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Thanks guys for all your feedback.

I couldn't notice the lack of upwind performance and speed the day I tried the FS Peak, cause I was using it on high end and compared to my Ozone Access, which is not good at this also.

At last the thing that pushes me back from single/strutless inflatos is the same as singleskins: lack of speed and upwind performance = poor jumping performance = no fun for me.

Right now I'm going to keep my chrono v2, athough is not a good swiming partner, as soon as I can get going with the foil I always can jump four meters at least = fun.

Sombra wrote: ↑

Sun May 06, 2018 10:28 am

Hi

@BOEMIX
Do you own a Peak? Which size? Do you tried it once for foiling?
Can you compare it with one of your other kites in meaning of power.

I would accept, that it is not relaunchable. Where is the problem? In very low wind I very seldom throw the kite in the water. And if it happens, you wind the lines up, take the kite, swim bag and start it. I do not see the problem as it can not get filled with water the swim will be short.

But I was reading in other comments, that the flying characteristics of the Peak (and other single skin kites) is not very suitable for hydrofoiling. Very poor depower (in meaning of more on/off ), narrow windrange, very slow turning.


I’m very surprised that there is almost nobody trying it. There is only one video in YouTube from Kitefinder trying this combination of Hydrofoil and Peak. And they reported an amaizing lowend.

Thanks a lot

Not boemix but I have a Peak3 12m and got it for the same reasons you're thinking of it.

It flies in nothing, literally 3-4mph and it's rock stable. You can't get going in that light of wind though, it just flies. It's VERY VERY VERY slow. Slooooooooow. I think it's slower than my R1v1 17m. It has no power when you send it into the power zone. That is a VERY weird feeling the first time you fly it. I guess it's good for land/snow when you don't want to get ripped off and powered up immediately but not the best for water. With the Takuma clone I can get going in about 6-7mph but it's a bit hard to start. Pretty much the only way to start is with a couple of loops or sending it deep and low on 30m lines. Shorter lines do not help with speed much and lack in power. A floatier board would help here. I can keep foiling if wind luls below 7mph but it's hard to stay upwind and if you screw up a transition there's no way to start unless a gust comes through. In under 10mph you can't get it wet. Once wet it gets too heavy to launch (at least self-launch) in my experience. There's no "maybe I'll save it" once it touches the water 99.9% of the time. Landing the kite is extremely easy, no backstalling required. When the edge touches the ground the whole thing collapses. That is also a huge drawback when it touches the water and you slack the lines for a second. I've had it in 13-15mph and you get powered up but there's plenty of depower. It flutters like crazy when sheeting out in higher wind but that doesn't bother me too much as I don't usually use it if I measure gusts over 11mph on shore. This has been in cooler Florida breezes, I've yet to try it in the middle of the summer but in a few months I will.

I don't bother with anything else in super light wind now. It's a very small, low AR, light kite. It's much easier to pack up wet than anything else I have. The price makes this kite affordable but don't expect anything more than some freeride foiling on it in light wind. Overall the kite is not that fun for water.

These types of winds do not bring an adrenaline rush but it's silly stupid in the wind I can get out now. I literally laugh while riding in some of these conditions. Other times while riding I'm wondering WHY THE FUDGE AM I OUT IN THIS?! I COULD WALK FASTER!

@Boemix, Norcom

Thanks a lot

Perhaps slightly OT but I post a picture of my mid AR depowerable single skin kite here. It is quite smooth wing and it has some details AFAIK not presented in other kites so picture is not hq and it is cropped heavily. Compared to regular foil kites it has much lighter feel but at the same time it is like all single skins more powerful. It flies surprisingly high close to zenith so L/D is not at all bad, but due to excessive drag compared to normal foil kite it does not develop that kind of speed across WW or during turns. It has no tendency to overfly or collapse at all.

kitexpert wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 12:46 am

We're competing with Concept Air here on photo quality! Its intriguing but also dissatisfying. Interesting marketing method.

But reasons for "hiding" are a bit different... Seriously, these single skin kites will make certain segment of foil kites obsolete, and development of these is continuing. Like I wrote there is couple of inventions in this kite which solve some single skin problems, for instance bridle is quite different what is earlier seen. Also LE stiffeners are better than usually used, making LE area smoother.

Too bad I don't have time or resources to continue this project at the moment.

Thicker LE stiffeners = heavier, carbon fiber = break, kit twits dimension= better.

foilholio wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 10:14 pm

Thicker LE stiffeners = heavier, carbon fiber = break, kit twits dimension= better.

I was wondering if adding some weight would speed the Peak3 12m? Don't think it would fly in as light of wind then.

Was also thinking of trying to make an inflatable tube where the LE stiffners are without any dacron or high PSI inflation. Maybe in a ::_::_::_::_:: shape, fit in between the open cells. Easy to put on and take off. Could make it more rigid and give a fihgting chance for relaunch while adding some weight.

Ok generally adding weight to anything flying does not improve performance.

Kite above is lighter than a similar sized Peak and it has also less bridle line and it has simpler structure. Making holes in ribs would save some weight, but because it is a proto it is not necessary. Weight saving would be small, perhaps 5% at most. Using lighter weight fabric is trivial.

Foilholios whining of the weight of LE stiffeners is nonsense: weight difference is small and smoother LE is much more important.

FS shows with Soul how quite complex and refined kite can still be a light weight kite. Of course it would be even lighter without details and having less cells, but then it would be different kite of lower performance. Constant whining of making kites lighter and not remembering other demands is not very constructive attitude.

Big single skins are slow because there is so much drag, and of course inertia starts to have an effect. L/D remains low because kite pulls so hard kiter can't produce enough opposite force. Big kites are always faster when kiter is heavy and strong, this is true for any kite if wind is high enough.