Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

couple of peak 4 questions

A forum dedicated to Hydrofoil riders
surfbird
Medium Poster
Posts: 88
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:35 pm
Local Beach: Apelviken
Björlanda kile
Rossö
Favorite Beaches: Big Bay SA
Style: All
Gear: Naish Torch, Park.
Hadlow pro 138
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: couple of peak 4 questions

Postby surfbird » Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:53 am

bohme wrote:
Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:04 am
I guess it depends on your skill level, style, and the wave speed.
I use a 750cm2 higher aspect foil. It is quite fast but slow to turn (because it needs speed), but it suits the wave at my local spot.
The peak4 has very little lift and lots of drag, when you sheet it out. This is part of the reason why I like it, but also what makes is so &@£$€ difficult to tack on a small foil :-)
What brand? Do you also have the problem that the waves are to fast for bigger wings?

bohme
Rare Poster
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:01 pm
Local Beach: Ringkøbing
Favorite Beaches: Hvide Sande
Style: Foiling
Gear: Worn
Brand Affiliation: DIY
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 12 times

Re: couple of peak 4 questions

Postby bohme » Mon Jul 12, 2021 1:36 pm

[/quote]

What brand? Do you also have the problem that the waves are to fast for bigger wings?
[/quote]

I make my own foils.
My local beach has 3 sandbars. I can chose the slow 'shorebreak' (with the surfers) and do short turns on a big foil, but prefer the bigger and faster waves a bit further out. My 750cm2 foil does around 20kn in a bottom turn, and works well for me. The trouble with speed is that it narrows down your manoeuvrability, and you feel you have to follow the track of optimum VMG.
I like your video. Smooth.

User avatar
Flyboy
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2715
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 157 times
Been thanked: 288 times

Re: couple of peak 4 questions

Postby Flyboy » Mon Jul 12, 2021 4:22 pm

surfbird wrote:
Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:50 am
Flyboy wrote:
Mon Jul 12, 2021 1:57 am
Yeah - as Peter says, I find it hard to understand why you would choose to use Peaks with smaller wings. In the video posted by surfbird (love the drone footage!) I can't see any advantage to riding on a small wing. Nice swell that you want to be able to play around in without too much board speed (IMO).
This is interesting, you might be able to help me out here.

I changed to a smaller foil, since I had problem to keep up with the speed of the (unbroken) swell.
Everytime I try a bigger wing I get overtaken by the wave, specially when it's above 4m waves. In fact, I have sometimes problems even with small wings.
It's very deep where I kite, like 100m so the swell never slows down. I speed of the swell is always above 16 knots.

So what bigger wing would be best suited for this?
I've tried the alpine foil wave wings, but they can't keep up.
I don't know what to tell you - I've never tried riding 4m swells with a foil. I use a Gong Pro M front wing which is 1000 cm2. It's pretty fast in a straight line & I have no problem catching &riding (much smaller than 4m) swell using the Peaks.

joekitetime
Frequent Poster
Posts: 312
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2018 4:58 pm
Kiting since: 1999
Weight: 160
Local Beach: Sherman Island, SF BAY CA
Style: Surf Foiler
Gear: Appletree, FONE, Mike's Lab, Peak4, Mystic, Wainman Hawaii
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 169 times
Been thanked: 103 times

Re: couple of peak 4 questions

Postby joekitetime » Mon Jul 12, 2021 4:43 pm

I may be the oddball here, not sure. Due to a shoulder injury I've shevled winging temporarily and been flying my peak4 quiver (3m, 4m, 5m and 8m). To be honest I'd never even flown the 3m and 4m, having owned them over a year. Wow those kites are fast, and powerful! (or, as my Flysurfer dealer says, they aren't fast, they are quick). This weekend was blowing 30kts all weekend and over the past 2 weeks I've had several near death hot launches on the 3m, but I digress.

I fly the 3m with a 800cm fone mirage foil and I surf the foil. I do not ride down the line except to get back upwind. I try to get the board to nearly stop all forward speed when surf foiling, and try to get the kite to stop nearly all pull. I try to slow down so I can turn off the bottom and slash the lip and use power from the wave, not kite. It works beautifully when it is blowing maybe 15-20 (on the 3m) but over 20mph I am fighting the pull of the peak4 although I use all my tricks to try and depower the kite (fly directly overhead and turn in the opposite direction, behind the kite to luff the kite). I've inquired about a 2m but none are in the works from flysurfer.

I plan to order the new 530cm escape foil this morning.

For me, what I love about the peaks is drift. It is closer to winging than an LEI because the tube kites drop from the sky if pushed to hard luffing. The peaks will crumble if pushed too hard, but are way, way better than the LEI for that.

They are terrible overpowered though, so if you really want to go fast a foil kite would be a lot better.

But you should have no problem flying any foil you want on those kites. I've flown every size foil imagineable behind the peak, the faster the foil the better, so long as the peak4 isn't too overpowered.

User avatar
Flyboy
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2715
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 157 times
Been thanked: 288 times

Re: couple of peak 4 questions

Postby Flyboy » Mon Jul 12, 2021 5:14 pm

joekitetime wrote:
Mon Jul 12, 2021 4:43 pm
I may be the oddball here, not sure. Due to a shoulder injury I've shevled winging temporarily and been flying my peak4 quiver (3m, 4m, 5m and 8m). To be honest I'd never even flown the 3m and 4m, having owned them over a year. Wow those kites are fast, and powerful! (or, as my Flysurfer dealer says, they aren't fast, they are quick). This weekend was blowing 30kts all weekend and over the past 2 weeks I've had several near death hot launches on the 3m, but I digress.

I fly the 3m with a 800cm fone mirage foil and I surf the foil. I do not ride down the line except to get back upwind. I try to get the board to nearly stop all forward speed when surf foiling, and try to get the kite to stop nearly all pull. I try to slow down so I can turn off the bottom and slash the lip and use power from the wave, not kite. It works beautifully when it is blowing maybe 15-20 (on the 3m) but over 20mph I am fighting the pull of the peak4 although I use all my tricks to try and depower the kite (fly directly overhead and turn in the opposite direction, behind the kite to luff the kite). I've inquired about a 2m but none are in the works from flysurfer.

I plan to order the new 530cm escape foil this morning.

For me, what I love about the peaks is drift. It is closer to winging than an LEI because the tube kites drop from the sky if pushed to hard luffing. The peaks will crumble if pushed too hard, but are way, way better than the LEI for that.

They are terrible overpowered though, so if you really want to go fast a foil kite would be a lot better.

But you should have no problem flying any foil you want on those kites. I've flown every size foil imagineable behind the peak, the faster the foil the better, so long as the peak4 isn't too overpowered.
Maybe expecting to "surf the wave" on a foil with a kite in strong winds just isn't all that realistic? Perhaps much shorter lines help? In any case, I suspect that is where winging comes into its own - where it is easier to apply minimal power, or even none at all.
These users thanked the author Flyboy for the post:
joekitetime (Tue Jul 13, 2021 6:22 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

neilhapgood
Medium Poster
Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2016 11:03 am
Local Beach: Swansea
Gear: twin tip
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 9 times

Re: couple of peak 4 questions

Postby neilhapgood » Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:44 am

joekitetime wrote:
Mon Jul 12, 2021 4:43 pm
I may be the oddball here, not sure. Due to a shoulder injury I've shevled winging temporarily and been flying my peak4 quiver (3m, 4m, 5m and 8m). To be honest I'd never even flown the 3m and 4m, having owned them over a year. Wow those kites are fast, and powerful! (or, as my Flysurfer dealer says, they aren't fast, they are quick). This weekend was blowing 30kts all weekend and over the past 2 weeks I've had several near death hot launches on the 3m, but I digress.

I fly the 3m with a 800cm fone mirage foil and I surf the foil. I do not ride down the line except to get back upwind. I try to get the board to nearly stop all forward speed when surf foiling, and try to get the kite to stop nearly all pull. I try to slow down so I can turn off the bottom and slash the lip and use power from the wave, not kite. It works beautifully when it is blowing maybe 15-20 (on the 3m) but over 20mph I am fighting the pull of the peak4 although I use all my tricks to try and depower the kite (fly directly overhead and turn in the opposite direction, behind the kite to luff the kite). I've inquired about a 2m but none are in the works from flysurfer.

I plan to order the new 530cm escape foil this morning.

For me, what I love about the peaks is drift. It is closer to winging than an LEI because the tube kites drop from the sky if pushed to hard luffing. The peaks will crumble if pushed too hard, but are way, way better than the LEI for that.

They are terrible overpowered though, so if you really want to go fast a foil kite would be a lot better.

But you should have no problem flying any foil you want on those kites. I've flown every size foil imagineable behind the peak, the faster the foil the better, so long as the peak4 isn't too overpowered.
Joe did you injur your shoulder whilst winging? My shoulders have both dislocated in the past and I was wondering if winging could put them in a vulnerable position?

joekitetime
Frequent Poster
Posts: 312
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2018 4:58 pm
Kiting since: 1999
Weight: 160
Local Beach: Sherman Island, SF BAY CA
Style: Surf Foiler
Gear: Appletree, FONE, Mike's Lab, Peak4, Mystic, Wainman Hawaii
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 169 times
Been thanked: 103 times

Re: couple of peak 4 questions

Postby joekitetime » Tue Jul 13, 2021 6:21 pm

Joe did you injur your shoulder whilst winging? My shoulders have both dislocated in the past and I was wondering if winging could put them in a vulnerable position?
[/quote]

Didn't injure shoulder winging. Winging aggrevates it as does putting my hair in pony tail! Winging isn't hard on the shoudlers.
These users thanked the author joekitetime for the post:
neilhapgood (Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:23 pm)
Rating: 3.03%


Return to “Hydrofoil”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: mede and 197 guests