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High wind foiling

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Flyboy
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High wind foiling

Postby Flyboy » Wed Oct 14, 2020 6:07 pm

Up to what wind speed do you choose to foil in ... and what gear do you use in higher winds?

In the course of this year I have gradually been increasing the amount of wind I will foil in. A few days ago I went out in around 20 knots - the strongest wind I had foiled in up to that point. I pumped a 5m wave kite. It was OK at first, but the wind steadily picked up & peaked at around 30 knots. It was not much fun, as I was seriously overpowered riding upwind & not really able to take advantage of riding the swell back down wind because there was so much pull in the kite even when depowered to the max.

What wind is still fun to foil in? How does a really small kite: 2.5 to 4m - feel in those conditions?

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Re: High wind foiling

Postby trod27 » Wed Oct 14, 2020 8:21 pm

I love 4m wind in Gorge. usually around 40mph starts to get hard to launch and walk, but once out in swell very manageable with skills. Ride strapless 37" 683/91 Moses. SS Ghost 4,6,8,10. weigh 190lbs.

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Re: High wind foiling

Postby gl » Wed Oct 14, 2020 9:33 pm

I foil up until 35 knots. In 25 to 35 knots I use a Concept Air 3 metre Wave. Up until the low thirties I don't even have to depower it much. I usually pair it with a Slingshot Infinity 76 foil. In those winds I prefer to use a larger foil board. Quite often to keep things under control I'll drop off the foil and jibe on the water. The larger board makes that easy.
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Re: High wind foiling

Postby airsail » Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:37 pm

Tiny kites, big wings, pure bliss in big wind swell.
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Re: High wind foiling

Postby jumptheshark » Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:14 pm

airsail wrote:
Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:37 pm
Tiny kites, big wings, pure bliss in big wind swell.
Yup!

I used to say I’d kite in up to 40 knots when I usually drew the line closer to 35. Now I say I’ll kite in up to 30 knots, but draw the line closer to 35.

My min wind for foiling is also slowly creeping back up. Closer to 12 knots now.

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Re: High wind foiling

Postby Flyboy » Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:04 am

Yeah - but what is a "tiny kite" ... and what does it feel like to use it? Based on my experience, I would say that a 5m LEI starts to feel a bit big in around 18 knots. Doable for a few knots more, but not ideal for carving in swell/waves. What's the next step down? A 4m? A 3m? Those kites used to seem insanely small & twitchy for riding a SB tor TT, but riding a foil is a whole different ball of wax. How is a 3m Peak4 in 25 knots? I guess what I'm really thinking about right now is a kite to foil in around 18 - 24 knots. More than that & I would still stick with my SB.

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Re: High wind foiling

Postby gl » Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:29 am

I use my 4.5 Concept Air Wave in 18 to 24 knots. That is the sweet spot for me at 80 kg.

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Re: High wind foiling

Postby jumptheshark » Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:52 am

3m Peak4 has a sweet spot of about 20-25 knots for me. Happy into gusts up over 30. Sustained 30 I find too much on the Peak. I just don't want to punish it like that! I have a 3.5m Solo that I'll keep for 30 knots.
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Re: High wind foiling

Postby Flyboy » Thu Oct 15, 2020 2:23 am

jumptheshark wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 1:52 am
3m Peak4 has a sweet spot of about 20-25 knots for me. Happy into gusts up over 30. Sustained 30 I find too much on the Peak. I just don't want to punish it like that! I have a 3.5m Solo that I'll keep for 30 knots.
That's an interesting comparison. There aren't too many LEI kites in the 3 - 4m range ... and the 3.5 Solo was one of the kites I was considering (another option would be the Gong Unik 3.3m - but they appear to be unavailable at the minute). I would have thought the Solo 3.5m would work in 20 knots, but that's why I was asking. Maybe a 4m LEI would be more realistic for 18 - 25 knots? I don't see myself foiling in anything more than 25 knots for a while as at that point you're getting into prime Great Lakes SB territory. The other route would be Peak4's: 6m, 4m & 3m.

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Re: High wind foiling

Postby jumptheshark » Thu Oct 15, 2020 2:54 am

I'm sure the solo would also work in 20 knots, but Peaks spoil you in a few ways.


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