peak4 with a surf foil

From under 10 knots to 30 knots it's Peak4 all the way baby!

[Pump me up]

Wonder what your advice is to the growing number of kiters with both pump-up and ram air kites?...

Thanks for asking. My advice would be: "do yourself a favour and replace your inferior ram airs with inflatables". But don't take my word for it, one of the world’s most respected kite designers and ex-designer for FLYSURFER, Ralf Groesel, had this to say about ram airs:

… it’s the Tube-kite that stands victorious. From a designer’s point-of-view it shines in every aspect; its simplicity in design is the key to controlling its complexity. Tube-kites rule most of the sport-related requirements… Soft-kites have an approximate market share of 4%, meaning that 96% of all kites sold worldwide are Tube-kites. This figure basically validates the success of the concept. Without being too sarcastic, you have to be a believer to think that Soft-kites are the future of the kite market…

For the full epiphany and admission, check-out this link: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2400039

[Matteo V]

Wonder what your advice is to the growing number of kiters with both pump-up and ram air kites?...

Thanks for asking. My advice would be: "do yourself a favour and replace your inferior ram airs with inflatables". But don't take my word for it, one of the world’s most respected kite designers and ex-designer for FLYSURFER, Ralf Groesel, had this to say about ram airs:

… it’s the Tube-kite that stands victorious. From a designer’s point-of-view it shines in every aspect; its simplicity in design is the key to controlling its complexity. Tube-kites rule most of the sport-related requirements… Soft-kites have an approximate market share of 4%, meaning that 96% of all kites sold worldwide are Tube-kites. This figure basically validates the success of the concept. Without being too sarcastic, you have to be a believer to think that Soft-kites are the future of the kite market…

For the full epiphany and admission, check-out this link: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2400039

Way less than 1% of cars are performance/race cars. Does that mean they are inferior?

So a tubie is like a regular grocery getter SUV. Maybe it even has AWD for bad weather. But a foil kite is much, much more.................for now.

[Soleas]

Well, I do have enough experience to take my own advice.
Yeah thats what i thought too about ram airs,. I love inflatables but since I got a Soul for a year now this kite is just incredible. This kite made me change my mind about ram airs. I have flown many ram airs in the past and many got me frustrated and not wanting to own any ram airs. But the Soul....is on a league of its own. It has a serious place in my quiver now. I have a 10m Soul for 10-20kn, a 10m Epic Screamer for 20-30 and a Flysurfer boost 7m for the rest of the knots and its the best combo to have similar boost and hangtime for all winds. I only ride a twin tip and into bigair/freestyle. Only a 15m and above inflatable might be able to have hangtime like my Soul 10m but those inflatable sizes are huge, heavy and slow and usualy medium to low aspect ratio.
Since i got the Soul 3 more mates got one and havent regreted and theres more joining this year cause they cant stand watching me kite confortably in 10-14 knots with 10m plus jumps with 5-6secs hangtine, enjoying the day with power and speed while they sit waiting on the beach cause the wind is not strong enough for there 12-14m inflatables. And thats a fact my friend.

I also see race foilers prefering high aspect ram airs? I wonder why? These kites are faaasssttt mate. My Soul is faster than any of my inflatables.( forward flying speed) and its not even high aspect ratio. And no i never got in any weird ram air kite situation. Nothing can go much wrong in light winds anyway.

[Matteo V]

Well, I do have enough experience to take my own advice.
Yeah thats what i thought too about ram airs,. I love inflatables but since I got a Soul for a year now this kite is just incredible. This kite made me change my mind about ram airs. I have flown many ram airs in the past and many got me frustrated and not wanting to own any ram airs.

Let me guess, it was the Flysurfer "speed" that turned you off to foilkites?

[Horst Sergio]

Thanks for asking. My advice would be: "do yourself a favour and replace your inferior ram airs with inflatables". But don't take my word for it, one of the world’s most respected kite designers and ex-designer for FLYSURFER, Ralf Groesel, had this to say about ram airs: ...

Thank you too for your advice, but don’t worry, Ralf in real life does not think as black and white as his text could be interpreted.
Instead, he is an open minded all sports waterman and designer, beside kiting, sailing, paragliding, etc. Don’t know if he is the most respected kite designer, as I just know half a dozen kite designer personally, but I respect him for his knowledge and abilities as obvious he does. I happily was able to try some of his prototypes of different sports. And while I have seen some advantages of his tube kites, I was never good enough to give differentiated feedback, as a tube to be is always a tube .
But loved some of his other unpublished toys. And as far I know Ralf is since about 2004 no more designing foil kites. Looking at the huge development since then, Benny Bölli is the bravest actual foil kite designer I know, not just of the incredible VMGs, but also of the already named Peak4, as far I know.

And not to miss the most important: The coolest thing about the named Peak4 topic, in the foil kite section, is not that it has become the most frequent viewed and answered kite topic and that so many shared the joy. The coolest thing to me is that it becomes the best rated so most respectful topic in kiteforum, a rare island in social media. Thanks to All who made this possible . Maybe flying a Peak4 makes people some how happy and relaxed. If you once get the chance to try one, maybe it is worth to do so.