another poll, who likes foils that float on side or sink?

[papasmerf]

so my current foil that i love, it totally sinks right away, alum mast and solid carbon wings and alum fuse,, which is fine but wow, when it get's pointed downwind and the waves get behind it, it takes off. so if my kite went down and turned into a mess, i think my board would be long gone,, alternatively, my buddies foil that he let's me use (cause he foils like once a year), the foil floats on it's side and while i swear that thing will actually go upwind on it's own, it is pretty easy to body drag up to, or intersect with as it slowly goes down wind,, it seems to have about a 10 minute or so floating period.

i like to think i am beyond any drama's as foiling wise i am very competent now but, this summer, a very skilled, long time foiler came to our spot with his clouds and went out in the middle, wind ebbed and his kite went down and he couldn't relaunch it,,8m cloud (D or E) very lucky 2 of us went out there,, one guy stayed with his board but couldn't get it cause he was foiling himself plus his kite was on the light wind

i use foil kites 60% of the time,, hyperlink and chrono. and i am always pushing the limit of their low end, so they have gone down a couple time and been a bitch to relaunch in lulls.

who likes a floating foil vs a foil that stay down

[FLandOBX]

I've had both, and they each have advantages. But, as you say, the sinker can get away from you or drift into your lines in a jiffy if your kite is down. That's why I'd probably give a slight preference to the floater, which is also positioned easier to waterstart. So that's my vote.....prefer float on side.

[abel]

Depends on the kite...
if Peak, then definitely sink; the kite rarely falls and the board always comes towards me. In this case, if the board is on the side, its very difficult to body drag towards it while its drifting out because the Peak sits quite inside the wind window, so in light winds is difficult to "chase" the board running away.
If kiteing with a LEI, I would consider the side floating.
I experienced both, sink and non sink, with the same setup, but different mast lengths, 72 cm sinks, 92 many times on the side.
Anyhow, my personal preference is sink.

[leeuwen]

My 633 will sit on its side but my 679 I recently got will sink so I do have experience with both.

I body dragged so many times towards my 633 setup before I got the 679. Body dragging will take a bit of time and just being able to wait for the foil to get downwind is soooo nice.
So I would say learning new things on a sinking foil is a bit quicker due to less downtime from needing to fetch the board.

Obviously a floating foil is easier to start on, especially strapless, but I am good enough now that it doesn't really matter anymore.

I would say when you kite crashes it really depends what would be more convenient. It sure can take off downwind with a sinker but getting back to the board upwind can be impossible with a a floater and a kite that won't relaunch as well.

[Peter_Frank]

I prefer sinking foils...

But havent got any, now.

If you put the kite in the drink - the first thing you do is get your board, so a board dolphining to shore is not a problem - and even if, it is fine it gets itself to land.

Waterstarting strapless is easy even on the heaviest alufoil, when you are not a beginner.

But you waste some time every time you have to get your board upwind of you - I would rather have the board get down to me faster.

Which it does when it is upright, and dont when on its side.
Light foils can stay in both positions, so one gets a lot of experience with both scenarious, and definitely prefer when it is upright.

Looking behind the obvious though, if a sinking foil means a small wing and heavy foil, I dont like that and would prefer a floating on its side one, out of two downsides

Peter

[jakemoore]

I think nearly floating foil is perfect. That is to say a foil that sits on its side a few minutes but stays down once its down. Close to neutral buoyancy.

[airsail]

Another thing to consider is a heavy sinking foil has a lot more momentum than a light floating foil. This means in a crash your more likely to be run down and hit by a heavier foil. My personal preference is for a marginal sinking foil, one that will sink gradually and come back to you but not race off downwind immediately.

Floating foils can be problematic when using large foil kites in light wind, like the Peak it is almost impossible to drag upwind in 6 knots. After a day when I needed someone to retrieve my floating foil for me I only use sinking foils in those light winds.

[Peter_Frank]

But it is not that simple....

There are fully floating foils, but not many, which will stay on the side no matter what.

Most light foils will sink down to upright mostly, but when there is wind, the wind will often push on the board so it will stay on the side, and not go downwind at all.

Meaning a close to zero buoyancy foil will often stay on its side, if some wind.

Peter

[juanpasala]

100% sinking, dont want to have part of the mast or any wing near the surface if i miss a manoeuver

[oregonkiter]

Sinker for me.