Flysurfer Peak 4

[tomtom]

Many thanks, That is what i was thinking. Anyway about peak upwind - i think there is sweet spot where it sit furthermost in WW. Depower it more and it actually sit deeper. Anyway it is not upwind monster.

[Horst Sergio]

Hi jakemoore,
as tomtom says, it will never be an upwind monster, that's why I don't think it will be too interesting in under 10 knts maybe not even with a foil, no matter what peak size. But I will try the next time with my 5 m² how it feels under 10 knts. And as also tomtom said, as for every single skin sail you have to find the bar pressure point where it just stops flapping, there you find best upwind. But the more important points you may find in how to ride a surfboard best way upwind. As before foiling I have been my self very enthusiastic about using surfboards to increase upwind and jumping high under 10 knts, this is what I experienced and helped a lot:

kitejunkie-surfboard-on.jpg (51.67 KiB) Viewed 1116 times

- Go slow, as slow, that your board tail doesn't sink in much more as with higher speeds
- Fly the kite a bit higher than normal to have a bit of your weight in the kite
- Important: ride the board as flat as you can like a raceboard, for that you need too:
- put your backfoot deep into strap if existing, for control of board roll axis and your front foot more towards the rail, to act against force of the fins
- Try to bring your weight as much forward to use boardsize flat area for glide
- Most important: Your back hand will have to pull the bar towards reverse riding direction, which is necessary to isolate towing point from point of gravity of your body, a bit easier with a sliding rope harness.

It is not very compfortable position to pull bar always reverse, but this will increas your upwind by minimum 5°and can make the difference of having fun on a low wind day or having to walk upwind. Hope it helps

[jakemoore]

Is that a Peak4 jump on the surfboard?

[tomtom]

Basicaly, windsurfing position

On side note - about peak ground handling. My prefered launch is Cobra - classical foil kite start with one end weighted and than started from 45st. Hot launch is more problematic because without weighting kite just doesnt stay on place. For self landing i just let it land on one side of ww - /it stays super stable here/ disconnect and walk to kite via both front lines. If anything goes wrong /which doesnt/ just let go one line and kite is virtualy on leash. What is your experiences?

Also i dont like 5th line Bsafe - i never managed it to be tangle proof - As kite goes to ball it has tendency to bridal tangle /L to R side/
Only way it reliable work is with very short release travel less than 1m a with rest pull to keep kite shape. Not worth trouble. I can use frontline safety without tangles. Im talking about strong wind in winter here not HF.

[tomtom]

Is that a Peak4 jump on the surfboard?

NO WAY

[grigorib]

The lightest I rode with 5m Rally on a 633 wing (and 200 lbs weight) was about 16 knots.
I tend to loop my kites a lot for extra power, and I know single skins are not much of looping machines
Do you think 5m Peak would deliver same power and fun?

[jakemoore]

same power..?

No and yes. You won't get as much power spike when you loop it through the window and pull in the bar. You will need to ride downwind more to get on foil. But you should be able to foil easily in 16 knots with a 633 and 5, especially if the lines are long.

and fun?

Depends on what makes riding fun for you. If you have ever flown a Cloud you might imagine the change to the Peak will have a similar feeling, only more so. Its a reactive and playful fun to fly kite with docile power generation. Downwind riding on the foil is amazing (and fun). If you would miss the lift and boost e.g. on a footswitch then no so much.

[grigorib]

Cool. Another question.
When I flew 9m Peak2 I found it to be hardly manageable in 20+ knots.
How does high end feel on the small Peaks?

[jatem]

The lightest I rode with 5m Rally on a 633 wing (and 200 lbs weight) was about 16 knots.
I tend to loop my kites a lot for extra power, and I know single skins are not much of looping machines
Do you think 5m Peak would deliver same power and fun?

I've found that I can get going at the low end with several infinity shaped kite sweeps through the power zone, which pulls you downwind. I can get going on hf with the peak 5m in about 10 knots in flat water. Once up and flying the hydrofoil, it's adequate going upwind. When well powered, I can crank the hf over and hoon upwind just fine.

Downloops don't generate much grunt, so it takes a bit more patience on gybes before the power comes back on. The magic drift and gentle loops are a big change from LEIs, you can park it in the sky above you without a care, which means you can enjoy riding the foil in the swell.

My foot changes have benefited a lot from the lack of boost/lift. You can't hang on the kite, so I'm now doing a pump of the foil and a quick foot change ala Kainani Drexler. This works much more reliably for me.

Cool. Another question.
When I flew 9m Peak2 I found it to be hardly manageable in 20+ knots.
How does high end feel on the small Peaks?

I've been using my 4m peak for hf in 15-25+ knots. I'm buying a 3m for 20-30 knots. They don't produce power spikes like a small LEI, and are much more civilized as a result. You do have to be able to glide the hf through big lulls, when they lose power more than a closed cell or LEI.

[tomtom]

The lightest I rode with 5m Rally on a 633 wing (and 200 lbs weight) was about 16 knots.
I tend to loop my kites a lot for extra power, and I know single skins are not much of looping machines
Do you think 5m Peak would deliver same power and fun?

For me 5m peak4 has about same power than 7m neo which is very powerfull kite.

Peak 4 - is different kite than all other peaks - because ram air tips. I dont even consider rode peak 3. It was very slow. But 5m is imo largest size that reasonable work for that concept.