Soul 8m for freestyle strapless foil? 14-20 knots

[leeuwen]

Hi,

Looking at 14-20 ish knot range.
I am considering getting an 8m Soul but like to get some feedback for people familiar with the kite and/or my riding style.
I am mostly riding on flat water (lake) and I like to have some easy-available lift for learning things e.g. now working on the "ballerina" when the conditions allow it.
Also hopefully I will be able to jump strapless at some point so looking basically at the stuff Fred Hope is doing.

I currently have an 11M foilkite (Falcon) for the low-low end and the lift is great but if you run out of power during/at the end of a trick it is too slow to loop for power to recover it.
My other (tube) kites don't have so much/long lift but they are able to quickly loop last minute for an instant bit of extra oomph out of a trick which is just sooo nice.
Wondering if an 8m Soul could be a good addition that provides the best of both: lots of lift and also quick-ish to loop for an extra power spike when needed?

Also liking the easy self launch of foil kite. Ideally self landing with the 8m would also still be doable in this wind range without needing to pull the safety?

Looking at the Soul over other brands since the 8m seems sturdy build (might use it on a twintip a few times per year), the fabric seems very durable (hoping to get many 100s of hours on it) and reselling it will be a lot easier compared to some smaller brands.

I also have a 10M Roam I will keep so not worried about drift/wave performance and a 6M Crave for the 18kn+ days.

[Adventure Logs]

How much do you weigh? In that range I would almost say the 6m Soul2 or 7m Soul1. I ride only strapless both flat lake in the summer and S. Texas swell in the winters and my favorite foil is the Soul 6m. I'm 185lbs, ride a 90cm board with 633 and I would call my bottom end right around that.

[evan]

Have the 7m soul 1 for sale, you can test it when you are near the Brouwersdam

It has a lot of power for it's size. Now swithed to the 6m soul 2. Even on my racefoil I can get going as low as 12kn if I want to do something different then riding powered.

[jakemoore]

8m Soul an excellent kite and recent one of my most flown kites. I'm probably riding mine in 8-14 knots at 90kg. Could easily go higher but generally I choose a faster kite in more winds.

Self launch and landing in 20 is no problem. The lift for tacks will be excellent.

There still will be slowness compared to a tube kite. Downloop is no problem but I find the decision to loop must be made before and not during any move. In 20 knots there will be quite some power in in a loop.

Also, there is some delay in time when you depower and that can also make it tough. For example it is difficult for me to land a strapless jump with no grab on the Soul. I find that if there is good power the kite floats so much the board falls off my feet late in the jump even if I'm pushing the bar away to descend. If I do land and keep feet on the board then the redirector is so late the board sinks to my knees before the power comes back.

I wouldn't compare myself to any pro rider. Maybe those guys can do it but it looks like they also choose another kite. I would say I can land 1 in 3 small strapless jumps on a smaller tube kite in good winds vs 1 in 10-15 on the Soul. I'm finding the most success when I can fly a 5m tube kite and think it would be better on my 7m tubeif I put it on relatively short lines

[Jyoder]

+1 for 6m Soul. Amazing range and huge power spike when looped to get going. I am comfortable in 12-13knots. 75kg. 110cm strapless board on 500cm2 free race foil.

8m Soul is nice, but flies more like a big kite. The 6m is much faster and easier quickly loop or reposition to recover while still giving a lot of lift if you keep it moving. Plus, 6m is almost impossible to tangle or bow tie. Auto-relaunch.

Souls are grunty so if you mess up in the middle of a trick and the kite has to cross the whole window, you’ll get quite a yank if overpowered. They don’t backstall as easily as other foilkites, but 6m is small enough you can sheet in and choke it redirect to edge of the window while fumbling in the water.

[Janus]

Try Evan's 7m..

[leeuwen]

8m Soul an excellent kite and recent one of my most flown kites. I'm probably riding mine in 8-14 knots at 90kg. Could easily go higher but generally I choose a faster kite in more winds.

Self launch and landing in 20 is no problem. The lift for tacks will be excellent.

There still will be slowness compared to a tube kite. Downloop is no problem but I find the decision to loop must be made before and not during any move. In 20 knots there will be quite some power in in a loop.

Also, there is some delay in time when you depower and that can also make it tough. For example it is difficult for me to land a strapless jump with no grab on the Soul. I find that if there is good power the kite floats so much the board falls off my feet late in the jump even if I'm pushing the bar away to descend. If I do land and keep feet on the board then the redirector is so late the board sinks to my knees before the power comes back.

I wouldn't compare myself to any pro rider. Maybe those guys can do it but it looks like they also choose another kite. I would say I can land 1 in 3 small strapless jumps on a smaller tube kite in good winds vs 1 in 10-15 on the Soul. I'm finding the most success when I can fly a 5m tube kite and think it would be better on my 7m tubeif I put it on relatively short lines

Thx, this was exactly the info I was looking for!
So I guess the 8m is out, I exactly have they same experience with the 11M: make the decision to loop well in advance.
That is ok in super stable winds but since the wind is often so variable at my main spot I want some last minute flexibility from the kite.

So I guess that leaves the 6M (Soul v2 does not have a 7m) as the only option since it is seems quite a bit faster but I guess it might be to low power for a decent amount of easy accessible lift at 14 ish knots.
(I weigh 75-80 depending on the amount of cookies eaten + thick wetsuit most of the year)

Another option would be to go with a tube. With the new kites coming out from OR I might search for a discounted 2022 CraveHL in 8 or 9m


Regarding testing the 7M: Thx for the offer!
Will have a think about that.

[Jyoder]

Another option would be to go with a tube.

I do find that I am more comfortable trying new things like lazy Susan, strapless jumps, and generally more risky and unstable riding with my 5m UFO vs my 6m Soul. The soul is great for variable wind and when dialed in to familiar tricks, but nothing beats the speed and on/off power delivery of a LEI except maybe a Peak, but I crash the kite too much when really pushing myself to feel safe on a Peak (and you can’t do RoundtheWorld or crash kite on purpose and then relaunch while still on foil.

[Soleas]

I tried the 6m Soul2 the other day for the first time on a twintip. It was blowing 14-18kn and I was shocked how good this kite is. Tons of power for a 6m. I could easily jump and the hangtime was foil like. Man it was 14-18kn, I was on my 10m Soul before I got on the 6m. I thought I would be way underpowered but in my surprise not only I wasn't but could also jump with confidence. The 6m is also a looping machine and I noticed that the new Soul2 is way more rigid in the air and doesn't loose it's shape when you turn downwind towards it and loosen the lines ( down a wave for example )

I weigh 65kg, I took it off a mate who is 85kg and was on a hyfrofoil and he came in cause he was getting a bit overpowered on the foil he said. He described it as 'a little cloud in the sky'. 'Ena synnefaki' (in greek)/
We had this same discussion before he got the 6m. He was between a 6m and an 8m Soul2. He's glad he got the 6m.