Fastest production hydrofoils

[Bletti]

Formula Kite requires use of production gear, so technically none of it is custom. I'd be willing to guess that ML is faster in heavy air and Banga in light.

By production I mean something off the shelf. Some competitions needs registered gear, but most of it are Open.

A good example of manufacturing volume driving podium positions is Ozone. The R1V2 is great, but is it really the best kite on the market? Probably not, but since they have the manufacturing capacity to hand out probably hundreds of cheap or free kites to their team, everyone adopted it because they know that if they blow out their gear they can get a replacement. You can't say that about F-One right now unless you're in the top 3 of their sponsored riders, and you really can't say that about Elf since they're much more of a boutique kite shop. Flysurfer is the only other brand that can compete with volume and their kites just haven't been as fast due largely to compromises made for durability. So you artificially see lots of Ozones on the top of the charts because they're a more reliable brand to commit yourself to if you're looking to get sponsored. And they happen to make bang-up good gear, so it's a win win for racers, but if Elf had triple the kites on hand and enough of a non-racing base to justify more sponsorship, they'd like be on top as well. I think this is must be happening to a certain extent with foil manufacturers...anecdotal reports indicate that Mike is actually rejecting requests for foils trying to keep pace with his team riders pending a bulk manufacturing arrangement in Asia.

Olly Bridge switched from Elf to r1v2 this event as he couldn't keep up downwind in maritous

[WH Lithuania]

[Mossy 757]

Olly Bridge switched from Elf to r1v2 this event as he couldn't keep up downwind in maritous

Interesting...the R1 is definitely light, that's for sure. Do you know if he's still on his Levitaz foil or if he went to something else? I've heard that the Levitaz guys do well updwind but have a hard time keeping up downwind compared to the other brands. I wonder if that's a factor as well.

Either way, I guess the point of my posts was to say that we need to look at the information about the pro tour and apply a statistical control to account for the fact that this event has very different gear rules than the hydrofoil pro tour or kitefoil gold cup.

It'd be really nice if Banga was making the best foil on the market right now because their price is about half what Mike's Lab or KFA are both asking right now.

[cnski]

Mossy- Can you post the prices for those foils? That would be great. Really interesting hearing about the gear progression. I hope we get to see some decent videos of the racing too.

[gmb13]

A good example of manufacturing volume driving podium positions is Ozone. The R1V2 is great, but is it really the best kite on the market? Probably not, but since they have the manufacturing capacity to hand out probably hundreds of cheap or free kites to their team, everyone adopted it because they know that if they blow out their gear they can get a replacement. .

Do you want to name your sources?

Cause A. They don't do hand out hundreds of cheap or free kites to the team and B. The kites don't blow out within a couple of months use. With exception of the test team no one has had the kites long enough to even have flown the kites long enough to make an observation like that.

C. The kites keep their performance a lot longer as the new speed system lines no longer shrink, which is the number one cause of loss of performance in the first few hours. The other brands mixer/speed pulley lines shrink fast under hard use.

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Gunnar

[Bletti]

Olly Bridge switched from Elf to r1v2 this event as he couldn't keep up downwind in maritous

Interesting...the R1 is definitely light, that's for sure. Do you know if he's still on his Levitaz foil or if he went to something else? I've heard that the Levitaz guys do well updwind but have a hard time keeping up downwind compared to the other brands. I wonder if that's a factor as well.

Either way, I guess the point of my posts was to say that we need to look at the information about the pro tour and apply a statistical control to account for the fact that this event has very different gear rules than the hydrofoil pro tour or kitefoil gold cup.

It'd be really nice if Banga was making the best foil on the market right now because their price is about half what Mike's Lab or KFA are both asking right now.

Yeah, I agree with your reasoning and points. As far as i know from photos is both Olly and Guy Bridge (and Steph) were on Levitaz this event.

I wonder if/how much the price will come down once Mike's lab starts mass producing foils?

[Jollydriver]

The kites keep their performance a lot longer as the new speed system lines no longer shrink, which is the number one cause of loss of performance in the first few hours.

Does the Chrono V2 have a better speed system which doesn't shrink as much quickly? I know its not Ozone's highest performance foil kite anymore, but it would seem to be a better kite for me as a non-racer, at a better price.

JD

[Bletti]

The kites keep their performance a lot longer as the new speed system lines no longer shrink, which is the number one cause of loss of performance in the first few hours.

Does the Chrono V2 have a better speed system which doesn't shrink as much quickly? I know its not Ozone's highest performance foil kite anymore, but it would seem to be a better kite for me as a non-racer, at a better price.

JD

If I'm not mistaken, the tuneable speed system was added to the r1v2 but it is possible to install it on the r1v1 and chrono kites instead of the older non-tuneable speed system once it gets out of spec.

[WH Lithuania]

C. The kites keep their performance a lot longer as the new speed system lines no longer shrink, which is the number one cause of loss of performance in the first few hours.

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Gunnar

Hm.... you are saying that previous Ozone foil generations lost performance in first few hours! That makes me think there is high chance that there is also something in latest generation that also leads to fast performance degradation.

[gmb13]

The kites keep their performance a lot longer as the new speed system lines no longer shrink, which is the number one cause of loss of performance in the first few hours.

Does the Chrono V2 have a better speed system which doesn't shrink as much quickly? I know its not Ozone's highest performance foil kite anymore, but it would seem to be a better kite for me as a non-racer, at a better price.

JD

No. Unfortunately not. It still has the old lines. However you can get the new speed system and retrofit it.

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Gunnar