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pmaggie wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 20, 2017 9:23 am

A Sonic 13 and the TT? Too difficult to handle?

Nope, sounds like a great combo to me. Almost the 1 kite quiver.

A Sonic 13 and the TT? Too difficult to handle?

I think a Sonic2 13m and a TT is a great combo but it will handle differently than the well behaved Speed 5 kites. When I asked my dealer about buying them, he told me to stick with the Speed 5 kites. I bought the Sonic2 kites anyway and now I love them but it was not love at first sight. It took some time before becoming comfortable with them.

The Sonic2 was primarily designed for hydrofoils and racing, not TT riding. Of course lots of TT guys love them as well.

They don't launch as easily as a Speed 5, you can launch your Speed 5 at a high angle to the wind at the edge of the window. The first tip will lift up nicely and inflate, followed by the rest of the kite. If you try this with the Sonic2, good chance your tip will flop over and if you do get the thing up in the air, you will want to continue to pull on your floaters and keep the kite stalled until the tips inflate. Easy to do with the 13m in 9-10 knots of wind, not so easy to do in 14-15 knots of wind that you might want for a TT.

I don't want to scare anyone away for getting one but you will find out quickly that they are a race kites. Interestingly, the Sonic Race kites have inflation openings closer to the tip and the tips seem to inflate more quickly. Here again, I am flying a 15m Sonic Race in maybe 9 knots of wind for a hydrofoil so not too scary launching the thing directly downwind and stalling the kite in the power zone.

If you get a 13m Sonic2, I would recommend launching the first time out on a beach that has lots of room. I have seen guys in Turks and Caicos long bay launch them where they have 5m of beach behind the kite, they get dragged and now they are flying a kite with tips tucked flying over the brush. Too many of the beaches that I visit tend to have little room for error.

After flying the kites a few times on a big beach you will get the hang of it.

I prefer the Sonic 1 for TT riding, over the Sonic 2. The things that make the 2 better for foiling ruin it for the TT.

FWIW, I know guys who've ditched all their Speeds for the Sonic when it hit the market and never looked back.

Kamikuza wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:20 am

I prefer the Sonic 1 for TT riding, over the Sonic 2. The things that make the 2 better for foiling ruin it for the TT.

FWIW, I know guys who've ditched all their Speeds for the Sonic when it hit the market and never looked back.

Having both Sonic1 11m and Sonic2 9m and using them both for freerace hydrofoiling and freeride/big air on TT, I also find the Sonic1 better for TT for boosting. Good point of Sonic2 is that you have less tip tuck and colapses, so you can avoid droping your kite in the water, but weak point of Sonic2 is that its turning radius is larger and it keeps more power during a abrupt turn, so it's harder to do a nice boost, I tend to feel overpowered quickely.

I've heard the smaller sizes are a bit more of a handful. I thought the 2 was more soft in power feeling; the 1 is more "on" all the time. 2 is better on the foil because of that.

I think I will forget the Sonic, it never existed )))))))))))))
Joking, but reading your valued opinions the verdict is quite unanimous: the Sonics are more difficult to handle than the Speeds and they're more oriented to foiling than to TT freeriding. Add to this that my home spot has an extremely tricky launch zone...
Thanks to everybody for the suggestions!

pmaggie wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:59 am

I think I will forget the Sonic, it never existed )))))))))))))
Joking, but reading your valued opinions the verdict is quite unanimous: the Sonics are more difficult to handle than the Speeds and they're more oriented to foiling than to TT freeriding. Add to this that my home spot has an extremely tricky launch zone...
Thanks to everybody for the suggestions!

Psch, not that much more difficult. I couldn't point to any instance that the Sonic 1 or 2 has been any more difficult to fly than my Speed3's....

Kamikuza wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:29 pm

pmaggie wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:59 am

I think I will forget the Sonic, it never existed )))))))))))))
Joking, but reading your valued opinions the verdict is quite unanimous: the Sonics are more difficult to handle than the Speeds and they're more oriented to foiling than to TT freeriding. Add to this that my home spot has an extremely tricky launch zone...
Thanks to everybody for the suggestions!

Psch, not that much more difficult. I couldn't point to any instance that the Sonic 1 or 2 has been any more difficult to fly than my Speed3's....

Agreed, I went from Speed 4s to Sonics and didn’t geek they were more difficult at all. Never flown the S5s though, maybe they are that much easier.

Agree that Sonic2 is not more difficult to fly straight in clean winds than Sp5, Sp4 Lotus and Deluxe/Normal. But every high AR kite as the Sonic2 and especially the Sonic1 can be much more difficult when it comes to difficult wind or a complex drop. I often see people which would be happier with low aspect kites and therefore less unneeded swimming. I also have to completely rebuild my Sonic2 sometimes in the deep water, which is possible and something I accept, but is too much for most rider I know.

I would hope for Speed 6 to be again more close to the Speed 4 Lotus maybe with a upper canopy part out of lotus fabric as on the Sonic2.

For both Speed 6 and Sonic 3 I would hope that steering forces will feel once again more progressiv as on Sp 4 Lotus, Sonic 1, Sonic Race, Ozone Chrono 1 and many other good foil kites. And that there is a clean feel able rupture point for the current at a certain angle of attack along the whole side of the wing, as it is on the named kites. That's all for the Sonic, the rest IMHO is already great as it is. For pure race there is the "race" and for freeride and easier handling there is the Speed.

If there is room, need and market for a 4th soft kite within FS with even more freeride and easy handling kite as the "Speed 4 Deluxe/Normal" or Pulse has been, which could be also more wave orientated, can start with one stearing line, very small soft kites, etc. I am not sure. Think it is ok to leave this topic to other small brands as concept air and just offer a LEI as the Stoke in this section.

Well since we are doing "what I want for the Speed 6" game, here's my view. Combine the Sonic and Sonic Race into ONE line as the Sonic Race. Too much confusion/overlap between the Speeds and Sonics in my opinion. Make the S6 basically the new Sonic since they are so easy to use BUT keep the Flysurfer warranty(It pisses me off there's no warranty on the Sonics). Now since that's getting rid of 1 of the 3 high aspect kite lines, there's room for a Psycho 5. Also bring back the option of UL(Lotus) fabric. I don't want them all UL because for the smaller sizes I don't feel it's needed. IMO

=Jason-