RE: Kitech foil kites

[Matt Air]

Anyone have any experience with these foil kites? Im looking at purchasing a foil kite, particularly for riding with my hydrofoil. It looks like the fly!4 has lower aspect than race oriented foil kites and perhaps more user friendly. Price looks good to. Saw that they were in Miami recently. Any comments would be appreciated as I have yet to see/use them in person. Thanks!

http://kitechkites.hu/en

https://kitehydrofoilmiami.com

[corbett]

User "Rufusz" has them. Never heard of anyone else having them.

[Regis-de-giens]

I saw one 15m on the beach for demo but not enough wind to test ; visually it looks good quality and in a design similar to the Flysurfer speed 3 /4. I do not know which cloth is used. I also heard good feedback from some FS users who tries; good but I would say "standard".

I also have the FS speed4 10m which is very good for Hydrofoiling and certainly better low wind flight ability thanks to Lotus weight.

I think The Kitech fly is adapted as a first foilkite as the speed is. But to be honnest even if I am selling my Lotus 10, should I have to elect one winner for user-friendly /easy foilkite for Hydrofoiling, I would definitely vote for the Pulsion from Conceptair, with a unbelievablde flying ability, agility and stability. And very easy to pilot with an efficient and short loop for the waterstart compared to speed ... if you are not seeking for maximum speed as it seems a bit slower than a speed.

[Regis-de-giens]

for french readers :
- old topic : (2011) http://www.tubelesskite.net/t2073-kitec ... ght=kitech
-recent topic (2014) : http://www.tubelesskite.net/t6497-kitec ... ght=kitech

[Laszlo Karai]

Hi Guys,

My name is Laszlo from http://www.kitehydrofoilmiami.com. I fly and carry Kitechkites.
I have to admit that I only recently began to use foil kites. So, I cannot be considered a “foil kite guru”, however, I do have experience flying multiple brands in the last two years. My first tries were on race foil kites. The performance was superb: huge range (especially high end), fast and forward pointing kite, amazing jumps, soft landings, great hanging from chicken loop during tacks, etc. However, I was not totally sold on practical issues, such as water relaunch and overall handling, and there was also a considerable learning/adjustment curve to climb. I enjoy high performance gear, however, not interested in racing and I guess I am not alone. Regarding foil kites, I hear often: yes, it is interesting, even impressed, however, due to the too much trade off, which is actually mainly inconvenience not going for one. Being a newcomer to foil kites and seeing my transformation, I think, it is kind of “cultural thing”. One needs to pay attention and have to have the willingness to understand foil kites and then steps into a new realm... Kitechkites can help greatly to walk that "bridge" as these are designed to be one of the most user friendly foil kites on the market. The kites are well built using the most advanced materials and the manufacturing process is quality controlled by the owner and designer of Kitechkites, Attila Karoly. The Fly4 is all about user friendliness and probably it has the closest feel, handling characteristics to a tube kite, so this is one of the best choice for people who trying to get into foil kites. Setting up the kite is super easy, as the bridle lines are almost tangle free. They achieved this by choosing thicker, however, extremely high quality Liros Dyneema lines. The kite has a lower aspect ratio, which means the turning speed is amazing, which translates into effortless kiteloops. The kite wants to fly and due to its construction and its light weight does not have a tendency to backstall, so when you are looping it comes back to 9 o’clock with no loss of momentum: it spins around like a propeller. In transitions it is a great help as one has controllable, however, continuous power throughout the turn. Considering it is a so called “soft kite” it is extremely rigid in the air with no tendency to “jelly fish”. At launch the wingtips are opening up readily and not caught in between the lines. The wider (not folding) wingtips also keep the kite’s shape more intact, which comes handy during water relaunch: wider tips do not allow easy bowties. Rigidity comes from the excellent internal pressure and the tightly closing valve system. These kites if not deflated staying up “puffy” well beyond 30 min on the beach. This is a very valuable characteristics, as in case of a crashing it into the water the kite will stays re-launchable for a long time. Actually, water relaunch is a great fun with these kites. When we are out in “sub-white cap” conditions, landing the kite after a trick or transition one mile offshore during shark migration, it is a great thing to have a kite that goes back to the sky with ease. I did see that these kites are nicely relaunching, however, until I personally tried it for 30min it has not registered in my brain. One day when the conditions were so light that I was not able to ride, I decided to do a relaunch practice session. It was actually a ton of fun and was amazed, how easy to do reverse launches and play with self-landings followed by automatic shooting back to the sky. Even when these kites are wet they feel light compared to tube kites. The lightness also helps with the drifting ability, which is fantastic for wave riding with wave or foil boards. Again, as with everything there is a learning curve, however, these kites are behaving, as reliable dogs.

So, in sum I do think it is a great product with a unique niche and fantastic value for the buck. These kites are going to provide a bridge to a lot of current tube kiters, who consider switching to foil kites primarily for increased range, hydrofoiling in low winds and for reliable relaunchability. These people will discover that these kite do everything very well and excel as a freeride, freestyle, wave and hydrofoil friendly kite. As an avid foilboarder, I am not just the importer/dealer, but also one very happy customer.


The kites are coming complete with the appropriate bar and bag (no pump is included:).

More info on http://www.kitechkites.com, http://www.kitehydrofoilmiami.com

Happy foiling!

Laszlo



https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g5vo46tqlczt ... dDvYa?dl=0

[Rufusz]

Anyone have any experience with these foil kites? Im looking at purchasing a foil kite, particularly for riding with my hydrofoil. It looks like the fly!4 has lower aspect than race oriented foil kites and perhaps more user friendly. Price looks good to. Saw that they were in Miami recently. Any comments would be appreciated as I have yet to see/use them in person. Thanks!

http://kitechkites.hu/en

https://kitehydrofoilmiami.com

I use Kitech kites since 2011. The Fly4! is the best so far really user friendly kites at pretty good prices.

The 6 m2 is an insane kite, really responsive with massive wind range.
The 9m2 turns as a 12m2 tube as far as I can see, still OK for looping and freestyle but its best area is freeride and big air.
With my 15m2 its possible to kite in sub 10kn conditions with a skimboard (Im 85 kgs).

With hydrofoil it should be OK as these kites go upwind like crazy. If you are looking for ultimate LW, the new 18m2 is their latest model and its suprisingly quick for its size.

One more thing: I don't know if its the same with all foil kites but these kites are really durable. I had a Fly3! 15m2 for 4 years and it was still doing fine when I upgraded to the new model. Of course pullys wear out after a couple of seasons and you may need to trim the kite once a season but these are no major costs. I use them on fresh water lakes most of the time so no sand or salt...

[foilholio]

All foils are durable. The heavier fabrics last longer of course.

[Matt Air]

Thanks guys for all the comments and feedback, really appreciate it!

[Kitech Attila]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Attila, I am the Head Designer and CEO of Kitech.

I would like to add a few things to the discussion.

Kitech kites are designed and produced in Europe. During the last twelve years the brand have become popular and well respected. We began to produce the first kites in 2002 and the FLY4 is our 12th series.

We manufacture the FLY4 in 5 different sizes: 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18m. These sizes are actually designed and perfected for the appropriate wind range as they slightly differ in their desing to match the needs for the different wind conditions. The smaller sizes are coming with lower aspect ratios (AR), and lower number of cells, while the larger kites are designed with higher ARs and increased amount of cells. We have been testing all sizes and they work great with hydrofoils due to their exceptional stability and the small amount of wind these kites need to keep them in the Zenith. The FLY4 is, however, an all terrain machine perfect for water, earth and snow.

We put a lot of time and attention to choose the perfect “ingredients” for our kites and we only go with the best possible materials:
The canopy is made of Dominico DOCDO 30 D 40 gr / m2 water resistance.
The bridal is made of a pre-stretched mix of Liros Dyneema lines (70-120-160-250-350 kg), designed and optimized for the load distribution and flying characteristics of the kites and our mixers are using Ronstan ceramic pulleys.

All kites can be used in a wide range of wind conditions. They are easy to set up, launch, fly and and land. As an additional bonus they are super user friendly, durable and low on maintenance needs. Thanks to our special valve system and sawing techniques the internal pressure within the kite stays high for an exceptional long time allowing water re-launch for a very long time. The kites are pointing upwind, and having great downwind characteristics. The combination of the high internal pressure and the low weight of the kites translates into outstanding drifting and slack line stability, which makes this kite a wonderful wave machine. All kites are fast with superb turning speed leading to high jumps and amazing hang time. DON’T forget that the re-entry after jumps will be super soft reducing wear and tear on your hydrofoils and human jointsJ

One more thing! Shops and training centers maybe also interested in our unique trainer kite the SPEEDY, which is a water re-lauchable two line kite. It saves a lot of frustration for teachers and for students alike, as it reduces downtime and also teaches the students beyond the mastering of figure 8s, intuitive re-launch techniques.

The kites are coming complete with the bar and and bag on a very competitive price.

Interested pilots can schedule their demo flight with Kite Hydrofoil Miami (www.kitehydrofoilmiami.com).

Happy kiting and foiling!

See you on the water!


Attila

Attila Karoly
CEO and Head Designer
Kitech

[kitexpert]

Welcome to the forum, it is nice to have pro designers here

I checked kitech website and for mostly I liked what I saw. Some remarks from the pictures of the Fly4:

Wingtips are wider than normally, and you even say they are wider than in earlier model. Interesting development. I see a separate (A-B-C) wingtip line, it is not so often used but possible of course. I can't see the pulling ratio for that. Smaller and rounded wingtip would have less drag, but hard to say how big improvement it would be.

I can read airfoil (profile) is different in different parts of the wing and "optimized" in wingtips. It is reasonable and specially when there is quite a lot canopy curve (although pictures easily mislead about that) and that wide tip.

I think big sizes look better for their bigger cell count, but 27 cells for 9m kite with that AR is not bad at all. Full cell D-ribs from A to C and bridle on every third rib is classic and proven choice. Bridle looks quite good. Perhaps there is possibility to add third level in big sizes (with some cell count optimization), to shorten it a bit more and to leave the wingtip line.

PA ratio seems to be 70% in every size. If AR and cell count is designed for each size, this might be too: smaller sizes could have it less, bigger ones more of course. Now it looks like this parameter is fixed for some reason.

I would say Fly4 at least look a competitive foilkite with some own design choices.