Thank you all for your interest ; I was so excited ...
jakemoore wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 5:02 pm
Regis, I’m curious if your current light wind barrier is based on keeping the kite in the air or getting enoug pull to start?
THIS is the good question !
both actually ; for example, I currently have a Peter lynn Aero 17m (v1, to me the best in light wind with Ozone R1v2 due to (relative) light weight, anyway this not the topic here) ; so with such race kite the limit is its stability at zenith in marginal wind which is require so much attention , work the kite and consequential downwind traction when working it, that you cannot go to the water in onshore wind ; those are not the optimum kites for marginal winds.
For a middle ratio kite like Pulsion (which is to me the best "commercial" kite on the market for this extreme light exercice, including Marabou; peak, etc , ...), or FRS UL for example, the limit is more the initial pull to raise your weight on top of the board ; here pumping, or Hydrofoil wing size , are useless
... only kite agility , ratio and surface. So, to go lower, I need both stability at zenith (or light working) and peak power during water start.
On the video, the wind is about 6 knots, wing is a 1200cm2 Ketos; it would have been possible to ride easily with my 15 m Pulsion ; and a kite teacher was able to ride when working a lot a lot its duotone Cappa 15 m and enornous HF wing; I was almost over powered with my "para-foil".
So ! its stability at zenith in very low wind seems excellent (tested another day with less wind on there beach only) and does not require working the kite (thanks to it "bad" L/D ratio that maintain it low at zenith =good drift) ; ) ; its power seems very high ; what maybe bad is its loop , to be checked, and improved if possible (I do not have so much time ...)
PS: I repeat myself , but speaking of knots value is (believe me) useless depending on how people measure it under 6-7 knots. Only "comparative" number from same rider are really constructive IMO in those marginal wind ; I know people want to get value for comparision; so ... let's say that I am targeting 4 knots (on my wind scale which is far less optimist than Foilholio for example); I do not know yet if I will actually save some knots compared to the Pulsion ; there are pro and cons for now; if I can save 0.5 knots , I am happy ( this is about 20 % in those winds ...)
I did modifications on the briddles ; for now I prefer to discuss the concept and the results in order to keep this post pleasant to read for everybody . In one word the big challenge is the stability of this kite which is not a déposer kite at the start and the pull point which is far more spread when connected to long line vs paraglider pilot , leading to a bird shop rather that a beautiful C shape ; I used a home made speed system to déposer the kite , that I will complete by stoppers here and here depending on tests, mainly on B indeed to prevent backstall.