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Kitech FRS

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tomtom
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Kitech FRS

Postby tomtom » Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:57 pm

Hi all, Sorry for long and non native english writing.

Entre /skip if you want/
As you can see Im long time member with recently reborn interest in kitesurfing because of hydrofoiling. In last year I was trying to build optimum new kite quiver for my style which is strapless SB free and waveriding and same thing on HF. After some trials i bought North NEO 7,9 and MONO in 12. I very like NEO except waterrelaunch and low wind stability. Waterrelaunch is plain horrible - to the point that in less than 14 knts this kite is deep water UNRELAUCHABLE. Luckily for me - i very very rarely crash kite - almost never. Problems are only lulls. North Mono on other hand is IMO bad kite. I was putting high hopes to 1/no struts kites but i just dont like them. Any of them. Only one i didnt flew is BRM but i dont see any reason to be much different. Yes they fly well in LW. But they are bad kites - i mean worse than 3 struts counterpart. Worse in every way except staying in air. They are heavier and more vague on bar. Steering is less crisp and precise. Depower is on/off - mean ON and then luffing and flapping. I like to ride small kites. I work kite hard - and ride board. I need precise kite that i can send hard and modulate power while sending.
1/mono struts doesnt work for me. So i was looking for kite to replace mono in 6-12knts range.

Enter the foil kites.
I hate foil kites!
Did I say I HATE FOIL KITES!
I had foil kites in past and ultimately i always ditch them.
But times are changing and i was prepare to try these new so call tube handling foil kites. Before i was riding regulary friend SONIC2 11 and i know that this kite isnt for me. Yes it has performance for sure. But bar feeling is weird /all FS kites shares this from ancient 2000 times/ Its like rigid wing with sqeaky mechanical control surfaces control but not really feedback. But i saw some clear advantages to LEI kites: It can be relaunched in almost no wind i mean really low like 6-7 knts. Impressive. It drifts /or can be just leaved alone while riding DW on HF/
But otherwise its no kite for me - i rather wait for LEI wind. Biggest downsize is unable to control power while sending or redirect it. /think strapless SB or HF jibe/
So I tried SOUL 8 - i put very hopes in this kite. But i dint like it. It still turn slow in any LEI standart and most important it has no depower /by modern Wave LEI standart/

Review.
So as Hungarian neighbor - after reading positive review - I head to Balaton lake and pick my FRS 9. It was big decision for me if 9 or 12. But After trying FS i know that 11 sonic is too big for me and soul 8 looks like its it size wise. I dont need more power than 12 LEI to HF on my moses Onda. I pick it on my way to Croatia/peljesac - flat water mediteran spot with daily thermic wind.
I have also Soul 8 and Sonic 2 11 with me for head to head testing. These are kites of my good friend. So i was riding it almost 1 month almost daily along with neo 7.

So these I my thoughts about it.

FRS is foil kite i can live with - Actually Im happy with it. Its has almost tube feeling on bar. It has depower. It doesnt race uncontrollable through window like race foil kites. I has decent turning speed. Much faster than sonic2 11, quite faster than soul 8 but off course slower than wave LEI in 7 - 9 sizes. I think it has turning speed of 12 freeride LEI. I have fun on it. I can ride it with one front hand - i dont mean control position with front hand, I mean ride it - send it through window back and fore /quasi waveriding/ with just wrist of my front hand. Its VERY stable in low wind on zenith i can go to water manipulate HF with both hands etc - which is impossible with LEIs and very problematic with SONIC 2. As its very light it doesnt fall so quick to side - almost auto zenith. Powerwise its has very little less power than SOUL 8. Soul also fly quicker through WW and sits higher. Unlike any LEI it can be relaunched in any wind which it can fly stable on zenith.

Regarding range - for me it replaced 12 and 9 LEI on HF. I was going straight from FRS 9 to Neo 7. We all know how hard is measure low wind and how much difference there is between 5,6,7...
But i can tell you that only Guy riding in absolutely low wind was Slovenian race guy with 19 ozone R1 V2 and new enata race foil. Of course he was circling around me - he was riding like 60 kmh and me 20. But nevertheless only us can ride on marginal - and this spot is very known and lot of people was waiting on beach for wind. On one occasion when wind dyed almost to zero - his R1 fall down and he swim and i was able to bodydrag to shore. All this is mainly because my MOSES 633 ONDA. I have only pocket board and i always rode - less than Windsurfing sail Lei Size equivalent usually 2 sizes less than other foilers.

FRS 9 is basicaly 12-9 LEI which can stable fly in 5-6 knots and its is also DEEP water relaunchable in this wind. I honestly never flew kite that can be water relaunched so easy.
For people with more power needs size 12 can be answer. Its still turns like kite and hangs even better:)


Conclusion
I like this kite much better than SOUL. It has less so call performance but it is much more fun to ride - turns faster depower better - generate power gentler and in more intuitive way.
Its like tube kite but it flyes and relaunch in much less wind.sizes 12 and 9 are very good for freeride HF. In smaller sizes i will prefer wave LEI kites. It is also very nice and has very distinctive view on water easy to spot.




Some lousy phone pictures just to illustrate low wind testing.
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Laughingman
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Re: KITECH FRS

Postby Laughingman » Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:12 pm

These kites do not seem to be available?

http://kitechkites.hu/en/kites_free_rs

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Laughingman
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Re: KITECH FRS

Postby Laughingman » Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:13 pm

tomtom wrote:
Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:57 pm

So these I my thoughts about it.

FRS 9 is basicaly 12-9 LEI which can stable fly in 5-6 knots and its is also DEEP water relaunchable in this wind. I honestly never flew kite that can be water relaunched so easy.
For people with more power needs size 12 can be answer. Its still turns like kite and hangs even better:)
What is your weight?

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Ulrik
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Style: Freeride, Hydrofoil,Waveriding
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Re: KITECH FRS

Postby Ulrik » Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:43 pm

Laughingman wrote:
Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:12 pm
These kites do not seem to be available?

http://kitechkites.hu/en/kites_free_rs
They are available but the webpage still hasn´t been updated. :duh:

I totally agree with Tomtom, this kite is so much fun. :thumb:

I have the FreeRS in 12m² . I weigh 85 kg, and ride a Zeeko alufoil ( Carver wing). from 7-8 knots and up.( I haven´t been pushing the low wind limit)
Its my first foil kite (Been riding LEis since 2000), and just love the kite.
Last 2 years I was foiling using my Flysurfer Boost 9m (which is great for hydrofoiling IMO), but now, it stays in my garage.

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Re: Kitech FRS

Postby tomtom » Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:43 pm

Im 85kg.

About avaliability. I just call owner /its smaller producer/ and he even let me choose color scheme. Then it took 2 weeks for him to produce kite.

tomtom
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Re: Kitech FRS

Postby tomtom » Sat Jul 14, 2018 4:12 pm

Just to be sure, if it doesnt come from my review. FRS is best marginal/light wind kite i can found. These kites are generally not so much fun than 7-9 wave kite which i normaly use and are my benchmark. FRS 9 is still fun turn and carve kite. I still believe that in strong wind LEI are better choice for various but mostly safety concern especialy on constrained start/land places and with assumption that helping peoples are not familiar with foils. If wide sand beaches are my usual spots then they are perfectly usable in high wind too.

Just from pure curiosity i also tried FRS on normal 10m2 kite wind /5,5m2 windsurf sails on water/ on small TT. With higher line loading it turns even faster almost in 9m wave LEI category. It goes faster - jumps higher and loft better than wave LEI. I think similar than high aspect freerace LEI. I was very suprise that even TT jumping can be fun - especialy after some time. I did not ride TT for couple years :) FRS is light years better than 1struts which i think dont like higher cannopy load

These kites are for me better than other lite wind options - MONOS/1struts, race foils and SOUL

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Ulrik
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Style: Freeride, Hydrofoil,Waveriding
Gear: Shinn BronQ CRB4
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GONG KITEFOIL ALLVATOR FREEWAVE
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Re: Kitech FRS

Postby Ulrik » Sat Jul 21, 2018 3:50 pm

The website has now been updated with info on the FreeRS:
http://kitechkites.hu/en/kites_free_rs

gbrungra
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Re: Kitech FRS

Postby gbrungra » Sat Jul 21, 2018 5:29 pm

Still no price list, weight chart, etc

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Ulrik
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Style: Freeride, Hydrofoil,Waveriding
Gear: Shinn BronQ CRB4
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GONG KITEFOIL ALLVATOR FREEWAVE
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Re: Kitech FRS

Postby Ulrik » Sat Jul 21, 2018 6:32 pm

gbrungra wrote:
Sat Jul 21, 2018 5:29 pm
Still no price list, weight chart, etc
I only have info on the 12m I bought:

Flat / Proj. Area 12.0 / 9.65 m2
AR 5.2
Nr of Cells: 31
W Span: 7.9 m
Center Chord: 1.83 m
Tip Chord: 0.77 m
Weight kite with speed system and lines: 2100 g
Canopy material: Dominico D30
Lines: Liros
Bar: Carbon 55 cm
Flying Lines: 350/250 kg grey/red 4 x 21 m

1 599,- Euro with 55 cm carbon bar.

US Dealer: https://kitehydrofoilmiami.com/product/ ... epair-kit/

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Re: Kitech FRS

Postby TomW » Sun Jul 22, 2018 1:01 pm

Anyone tried the FRS 12m on Hydrofoil? what's the wind range?


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