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extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

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vakiter
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extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby vakiter » Sun Mar 15, 2020 8:23 pm

hi,
i know there are a lot of posts about extending the low end, but i am not sure which is best option for me.
currently i ride
  • 12m OR Flite on 30m lines
  • LF impulse foil,
  • i weigh 70kg/155lbs.
my launches are
  • tether
  • drift
i dont want to debate wind speeds, but my limit is set by the ability to keep the kite in the sky ( i am good at looping and keeping it moving, but eventually it falls). riding is generally not limited by kite power, but i do have to loop it to get on foil.

my launches are tether or drift, so i never considered a foil kite, but maybe i could learn to launch from water?
i know the clouds are lighter than the flite, and i could keep the same launching methods. what size is best for this ~12m?
the single skins i recently became aware of, and am intrigued by several aspects, although i have heard mixed things about them as low-end kites.

would be curious to hear what has worked for others in similar situations.
thanks!

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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby BWD » Sun Mar 15, 2020 8:50 pm

If you are stuck at 10 knots a strutless lei could get you down to 8, 7 with luck, and do those launches.
Super light or single skin foil would go lower if you can adapt launching techniques, and don’t mind swimming.
Always some more chance of swimming if you go in really light wind...

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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby fernmanus » Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:09 pm

12m Flite in Aluula

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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby kiteykitekite » Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:09 am



This in 12m or 15m.

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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby cglazier » Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:40 am

These guys regularly race in winds down to 6 knots.. notice what type of kites they use. And vakiter, you should also consider upgrading your foil.. it too is important.
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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby Peter_Frank » Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:57 am

You want a kite that can hang in less wind?

An UL foil kite would fit this, but IMO would not work for drift launching, as when a kite that big gets wet all over at least one surface, you can not relaunch nor fly the kite in this light wind.

It would basically be the same problem with a Cloud.

Assume you got no beach or grass at all, since you have to drift launch or tether launch (kite in the water)?

Don't see any solutions that can solve your issue, sorry...

Of course either of these lighter kites will be better and might extend the low end a tad, but not that much as you can not tether launch, nor drift launch in this light wind :-?

Some might say they relaunch just fine in marginal winds, but I never see this happening in real life, only in "stories" here on the net, or in a wind gust.
That is the other problem, in this marginal wind there most often ARE no gusts, but stable wind.

You can go a tad lower with a lighter kite,but not much.
If you could launch the kite dry, you could go a lot lower though, so I would explore this first, IF possible to find a location for this :thumb:

8) Peter

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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby Foil » Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:17 am

no doubt foil and single skin will stay aloft the longest, and the lighter then the longer,
new foil kites are quite easy to relaunch if you do drop them(after practice that is)
old designs are not so easy and single skins are quite bad at water relaunch but easier to swim in with than foil kites as they can be stuffed down your crash jacket,
you can fly a 11mtr foil kite on 15 mtr lines with little loss in power which will be much better than the 30mtr that you are using as 30mtr lines are bad to use if there is a chance of slack lines,hard to recover as the lines go slack compared to 15mtr lines attached to a modern freeride Ultra light foil kite which are very easy to maintain line tension.
You are light, so using a very efficient light wind rig set up like a moses 790 or 633 will certainly help a lot, but the biggest problem sounds like its your location,
I know you can drift launch quite easily with a pre inflated foil kite, and using a smaller size ulight foil kite on short lines will make it very easy, using a battery operated leaf blower to pre inflate will quickly blow the air in through a vent.
frustrating launch spot you have for sure.

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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby cwood » Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:40 pm

the drift launch and low wind foil don't go together well. I drift launch frequently with Souls but well up into their wind range. The extra weight of wet fabric isn't an issue in those cases. Your best bet is dry launch as it opens lots of options. even a really light LEI will be an issue to roll over and launch in the really light stuff. Mountain biking is a nice alternative :-)
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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby kiteykitekite » Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:59 pm

Foil kites relaunch fine in light wind 4-5knots I am not sure why you would be afraid to drift launch them. Maybe you just need more preinflation or just a tad more wind like 6-7knots.

Of note the tight depower limit on many foils, like flysurfers leaves them struggling to fly forward when deep in light wind. Not difficult to fix.

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Re: extend the low end; single skin, cloud, foil kite?

Postby slowboat » Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:01 pm

ConceptAir Pulsion 12 meter and a bigger board


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