Windspeed for Chrono foiling

[yeuyoga]

Curious to know,

from those of you who are more into the racing side of hydrofoiling and live in light wind, junky beach locations, what windspeeds do you use a particular size of chrono / R1's in?

I picked up an 11m chrono v2 late this summer, and got out with it twice. Once the wind shifted and I put it in the drink, which was horrible. and another time I got out with it just before dark in maybe 9-11kts and had a blast, I hit close to 25kts top speed in even that wind (all of this is with a moses 590/330 and I weigh 170lbs, I now have an 800 wing that I've tried a handful of times, I assume It'll be a kt or two lower range than my 590).

With an 800 wing, what do you think I can reasonably expect for a lowend with an 11m chrono? remember, I'm on an inland lake, so that means super tight launches, trees, etc. At the moment, I haven't really figured out how to generate a spike of power from this kite like I can from my 11m boxer for instance, maybe that's what I really need to figure out. Ideas?

[dave1986]

In smooth wind I expect the low-end will be around 7knots for a W800 or W590 foil. The problem is that it's rare to get a smooth 7knots, particularly in-land. Commonly it'll be 5 to 9knots which increases the risk of dropping the kite, particularly if you have the standard (non Ultralight ) fabric.

I own a Chrono V4 13m, I'm 85kg, and I can get riding from about 6/7knots on my 633 foil if the wind is smooth. But it really gets fun from 10knots.

[tkaraszewski]

I live in different conditions but I don't even consider a 9m race kite until about 20 knots. Race kite quivers are going sort of this direction, with some adjustment for rider weight and such:

21m: 6-10 knots.
15m: 10-15 knots.
11m: 15-20 knots.
9m: 20+ knots.

On a bigger foil wing, you can probably move all these kite sizes down a range easy enough. You can certainly foil on kites half the size as above on surf wings in the same wind, but you asked about racing.

[dave1986]

I live in different conditions but I don't even consider a 9m race kite until about 20 knots. Race kite quivers are going sort of this direction, with some adjustment for rider weight and such:

21m: 6-10 knots.
15m: 10-15 knots.
11m: 15-20 knots.
9m: 20+ knots.

On a bigger foil wing, you can probably move all these kite sizes down a range easy enough. You can certainly foil on kites half the size as above on surf wings in the same wind, but you asked about racing.

@tkaraszewski Can I ask... for freeride hydrofoil on a large surf style foil, what is the largest kite size you would use? I.e, would you still see use for a 19m or 21m kite for sub 10knots if you only used a big surf foil?

[tkaraszewski]

I live in different conditions but I don't even consider a 9m race kite until about 20 knots. Race kite quivers are going sort of this direction, with some adjustment for rider weight and such:

21m: 6-10 knots.
15m: 10-15 knots.
11m: 15-20 knots.
9m: 20+ knots.

On a bigger foil wing, you can probably move all these kite sizes down a range easy enough. You can certainly foil on kites half the size as above on surf wings in the same wind, but you asked about racing.

@tkaraszewski Can I ask... for freeride hydrofoil on a large surf style foil, what is the largest kite size you would use? I.e, would you still see use for a 19m or 21m kite for sub 10knots if you only used a big surf foil?

On a 1000sq cm surf foil I used to use a 10m Soul down to 10 knots. I think if I was targeting 8 knots on a surf foil I'd probably want a 12 or 13m kite.

[cglazier]

I am using a 800 Moses foil wing with my 12m Soul foil kite. I can easily enjoy kiting in 9 knots of wind with lulls even a bit less.
Your Chrono should easily get get you out on your 800 front wing in winds a bit below 10 knots.
CG

[Peter_Frank]

I live in different conditions but I don't even consider a 9m race kite until about 20 knots. Race kite quivers are going sort of this direction, with some adjustment for rider weight and such:

21m: 6-10 knots.
15m: 10-15 knots.
11m: 15-20 knots.
9m: 20+ knots.

On a bigger foil wing, you can probably move all these kite sizes down a range easy enough. You can certainly foil on kites half the size as above on surf wings in the same wind, but you asked about racing.

@tkaraszewski Can I ask... for freeride hydrofoil on a large surf style foil, what is the largest kite size you would use? I.e, would you still see use for a 19m or 21m kite for sub 10knots if you only used a big surf foil?

Some of the good racers, who also ride surfboards t.ex (meaning they like to play, when not racing), dont ride bigger than 15 m2 even on their racewings, if they want a light wind hydrofoil session "for fun", not race training.
Of course 20-21-24 m2 is used when racing or race training, but you dont really move the low end it seems, when bigger than 15 m2.

So my take would be, that 12-13 max 15 m2 for use with big surf wings, makes the most sense and what you see used.

Peter

[Jyoder]

On a lake, I’m guessing the wind isn’t consistent and has lots of holes. Easy to do the wrong thing and drop the foilkite. You gotta pay your dues and practice active flying to keep kite in the air and make the most of it. 11m is the perfect size for this as it’s much much more nimble than a 15m.

What length are your lines? For bad wind, shorter 15m lines make it much easier to avoid overfly and collapse, but increase the likelihood you’ll have to downloop gybe.

[papasmerf]

Curious to know,

from those of you who are more into the racing side of hydrofoiling and live in light wind, junky beach locations, what windspeeds do you use a particular size of chrono / R1's in?

I picked up an 11m chrono v2 late this summer, and got out with it twice. Once the wind shifted and I put it in the drink, which was horrible. and another time I got out with it just before dark in maybe 9-11kts and had a blast, I hit close to 25kts top speed in even that wind (all of this is with a moses 590/330 and I weigh 170lbs, I now have an 800 wing that I've tried a handful of times, I assume It'll be a kt or two lower range than my 590).

With an 800 wing, what do you think I can reasonably expect for a lowend with an 11m chrono? remember, I'm on an inland lake, so that means super tight launches, trees, etc. At the moment, I haven't really figured out how to generate a spike of power from this kite like I can from my 11m boxer for instance, maybe that's what I really need to figure out. Ideas?

the v2 is not the UL version so you will be sacrificing some low end right there. and it will no doubt turn slower than the v3 or v4 so that also gives up a little power in the spike but i find it hard to believe that your 11 boxer has more power than the chrono.

if this is your first foil kite,, on an inland lake with trees around, this usually means shifty, weird winds,,, so you are in for a bit of a learning curve. the higher aspect foil kites really don't like those kinds of winds. if money is no object and you just want to kite in very light wind (as opposed to race-style),, perhaps consider the 11m or 13m hyperlink v2. will probably decrease any swims by like 75% at least, easier relaunch, and faster turning imo. plus more low end just by being ultralight material. you will defintely give up some speed and up wind ability with the hyperlink but the foil takes care of all that so no downside