Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

-ing gear for the lightest of the winds

A forum dedicated to Hydrofoil riders
User avatar
Greenturtle
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 980
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 6:51 pm
Local Beach: Presque Isle, Erie PA
Favorite Beaches: Bahamian Cays
Gear: Edge 19, Flite 17, 14.5, 12, 10, 8, Cloud 13.4, 10.4, 8, 6.2, 3.7
Tons of boards for water, land, and snow
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 241 times
Been thanked: 277 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby Greenturtle » Sat Sep 02, 2017 4:09 pm

Often overlooked light wind board that toally works is a longboard style surfboard 9ft+
Longboard plus my rrd emotion 17 kite is pretty fun actually and comparable to riding my hydrofoil in terms of how low of winds that can still be ridden.
Plus most people already have one or can get one at a garage sale cheap etc.

User avatar
Greenturtle
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 980
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 6:51 pm
Local Beach: Presque Isle, Erie PA
Favorite Beaches: Bahamian Cays
Gear: Edge 19, Flite 17, 14.5, 12, 10, 8, Cloud 13.4, 10.4, 8, 6.2, 3.7
Tons of boards for water, land, and snow
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 241 times
Been thanked: 277 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby Greenturtle » Sat Sep 02, 2017 4:30 pm

To be more on topic- There is a newer kite brand Monjet that specializes in ultra light wind kites. Some are hybrids single skin/closed cell for lightest possible weight plus water relaunch ability
One of these with a really low aspect foil would help push the bottom limits I would expect.

ronnie
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 4189
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2005 6:39 pm
Has thanked: 31 times
Been thanked: 61 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby ronnie » Sat Sep 02, 2017 8:20 pm

gbrungra wrote:
Fri Sep 01, 2017 10:01 pm
Windfoil has to be more fun to pack/paddle-in when the wind dies. So they would have more fun chasing the truest lightest winds.

When talking about lowest-end, windspeed matters plus/minus 1 knot and is hard to measure. But there's also the wind gradient and wind gusts/lulls to consider. (And air density), so my 4 knots might not be your 4 knots, even if we could agree on how to measure 4 knots!

Here's a question: no idea what the distance record is for foil-pumping(no kite, started by boat or wave), by the lets just say 200 meters. Could a kite foiler, if started by a boat but with zero wind, also pump along for the same 200 meters, while keeping their kite in the air(leaning against it a bit)?
This depends on what the actual wind speed was exactly, but it is below what could be used to foil without the boat to help initiate it.
The board, foil and sail though - none of them have been optimally designed to pump onto flying and maintain it.


grigorib
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 4146
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:12 pm
Kiting since: 2009
Local Beach: OBX; Clinton Lake, IL; Lake Michigan; Hood River; La Ventana; Ocean Park, PR; SPI; Tawas, MI
Gear: Kites: Slingshot Rally 5/7/9/11m, Turbine 9/13m, SST 4/5m, UFO 3/5/7/9m, Flysurfer Speed4 10m standard, Flysurfer 2cool 6m, Peter Lynn Venom II ARC 16m

Boards: Spleene RIP 37, Flysurfer Radical6 138, Flysurfer Flydoor5 XL, Slingshot/Moses/RDB 70/90/101cm masts with 1200/860/800/730/600 kitefoil or 2200/1700/1400 wingfoil wings and 310/230/425 stabilizers, Naish MicroChip 80cm, 36" Woody, Slingshot Dwarfcraft Micro 100, MBS Comp 95x

For sale: Slingshot Turbine 9/13m, 20” Guardian bar, 1700 sq.cm wing/fuselage/stabilizer fitting Moses mast
.
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 461 times
Been thanked: 690 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby grigorib » Sun Sep 03, 2017 7:37 pm

Who from Slingshot do we need to talk to to tell them we need a mid-aspect, ultralight inflatable kite for freeride foiling.
Gotta have nice delta-shaped LE for relaunch and no more than 3 struts for no-flutter powered output from looping.
I need couple of such wings to replace my aging 2012 Rallys

nothing2seehere
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1666
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2014 3:25 pm
Kiting since: 2012
Weight: 72
Local Beach: Calshot, Hayling, Meon - Southcoast UK
Gear: Duotone Rebel, Evo SLS, Flysurfer Soul/Peak, Ocean rodeo jester, Airush Ultra, shinn boards
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 204 times
Been thanked: 292 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby nothing2seehere » Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:13 am

norcom wrote:
Sat Sep 02, 2017 3:04 am
nothing2seehere wrote:
Fri Sep 01, 2017 11:02 am
The windsurfers are convinced they will come away with the crown for the lightest winds needed. The AHD rep for the shop near me tells me with the new foil and special sail they have this year, he can get going in 4 knots and carry on riding on the foil. Now he's a talented rider so I'm not remotely suggesting you'll jump from one to the other and be at the ultimate low end threshold.
Would love to see what they'll have! I've thought about putting a foil on my Starboard Serenity because of how easy it could get to speed and get going with a large foil but with the 17' length of the board it just doesn't seem feasible. I'm guessing the AHD could partially be a displacement hull to generate speed before getting foiling. The thing is that I can't see a small sail getting the AHD foiling in 4knots. But I guess it's not really a problem if you don't mind using big sails.
Its the AFS-1 Mk2 stuff on this page: http://www.ahd-boards.com/models/afs-1/

No idea about the sail although I'd guess its pretty racey with quite a few cams?

winduser
Medium Poster
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2015 1:24 pm
Gear: 2014
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 5 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby winduser » Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:26 am

Last edited by winduser on Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Regis-de-giens
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2006
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:58 pm
Weight: 62 kg
Local Beach: France: St Laurent du Var, Cannes, Almanarre
Style: 62 kg , light wind, waves
Gear: Conceptair pulsion 18&15&12S, OR Flite 10m , Airush One 9&6, peak 5M , Rally 6, Elf 11 &7, 19m2 single skin proto.
foil Ketos, RCS Supreme, TBK Mana, snowskis, kite-boat
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 266 times
Been thanked: 351 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby Regis-de-giens » Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:57 am

I think lower wind than the peak is doable : i did this video with a very light double skin that hangs in the air even better than peak (already posted on the Pulsion topic, sorry) :https://youtu.be/cwO5Lho2Xro
This is not the lightest I did but the best with a cam.
To me the better glide of a double skin helps waterstarting and keeping the planning. And over all, you can use kites larger than the 12m of the peak.

User avatar
davesails7
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2220
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:36 pm
Kiting since: 2006
Weight: 75 kg
Local Beach: Virginia Beach
Style: Race
Gear: ML B3
R1V2 11. VMG 13, 15, 18
OR Mako 130x35
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby davesails7 » Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:16 pm

I have to admit, I'm a believer in the Pulsion and big wing combination now! At a race last weekend, one morning wind was light and slightly offshore, so races were postponed. Two high level racers (both have finished top 20 in HF Pro Tour events) went out anyway on new 20m-21m race foil kites with Mikes Lab foils. One was able to get out to the windier area with some difficulty, the other wound up with kite in the water.

Just as the one kite wound up in the water, another kiter came out with a pulsion 12m and a giant Shinn wing. That pulsion didn't flutter in the least! He rode around no problem.

I'd personally rather be going 20-30 knots on the race gear than 10-12 knots on the Pulsion, but it definitely changed my mind about what the lowest wind gear is.

grigorib
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 4146
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:12 pm
Kiting since: 2009
Local Beach: OBX; Clinton Lake, IL; Lake Michigan; Hood River; La Ventana; Ocean Park, PR; SPI; Tawas, MI
Gear: Kites: Slingshot Rally 5/7/9/11m, Turbine 9/13m, SST 4/5m, UFO 3/5/7/9m, Flysurfer Speed4 10m standard, Flysurfer 2cool 6m, Peter Lynn Venom II ARC 16m

Boards: Spleene RIP 37, Flysurfer Radical6 138, Flysurfer Flydoor5 XL, Slingshot/Moses/RDB 70/90/101cm masts with 1200/860/800/730/600 kitefoil or 2200/1700/1400 wingfoil wings and 310/230/425 stabilizers, Naish MicroChip 80cm, 36" Woody, Slingshot Dwarfcraft Micro 100, MBS Comp 95x

For sale: Slingshot Turbine 9/13m, 20” Guardian bar, 1700 sq.cm wing/fuselage/stabilizer fitting Moses mast
.
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 461 times
Been thanked: 690 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby grigorib » Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:08 pm

davesails7 wrote:
Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:16 pm
I have to admit, I'm a believer in the Pulsion and big wing combination now! At a race last weekend, one morning wind was light and slightly offshore, so races were postponed. Two high level racers (both have finished top 20 in HF Pro Tour events) went out anyway on new 20m-21m race foil kites with Mikes Lab foils. One was able to get out to the windier area with some difficulty, the other wound up with kite in the water.

Just as the one kite wound up in the water, another kiter came out with a pulsion 12m and a giant Shinn wing. That pulsion didn't flutter in the least! He rode around no problem.

I'd personally rather be going 20-30 knots on the race gear than 10-12 knots on the Pulsion, but it definitely changed my mind about what the lowest wind gear is.
12m and a giant Shinn wing - that's what I believe in for lightwind - huge foil wing and smaller/faster kite

User avatar
Peter_Frank
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 12734
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Denmark
Has thanked: 1006 times
Been thanked: 1187 times

Re: -ing gear for the lightest of the winds

Postby Peter_Frank » Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:12 pm

grigorib wrote:
Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:08 pm
davesails7 wrote:
Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:16 pm
I have to admit, I'm a believer in the Pulsion and big wing combination now! At a race last weekend, one morning wind was light and slightly offshore, so races were postponed. Two high level racers (both have finished top 20 in HF Pro Tour events) went out anyway on new 20m-21m race foil kites with Mikes Lab foils. One was able to get out to the windier area with some difficulty, the other wound up with kite in the water.

Just as the one kite wound up in the water, another kiter came out with a pulsion 12m and a giant Shinn wing. That pulsion didn't flutter in the least! He rode around no problem.

I'd personally rather be going 20-30 knots on the race gear than 10-12 knots on the Pulsion, but it definitely changed my mind about what the lowest wind gear is.
12m and a giant Shinn wing - that's what I believe in for lightwind - huge foil wing and smaller/faster kite

So true, also my experience - but the kite has to have awesome powerspike, and be really light :thumb:

8) PF


Return to “Hydrofoil”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: arjas, bitxopalo, evan and 155 guests