High wind foiling

[jumptheshark]

I generally need a thicker suit for some degree of bodily protection! In whining to my wife about the not so severe injury I sustained foiling the other day, she points out the plethora of unaccounted for bruising all over my thighs and arse. Anyone else find high wind foiling leads to a lot of mystery hydrobruising! Pretty sure I'm mostly aware of unwanted impacts with my actual foil, but I hit the water in a full random assortment of ways and apparently a little harder than I perceive! Never accumulated constant mystery bruises on TT or SB.

[purdyd]

What I find frustrating, although it has been improving, is the sizing and selection of small kites.

You still find some 2 meter gaps between small kites from some manufacturers (slingshot cough cough) and sometimes nothing less than 6m.

But that is changing. I look at the Naish boxer lineup and the small sizes and options have improved over the last few years.

[Alysum]

Alpha v2 wound be great in small sizes I'm sure. Unfortunately no ETA.

Would a duotone mono 5m work at all with ozone low V centre lines?

[Flyboy]

What I find frustrating, although it has been improving, is the sizing and selection of small kites.

You still find some 2 meter gaps between small kites from some manufacturers (slingshot cough cough) and sometimes nothing less than 6m.

But that is changing. I look at the Naish boxer lineup and the small sizes and options have improved over the last few years.

That's why I looked at the Boxer. I was wondering if a 4m 3 strut would be a better bet because it could double as a high wind wave kite & I'm assuming that a 4m kite (I've never used one) would still be a pretty big step down from a 5m. However ... in my experience, once the wind (where I am) gets to the point where you need something smaller than a 5m, the wind is too gusty & unstable to be comfortable for wave riding with a SB - too on/off. So, I'm thinking of the 3.5 Boxer more as a foiling kite in 20 - 25 knots.

[simcoloco]

I use a BRM Cloud 2.8M from 16-24 knots average and a 2.2M from 23-35+ knots average. I also have a 3.7M that I have used a few times with a range of 13-18 knots average.
I find the BRM sizing ideal, as you need smaller gaps in the smaller kite range. It's way more fun to be on the right size kite, than to be overpowered because of of large gaps.
The small kites can generate quite a bit of power at the low end if you fly them. Basically, if you can water start with the kite, then foiling isn't a problem.
By using 23M lines vs 20M lines I can fly one kite size down, as the extra 3 meters allows for more power to be generated when flying the smaller kite but also allows for not being quickly overpowered.
Using these kites in these wind ranges aren't "park n ride", but you have to actively fly them(at least on the lower half of the range), but this just makes everything more dynamic and fun. I like being just powered to powered, but not overpowered. It's fun to use the combination of swell and the kite to ride through the lulls.

[Alysum]

I generally need a thicker suit for some degree of bodily protection! In whining to my wife about the not so severe injury I sustained foiling the other day, she points out the plethora of unaccounted for bruising all over my thighs and arse. Anyone else find high wind foiling leads to a lot of mystery hydrobruising! Pretty sure I'm mostly aware of unwanted impacts with my actual foil, but I hit the water in a full random assortment of ways and apparently a little harder than I perceive! Never accumulated constant mystery bruises on TT or SB.

wipeout.jpg

Mate that is all normal.... I woke up to a massive bruise all along my foot the other day.
Also hit my shins and knee on the mast/foil several times.
All part of the sport sadly !

[drsurf]

Reading this thread made me think about trying out a flysurfer viron 4m on the foilboard. Bought one last year for snowkiting in storms, but could not try that out due to corona virus, so I just tried it with Inlineskates... Super easy, super smooth...

Just found some videos on youtube of guys foiling a 4m Viron. I guess there is no 4m kite with a smoother power deliery than the Viron...
I wonder why I never thought about trying it on the foil!

Hi muitomaluco.

Although I haven't used a 4m Viron, I understand that it's a fun easy to use durable kite that can be used for a wide range of kiting activities. However with regard to foiling you would find the Peak4 comparable or cheaper in price, (depending on size), and much more suited to the needs of foiling as well as snowkiting. The Peak4 is great in gusty conditions, has instant depower twin skin kites like the Viron lack, much better drift, faster turning, quicker setup & packdown and a higher level of safety. ie crash a Peak4 and it's safe on the water and you have the B-Safe 5th line system for snow/land.

There are a few more comments and user experiences here viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2401224

[leeuwen]

Is there any recommendation against higher wind foiling
for beginners? Eg for a twintip I would recommend beginners keeping below 30 knots, arguably 25 knots.

Context: I am an experienced kiter but a total beginner on the foil. I had a couple of sessions can ride left and right on my Moses onda and I wonder if I should already get and go out on say a 4m kite for 20+ kn days. My current smallest kite is a 6M Kauper XT but I can get my hands on a relatively cheap 4m SS ghost.

[Flyboy]

Is there any recommendation against higher wind foiling
for beginners? Eg for a twintip I would recommend beginners keeping below 30 knots, arguably 25 knots.

Context: I am an experienced kiter but a total beginner on the foil. I had a couple of sessions can ride left and right on my Moses onda and I wonder if I should already get and go out on say a 4m kite for 20+ kn days. My current smallest kite is a 6M Kauper XT but I can get my hands on a relatively cheap 4m SS ghost.

I wouldn't suggest a beginner TT kiter goes out in more than 20 knots ... but it does depend what you mean by a "beginner".

In general, foiling gets trickier as the wind gets stronger because the water gets rougher. You want to be comfortably balanced on the foil - water starting, riding & gybing - before you attempt choppy/wavy water, so unless you have pretty flat water available it may take you a while before you're ready to foil in stronger winds. However, you're still likely to be on a relatively small kite, so you're not actually "overpowered". It is one of things that makes foiling "safer". Yes, you can hit the foil or have it hit you, you can wrap your lines around the foil (I hate when that happens), but you're not going to be too powered up which gives you a safety margin. I'm using a 6m kite on the foil when a TT rider would be using a 12m (or even bigger).

6m is the size I have used the most for foiling. For me it covers a range from about 12 knots up to about 18 knots, with the sweet spot in the middle of that range.

[Alysum]

Hi, I would love to hear experiences with the latest Duotone mono 5m.
Or the UFO 5m.