Well I thought it was obvious
Peak4 kites of course are brilliant for foiling especially in light wind and great in strong wind as well. Just pick your size accordingly.The current range of Peak4 kites perform way better than the previous Peak models. I have only used the Peak4 but I have sold a number of Peak4 kites to owners of previous Peak models and they usually buy another Peak4 or more, such is the improvement in performance.
The Peak4 kites excel in light winds with a good surf foil, not because they are the most powerful but because they are the easiest kites to fly in such winds. I mainly use the 5m Peak4 in our average winds, which are around 8 to 15 knots, to haul my 65kg around on a Moses 633 or 679 surf foil. A couple of my friends with 5m Peak4's do similar at our kite beach but they weigh approx. 85kg.
We do generally have good wind at our beach and the 3m Peak4 gets a workout when the wind is over 15 knots. However recently when there was a lightwind week I took an 8m Peak4 from stock and tried it out in winds 6 knots and above. I have heard it mentioned by some Peak4 users that the best models are 3m, 4m, and 5m and they are great sizes. But when 5m is not enough do I sit on the beach and complain? No way! Out came the 8m and I gave it a workout in winds from 6 to 10 knots. It was great
Sure it wasn't as fast as the 5m because hey, it's bigger! But is wasn't slow either. It's now in my quiver for the really light days. The big advantage of a Peak4 is that, being single skin the kite is very light. The 5m is .88kg and the 8m is only 1.16kg. This means the kite drifts way better than any other kite and is easy to keep in the air even at 3 knots.They have a lot of power for their size, approx 1.5 times the power of an equivalent size LEI. As long as a given Peak4 can get me out of the water onto the board I can foil. Even when the wind drops to 6 knots when I'm foiling the apparent wind will keep me up on the foil and the kite is still responsive. Although the 8m only adds a few knots to my bottom end, that can be the difference between getting out and foiling and sitting on the beach waiting for more wind. I have once or twice had the wind die to such an extent that a few hundred metres offshore I was unable to get foiling. But unlike the LEI kites which fell to the water, I was able to fly the Peak4 and quickly body drag to shore until the wind picked up.
I also use twin skin foil kites which offer performance in different areas to the Peak4 such as speed, upwind angle and jumping but although they are capable in light wind they are nowhere near as responsive and fun with a surf foil as a Peak4 is. I haven't used a strutless kite but I have sold Peak4 kites to people who do have strutless kites and they have been impressed by the Peak4. Some to the point of selling their strutless kite/s.
A couple of other comparative advantages of the Peak4: probably the quickest kite of any to set up especially if you leave your bar attached as the bridles don't tend to tangle. And the price is low, you can virtually buy two Peak4 kites for the price of an LEI kite and possibly 3 Peak4's for the cost of a good twin skin kite.
Don't believe me? Try one and see. I've yet to have someone try a Peak4 and not be impressed
