Flysurfer Peak 4

[Kitedougiefresh]

Another reason against too big Peak its lack of REAL drift. Its not drift with too big kite - its downwind pull rest pull from kites drag. Smaller the kite smaller this rest pull to the point that is virtually nonexistent

So while i have this Peak 4 13m on demo from my favorite Kite Shop based out of the Houston Texas, what are a couple of kites that i should compare it to that would be better in low wind? I live in Florida along the Gulf of Mexico and in the summer we have a sea breeze most days. However there are a lot of days where it will not be above 8 knots. If there is a better kite for a 100KG guy like myself, I want to try it.

[LeoLeal]

Hey guys.
Today I had an opportunity to test my new Peak4 8m² but before I did this review I will explain my background.

- 12 years of kite surfing using only bidirectional.
- I used to ride a switchblade 2012 m²
- I have been ridden foil board for only 4 months
- This is my first experience with a foil kite.
- 82 kg.
- Large board (155cm) / hover glide nf2 slingshot, 60 cm mast and H5 ( freeride wing)

The wind was 9-13g

Relaunch
I droped it four times on purpose twice on the water and twice on land and I couldn't relaunch. Maybe I don't know how to do.
When I was ridden I let the kite drop but only the wing tip this time I could relaunch.
This kite is for experience rider, once in the water it's almost impossible to relaunch.

Packing and unpacking
it's not so simple for who hasn't experience with foil kite , there are lots lines and i got them tangled nothing serious but took me some time to untangled.

Now let's talk about the positive point.
Once the kite is in the air it's amazing.

Power
8m² has a lot of power to put me on the board with only one stroke, easily. This is amazing what a small kite can do.

Playful
This kite is more nimble and playful than SB12. It's peace of cake to do jibe to toeside and jibe toeside to heelside, even if you do something wrong the kite will Drift and won't lose line tension or drop as the SB12.

Upwind
I got confuse on this. SB12 was more angles than Peak4 8m² but definitely you will not complain about Peak4 upwind ability.

Definitely I good choice for those how love foilboard.

I didn't ride on wave but as soon as I ride I will give my opinions.

[MartinO]

I bought a Peak 4 in size 5 and tested it yesterday with snowkiting. Great kite as expected. Definitely lived up to the hype.

Have anyone experience with making a super light small bar for ski touring with the Peak? How narrow can you go in bar width and still get decent flying characteristics? My 45cm regular kitesurf bar is heavier and bigger than the kite in the backpack... (which tells you how seriously small the Peak packs, but still...). I am going to build my own lightweight bar but I am not sure how short I can make it.

[F-Bear]

HI all, I've had a couple more sessions on the landboard with my Peak 4 5m and am just totally in love with this kite !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It just works for freaking well for me....during about 2 hours of non-stop riding in crappy shifty gusty wind it never touched the ground. That has NEVER happened with any other kite at this spot with similar winds (our wind is always crappy).

Want power? Loop it and send it across the window ! Want even more? KEEP LOOPING ! So far, I think the elevated infinity symbol flight path gets the most power, but still playing around with that. So easy to get max power, just keep it from flapping (to much AoA = flappy, to little AoA=flappy).

To much power? Push bar away and make it flap !

Wanna adjust your gloves or harness, get a drink, or whatever? LET GO OF THE BAR ! This is normally not a good idea here, but not a big problem for a few seconds with the Peak.

Wanna quickly change its direction? Pull a steering line or crank the bar all the way, and the kite spins fast with zero power. Stop the rotation and then ZOOM !

Wind up and down so much you can't decide what size kite to rig? To big and you'll be toast in the gusts, but to small and you'll do nothing anytime else. No problem, rig the Peak ! With its 5m, I had no trouble in gusts, and plenty of power all the time. Similar winds I'd have my 9m LEI, and cringing during the gusts. And probably dropping out of sky in the lulls.

No one around and need to launch or land? NO PROBLEM !!! Pull in the steering lines a few inches and it just sits there, seems impossible to take off as long as the lines are held. I wrap the bar around the landboard and then walk to kite to secure it. Other kites this is never going to work, at least in my experience....I usually have to pull single-line safety.

Wind goes from 5kts to 20kts suddenly and the kite rockets to zenith and is going so fast you hear a sonic boom? Normally this is a recipe for a stall and kite tumbling out of the sky...with Peak just push bar way. Sure you can steer any kite away from zenith to prevent stall but Peak can drastically slow down due to high drag when FULL FLAPPY MODE (FFM) is engaged ! It is non-event.

Big gust has you rolling at high speed on the edge of control, heading for a 10 foot drop-off ? Sheeting out on a normal kite is not going to work, since I can't get full depower (short arms) when leaning back and kite down low. Edging hard upwind is the obvious solution...but geez I get tired sometimes and can't edge as hard as I'd like...so screwed with other kites in this situation. With Peak, no problem !!! It only takes a few inches of bar movement to get mega-depower ! You can even pull the bar all the way in, make it flap, and slow things down. And steer it up either fully powered or with bar out, and send it other direction to slow you down. Wow. You also have full steering control at all times...other kites don't turn so great when you push bar away during a gust.

All in all, this kite is just fantastic. I had so much fun on the landboard....my other kites are getting very jealous.

It just completely excels with staying in the sky in low wind lulls, control, depower, ease of launch/land, everything that I need to have fun here. I think the only negative I read is the water relaunch and jumping, upwind angles, and sustained power for riding a twin tip. But....a landboard takes constant power too (unlike a hydrofoil with takes max power to start then minimal to keep riding) so I'm looking forward to trying Peak 4 with a twintip in decent winds. Based on my time with the landboard, in decent wind the 5m makes plenty of power to ride a twin tip ! The pros of this kite in my local conditions will totally outweigh the cons. And of course, riding a hydrofoil it is a dream, or so I hear...water still to cold for me to try it. I can attest strongly, it totally rocks for landboarding in gusty winds with seriously low lulls. Maybe the upwind angle not as good as my 9m LEI ....but who cares ? THIS KITE LET ME RIDE FOR TWO HOURS NON-STOP !!! That has NEVER happened before.

This kite is seriously a game-changer for me. MORE TIME KITING ! And MORE FUN !

F-Bear

[Flyboy]

I have a particular situation that I'm wondering if a Peak 4 might work well for. I live about 100 metres from Lake Ontario. A fairly frequent wind direction is ENE & it's usually not to strong 10 - 15 knts, occasionally more. ENE is cross shore/ slightly onshore. The shoreline has not useable beaches & is mostly protected from erosion by boulders/concrete. The couple of possible launch spots are very small & often is a wind shadow until you get out about 50 metres. Launching & landing an LEI can be tricky, or impossible.

I'm wondering if a Peak4 would help? First, would it allow me to hot launch which would help with the space restrictions? Second, would it be more likely to stay in the air in extremely flukey winds until I swim out to the wind line? Third, if I do drop it I'm assuming it will stay on the water without dragging me downwind towards the rocks? Fourth, if I do end up floating onto the rocks or landing on the rocks, it's less likely to get damaged?

What size would be best (80 kg with 100 sq cm wing) for kiting in 9-10 knots up (not really interested in super light winds as I think this would be too risky given the inhospitable shoreline0?

[slowboat]

I have a particular situation that I'm wondering if a Peak 4 might work well for. I live about 100 metres from Lake Ontario. A fairly frequent wind direction is ENE & it's usually not to strong 10 - 15 ants, occasionally more. ENE is cross shore/ slightly onshore. The shoreline has not useable beaches & is mostly protected from erosion by boulders/concrete. The couple of possible launch spots are very small & often is a wind shadow until you get out about 50 metres. Launching & landing an LEI can be tricky, or impossible.

I'm wondering if a Peak4 would help? First, would it allow me to hot launch which would help with the space restrictions? Second, would it be more likely to stay in the air in extremely flukey winds until I swim out to the wind line? Third, if I do drop it I'm assuming it will stay on the water without dragging me downwind towards the rocks? Fourth, if I do end up floating onto the rocks or landing on the rocks, it's less likely to get damaged?

What size would be best (80 kg with 100 sq cm wing) for kiting in 9-10 knots up (not really interested in super light winds as I think this would be too risky given the inhospitable shoreline0?

I agree with your first 3 assumptions. Not sure about the 4th, but any repairs will be cheaper than on most other kites. I would think you are either 8 or 11 depending on board size, skill level, etc. Probably 8 meter

[Flyboy]

I have a particular situation that I'm wondering if a Peak 4 might work well for. I live about 100 metres from Lake Ontario. A fairly frequent wind direction is ENE & it's usually not to strong 10 - 15 ants, occasionally more. ENE is cross shore/ slightly onshore. The shoreline has not useable beaches & is mostly protected from erosion by boulders/concrete. The couple of possible launch spots are very small & often is a wind shadow until you get out about 50 metres. Launching & landing an LEI can be tricky, or impossible.

I'm wondering if a Peak4 would help? First, would it allow me to hot launch which would help with the space restrictions? Second, would it be more likely to stay in the air in extremely flukey winds until I swim out to the wind line? Third, if I do drop it I'm assuming it will stay on the water without dragging me downwind towards the rocks? Fourth, if I do end up floating onto the rocks or landing on the rocks, it's less likely to get damaged?

What size would be best (80 kg with 100 sq cm wing) for kiting in 9-10 knots up (not really interested in super light winds as I think this would be too risky given the inhospitable shoreline0?

I agree with your first 3 assumptions. Not sure about the 4th, but any repairs will be cheaper than on most other kites. I would think you are either 8 or 11 depending on board size, skill level, etc. Probably 8 meter

Well 4th is compared to landing a LEI on the rocks, which would almost inevitably lead to tears in the LE &/or canopy &/or punctures to the bladder. Obviously, I would be trying to avoid shitty landing situations, but putting the Peak 4 into the water & swimming in would seem more doable than dropping a LEI kite into the water, as an LEI would immediately pull me downwind & into a possible rocky scenario.

I was trying to decide whether an 8m or 5m would make the most sense. I have been using an 11m or 8m LEI, but that was with a 700 sq cm wing. Now I'm using a 1000 sq cm wing I think I can use a kite 2 or 3m smaller. I would be prepared to give up the very light days with the wind in a tricky direction - more interested in the 10 knt plus days.

[bragnouff]

The bottom end limit of the Peak is typically how much pull you can get out of it to get your ass off the water, and for that matter the size of the wing doesn't really make much of a difference. Once you're up on the board, a larger wing will allow to lift off without requiring subsequent loops, but that won't make too much of a difference in terms of absolute low end. It'll just make it more comfortable.
While I tend to compare 8m Peak / 12m LEI and 5m Peak/ 9m LEI, I'm not sure the peak of power is exactly equivalent. I'd say the LEI has a slight advantage in terms of spike of power. But then, this is only theoretical if the kite doesn't stay in the air, which is why Peaks win overall.
I'm 95kg, and I don't bother with the 5m below a steady 13kts.

[jatem]

I'd recommend starting with a 5m for your first peak, and stick with the slightly windier days until you know it's going to work out. The 5m holds structure better than the 8m, turns much nicer, and it's easier to handle if you need to roll up in the water. I started with peaks as a way to safely manage a tricky wind shadowed launch spot, and they revolutionized kiting at that location.

Peaks offer a huge margin of safety during launch and landing, compared to inflatables. They cope with gusty conditions, hot launching, and self landing with ease. Unlike inflatables, you don't have to worry about them trying to kill you if they back stall and then power up, or and they won't front stall in the gusts. And they are minutes faster to launch and land than an inflatable, so long as you leave a bar attached and pack them up carefully.

[F-Bear]

Flyboy - I am a recent Peak convert. And think you should get the 5m. Folk here recommended that size to me too, and the advice is solid. It is a great size, and with practice I am betting you'd be able to get up and ride with no trouble, except in really light winds. But I've not flown any other size, so my opinion is somewhat useless.

You can always grab an 8m down the road, to get a big more low-end. That is my plan, once I figure out how low I can go with the 5m on the hydrofoil. I may end up getting a bigger hydrofoil wing instead of a bigger Peak..we'll see.

Your conditions sound perfect for a Peak. It really is superior to any other kite I've flown for gusts, ease of use, self land/launch, etc.

No matter the size, if you have low experience with foil kites (like I did) I'd highly recommend you find a field/beach and just fly the Peak to get the feel. It is WAY different than flying an LEI. Sit down on the ground and practice getting up. Learn how to backstall. Learn how to push the bar out in a gust to keep it from stalling (opposite of LEI). Learn how to loop and infinity sign for max power. Learn how to listen...no flapping means power. The sheeting is pretty sensitive, and you gotta nail it to get max power in lower winds to get up out of the water. Learn how to self land/launch (totally different than an LEI).

Peak is a great kite. I took it out again for another landboarding session.. wow it was so much fun. Had a super long reach (300 meters or so) this time, so got tons of time flying around and playing. The one downside I notice is upwind angles...it is for sure not as good as my 9m LEI in similar conditions. But that only really matters for a landboard or twintip.

F-Bear