Flysurfer Peak 4

[elguapo]

It is getting better but i still have to reattach all lines every now and then because my peak rolled around due to sandbag slipping off before the start or after landing. Onetime i had a little loopknot that connected two bridle lines, which took me about an hour to find in strong winds ontop of a mountain. My other snowkite is a jn randas which has ultrathick bridles and is so much easier to lay out and has not once caused troubles. Peak4 is a real joy to deal with most of the time, but if youre not careful it can turn into a shapeless mess.

at least in my hands.. the shapeless mess is ALWAYS worse when i detach lines.
*always*

[Sceotend]

It is getting better but i still have to reattach all lines every now and then because my peak rolled around due to sandbag slipping off before the start or after landing. Onetime i had a little loopknot that connected two bridle lines, which took me about an hour to find in strong winds ontop of a mountain. My other snowkite is a jn randas which has ultrathick bridles and is so much easier to lay out and has not once caused troubles. Peak4 is a real joy to deal with most of the time, but if youre not careful it can turn into a shapeless mess.

at least in my hands.. the shapeless mess is ALWAYS worse when i detach lines.
*always*

A total beginner here, in anything else than untangling the Peak lines

I slightly disagree here. I have had one major mess and couldn't get it sorted out without detaching. I only made it after 3 hours struggling without much progress. I would have done it sooner butread somewhere not to ever detach. Once I did I made steady progress for two hours. It can be just me, I couldn't figure out a methodologically way to progress without detaching.

[merl]

I slightly disagree here. I have had one major mess and couldn't get it sorted out without detaching. I only made it after 3 hours struggling without much progress. I would have done it sooner butread somewhere not to ever detach. Once I did I made steady progress for two hours. It can be just me, I couldn't figure out a methodologically way to progress without detaching.

"3 hours of struggling <to untangle the lines> without much progress ...<after detatching the lines> I made steady progress for two hours"

I am sure you will laugh at this some day, but 5 hours to sort out a bridle sounds truly bizarre! When you say you detached it, do you mean you took it apart completely

[joriws]

I slightly disagree here. I have had one major mess and couldn't get it sorted out without detaching. I only made it after 3 hours struggling without much progress. I would have done it sooner butread somewhere not to ever detach. Once I did I made steady progress for two hours. It can be just me, I couldn't figure out a methodologically way to progress without detaching.

3 hours is too much. Even 5 minutes is a lot. Sure if bridle is full of seaweed then time increases.

My tips:
- do not detach anything!
- Bridles from kite end to lines to bar is a closed system! No knots are possible, with knows I mean like figure-8 or hitch..
- Only "knots" possible are loops which can be opened by pulling loop out from "bird's nest" one at the time.
- Start from kite, from bridle attachment point at kite end put all bridle to same side, for example to trailing edge. If some bridle is going to leading edge and under the kite and some to trailing edge you will have crossed lines which can be de-crossed just by bringing bridle aroung wing tip.
- lift bridle mess up, do not tighten it, but start identifying loops and pull that loop out from bird's nest.
- if you weight wing tip in high wind and do not secure trailing edge with sand kite might flap up and down self-tying these bridle loops. I usually don't but sometimes I've gotten some birds nest due to flapping.
- You can also tension lines to reduce flapping but not too much to make kite slide on surface.

My typical pre-launch check is:
- I separate red and green side
- all bridle/lines comes from TE from kite
- I rotate Z so that Z is not going around A-B-C but hanging loose.
- I lift row A into air to see if there are loops. If there are I go to loop and pull the loop out.
- I lift row B too..
- I walk to bar combing 4 lines (steering, front, front, steering as combing order) and un-cross back/front-lines if needed but putting bar between both front lines.
- and I launch
- if I detach bar from kite, I larks head steering to that side's front line, and then finally larks head frontlines together so that all lines are in unison and cannot go inside bridle in single and mess up. As all attachment points are in unison everything is easy to pull open.

[Sceotend]

I guess I can now at least talk about it after a few months  

I was already contemplating to give up for the day but couldn't figure out a method to pack the mess without making it even worse. After a short pause I thought that I could at least save the bar and lines. As said it was easy if not fast to make steady progress by getting lines one by one out of the mess. Without the overhead the lines created I was able to sort out the bridle by working outwards from the canopy. Yet, it was pretty difficult to make sure indoors (it was freezing outside) there wasn't any tangles left in the bridle. I needed to check that outdoors. I think that's always a problem when detaching and working in cramped space. My Peak is 8m2, smaller ones are probably easier.

I created the mess on my second or third outing with the kite. I tried the quick release, the wind twisted the kite a few times, I was in a hurry and didn't know better. So, I just wrapped it up and thought about sorting it out later. It goes without saying that I have never made the same mistake, I always sort the kite on the spot. That's not always fun but the alternative is almost always worse.

I don't want to sound too critical. I think the Peak is a great kite and other than this big mess I have usually been able to launch and pack swiftly. So, I pretty much share lederhosen's sentiment:

Peak4 is a real joy to deal with most of the time, but if youre not careful it can turn into a shapeless mess.

[tomi3000]

Is Peak 4 still relevant in 2021 for foiling?

Currently I have Chrono for light wind and Peak 4 5m for 12 knots and more weather.

I am thinking of getting 4m Peak 4 for winds 15-20 knots.

My preferred style is strapless cruising back and forth.

[Trent hink]

4 was my favorite size until I got the 3...

On the peak bridle, the lines are very thin, but the bridle is super simple for a foil unless you want to compare it to a 2-line foil kite.

Just keep in mind that the ideal water use is for riding waves and swell with a hydrofoil.

Although they are easy to fly, even in not enough wind to ride, the downsides are that the upwind performance is not very good, and you should not really expect to be able to relaunch if you crash the kite.

[Flyboy]

Is Peak 4 still relevant in 2021 for foiling?

Currently I have Chrono for light wind and Peak 4 5m for 12 knots and more weather.

I am thinking of getting 4m Peak 4 for winds 15-20 knots.

My preferred style is strapless cruising back and forth.

I love the 4m. 15 - 20 knots is the best wind range for foiling - it happens quite regularly & is enough to create a decent wind swell/waves for foiling purposes. The 4m is so quick & playful in those conditions.

[junebug]

I'm curious what people's experience with the 6m is like, specifically for riding waves. I have a 5m and a 4m. My low end on the 5m, where I feel like the kite really does what it is supposed to in the waves, is around 12kn (on 20m lines). (I'm about 195lbs/88kg riding a Lift 170 Fish.) I can go lower--down to 10kn or so--but the experience just isn't the same.

So I'm considering getting a 6m for 10-13kn days. Any thoughts from those of you with the 6m, specifically for riding waves? For now, at least, I still prefer riding tubes in flat water (because of the Peak's lack of power through apex) so I'm really only interested in how well the 6m does in waves. Because the wind speed is lower, does that pose a problem for drifting? Or does it drift at 10kn as well (or almost as well) as the 5m in 12kn?

[Flyboy]

I'm curious what people's experience with the 6m is like, specifically for riding waves. I have a 5m and a 4m. My low end on the 5m, where I feel like the kite really does what it is supposed to in the waves, is around 12kn (on 20m lines). (I'm about 195lbs/88kg riding a Lift 170 Fish.) I can go lower--down to 10kn or so--but the experience just isn't the same.

So I'm considering getting a 6m for 10-13kn days. Any thoughts from those of you with the 6m, specifically for riding waves? For now, at least, I still prefer riding tubes in flat water (because of the Peak's lack of power through apex) so I'm really only interested in how well the 6m does in waves. Because the wind speed is lower, does that pose a problem for drifting? Or does it drift at 10kn as well (or almost as well) as the 5m in 12kn?

I'm not sure what you mean by "waves" - steeper, breaking waves ... or swell? I haven't used the 6m in real breaking waves, but in swell it works fine. It still drifts well but it is noticeably slower turning than the 4m (I don't have the 5m). The 6m does drop the low end down to about 10 knots.