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Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

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stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Sat Mar 30, 2019 11:11 am

Benoît has just finished an expedition on the Baïkal lake with his kites (7/800 kms solo without assistance from South to North). The smart 4.5 was his high-wind kite:

Image

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Tue May 07, 2019 4:13 pm

New video HF + Wave 4.5:



We are very lucky these days either surfing or kitesurfing. Tomorrow willl be a new 4.5 strapless surfing day if stars align ... I had my best session with the 8.5 two weeks ago. Two to three meter swell with only 20 knots side-on wind (usually here this is more a 30 knots weather to get these waves), the kite behaved fantastically, upwind, depower, stability, drift ... yess drift ... impressive in that wind and wave. I was shouting alone at every wave, I could stall my upper turn, get back in, etc ... best session of the year so far. Let's see tomorrow.

These waves are another experience of surfing with a kite.

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby elguapo » Wed May 08, 2019 7:12 pm

how stable is your wave 8.5?

i flew the wave in 8.5 and i can't see how it is usable...
...it collapses/forms a taco whenever it loses rear line tension.

are you able to drift the 8.5 at all?
..or is that falling taco thing expected with a wave in 8.5?

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Thu May 09, 2019 6:59 pm

No this is not normal, my 8.5 drifts very well (for a 8.5). You can have a taco when you push it too far with slack lines (and you can play with it) but this is not normal behavior. You should contact Benoît.

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Tony
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby Tony » Fri May 10, 2019 8:38 pm

I'm fairly new to the 8.5, first foil kite, flown 3 times. I have no issues riding with this kite. Very responsive, easy to keep in the air, like the way it flies. I don't know if my bar is perfectly set up for this kite or not but not having issues.
I do see tip collapse if standing still with the kite parked and rapidly sheet out (let go of the bar). I don't see this behavior if the kite is flying (moving through the air). Maybe I could tweak my setup a bit more to stop this, not sure, but I don't consider it a problem. I have never had the kite taco.

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Tony
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby Tony » Sat May 11, 2019 7:32 pm

Rode the 8.5 again yesterday on the foil in light winds. The winds were side-off in a tough launch on the sound. All the LEI kites were having to go out into the water to get clean wind to launch. I was able to launch from the grass. I did get some collapse/tacos walking out with the kite but it was when the wind completely shut off. My LEI would have been in the water, no question. The Wave would collapse, drop and then open back up and recover. Never touched the water. I find the kite very friendly on the HF, smooth. I don't get yanked around. It doesn't generate as much power when you crank the bar as an LEI so in super light winds I sometimes need to loop it to get going, but it turns super fast so no problem. Had a really good session. I was the only one coming back to the launch with a kite in the air, landing on the grass. All the LEI's were dropping 100m from shore. Probably similar to other foil kites I guess.
Still getting used to all these lines/bridles. Honestly, do not like bridles and the associated complexity. Our launches are not clean, lots of grass, twigs etc. to contend with so it takes longer to get set up. I always launch with one hand on the eject/release.
Hope that helps.
Tony

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Sun May 12, 2019 10:57 am

I had an interesting session yesterday. We were slightly optimistic. Wind was 20-25 knots with small waves -- forecasts were 25-30 but the hour was not very precise. We had to go upwind to reach a cleaner playground so I took the Wave 8.5 (wind range being very large) and a smaller board (Stretch 5'11).

When we arrived, wind kept in the low twenties for some time and then increased to 25-30 knots (my co-rider was on a Sonic 2 11m ... ouch! 8)). I had more than enough wind but the good news is that I had no difficulty for surfing even in that wind range (note that I kite with foils since 2002 so there are some flying skills involved). Wind was nearly completely side where we were and I could go fully downwind on the first bottom, with the kite crossing the wind window without being ejected from the surfboard. I could even loop the kite while surfing (high in the wind window) to replace it for surfing. I still have more upper wind range available for safety. In 25-30, I can still surf with a kite (but I definitely could be on a 4.5). I had the Wave 8.5 in strong winds before but this time I have the wind statistics for the session as an objective measure (wind was dry).

This means that the Wave 8.5 can definitely be paired with the Wave 4.5 for travel (my weight is 63kg). I still need to fly more the Wave 12.5 to get a clearer idea of the wind range I have with 4.5 / 8.5 / 12.5 (even if the 12.5 was primarily for snowkiting). Upper wind range is 45 knots while being safe, this I know now 8)

Stef

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irwe
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby irwe » Sun May 12, 2019 11:06 am

Stef, what line length and front and rear line knot setting were you using

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Sun May 12, 2019 3:41 pm

Hi irwe, I had the As and Bs on the same knot yesterday, here it is:

Image

As for the rear, I am always tuned to have no backstall, fully powered, bar all in .. or just a little bit and I get a couple of cm on the trim to remove it.

I ride the 8.5 on 19m lines and a 60cm bar. For lines length, I don't know if it is the best setting but I like it like this.

Stef

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Frankieboy
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby Frankieboy » Mon May 13, 2019 7:48 pm

Hi guys,

I ride a Wave 8,5 but think of selling it. Used twice.
I am in Europe if anybody has interest, it doesn't fit in my quiver...

I didn't experience this taco thing except when walking on the beach, even powered.
I ride it with a 65cm carbon bar and 24m lines (don't have shorter...)
Drift is just like no other kite. This is why this kite is so interesting in the waves.

Bar pressure is quite heavy on the low range, then no problem when good powered.

Cheers Frank


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