Flysurfer Peak 4

[tomtom]

moses 790 vs 633 is one size peaks difference
633 is 1200 cm - 790 is 1500 cm2

[Regis-de-giens]

I have sold m'y Peak due to too rare conditions having ridable waves , but not only ...

I liked it for all features well described in this thread, however i would like to report one "safety issue" that happened to me when kite fell in water After a turbulence: the peak can almost drawn inside the water surface, something like one third of the kite area that drawn 40 cm below watersurface , almost impossible to pull out by swimming, and above all, pulling a lot when thé drawn peak catched a wave...

You need to Roll it in water to secure it, which Can be sometimes difficult or long, and by this time the kite Can be damaged a lot... Also the briddles are also deep in water at that moment, so be careful not to tangle your feets while you are in a "wave" environnent.

Waves were not powerful, but it never hapened to me with other kites...

I sold it, as not "secured" by this event. Be carreful...

[Peter_Frank]

Yes, this is true, I think we all know this, and most have tried it - many posts about this.

But I dont see it as a safety issue at all, just a very small risk of losing a kite.

The fact that it is almost impossible to get a Peak 4 to go down, mákes it excellent and worth this risk for me.
Love this kite on flat water also.

If wind dies totally yes, as in less than one knot - it can happen it goes down, but now it is usually not a problem rolling the kite.

IMO these few bridles the 6-5-4-3 m2 got, is not a risk, compared to bigger double skin kites.

If you havent tried a drowned Peak 4, then you should try it in easy conditions, just to learn how to tackle it.
Roll the lines up first, all the way to the kite, also the long frontline/rearline bridles.
Lift the LE up bit by bit so water drains, and roll from one end.

Peter

[Strekke]

I have sold m'y Peak due to too rare conditions having ridable waves , but not only ...

I liked it for all gratuites well described in this thread, however i would like to report one "safety issue" that happened to me when kite fell in water After a turbulence: the peak can almost drawn inside the water surface, something like one third of the kite area that drawn 40 cm below watersurface , almost impossible to pull out by swimming, and above all, pulling a lot when thé drawn peak catched a wave...

You need to Roll it in water to secure it, which Can be sometimes difficult or long, and by this time the kite Can be damaged a lot... Also the briddles are also deep in water at that moment, so be careful not to tangle your feets while you are in a "wave" environnent.

Waves were not powerful, but it never hapened to me with other kites...

I sols it, as not "secured" by this event. Be carreful...

Agree with the importance of definitely not underestimating this risk. I have been into this situation twice now, and I only use the peaks for surf foiling. Flirting with the low end in (proper) waves is a very risky game to play. You catch a decent wave, but if you also catch a lull or overtake it on the wave, the kite can fold up and tumble out of the sky, only to fall right in front of the breaking wave. Then it's immediately game over, and the kite drags A LOT under water, both being pushed by the wave as just in general trying to swim it in submerged. Rolling it up in waves is also definitely quite tricky, as you can very easily get pushed into the bridles by a wave. Last time I just swam parallell to it so the waves couldn't push me in the lines/bridles, and once close enough to shore completely ditched everything and swam in on my foil. The bar floated back to shore/with the waves and than I pulled it in like a fish net, and it was so heavy to drag in, even standing on shore. Probably also not good for the kite either... In any case, this is the main reason why I did not buy a 6m - the above described horror scenarios that left me completely exhausted have only happened on the 5m, in like 10/12 knots and proper waves. In those windspeeds, overtaking the kite while riding a wave just becomes increasingly likely. A 6m Peak used in its windrange would only make this even more likely (wind speed is less but wave speed is the same), so I see no point in getting one. Never had anything like that happen to me on the 4m though, that thing just doesn't drop in 16+ knots and drifts beautifully on all waves, so still love the peak

[a99]

moses 790 vs 633 is one size peaks difference
633 is 1200 cm - 790 is 1500 cm2

But 790 is slower. So what is better to use one size bigger peak but slower in turning or slower wing but faster peak in turning? Quite big dilema i would say.

[joe f]

I track pretty much all my sessions on the water and have just been looking at some gps maps that show why I love the Peaks so much.

For background, I am riding a Kanaha Shapes pocket board with an Armstrong HS850 foil and I love carving / turning corners. Kitesurfing is all very personal, but my happy place is playing in rolling swell and carving hard. It reminds me of deep powder days on the snowboard. I love waves, but live in the wrong place so wind blown swell is about as good as it gets. I have Peak 4 kites in 5m, 4m and 3m and a Soul 9m. I have been foiling for a few years. I am super confident on one tack and can stay on the foil non-stop, but I never change feet so don't call myself an expert. I enjoy riding toeside, but I know I need to bite the bullet and spend some sessions crashing again.

The Soul is an amazing kite. It relaunches like no other kite that I have used. It is fast. It rips upwind with a foilboard. It is smooth. It has a huge range. But..... I find myself reaching for the Peaks whenever I can. They don't go upwind as well, can be shakey on the bar (change down!) and you don't want to crash them. But........ they are 110% fun. For my riding, they are perfect and feel like a go kart and the sea turns into a playground where I spend zero time thinking about the kite and all the time enjoying looking for lumps of water to carve off.

Back to the gps tracks, here are a couple of recent sessions. Same beach, but different winds:
(NE wind)


(SW wind)


Head upwind for a while and then turn and enjoy a magical ride downwind. Kite control is all one handed flick-of-the-wrist territory and you really don't have to worry about what the kite is doing. You need to experience the mythical Peak drift to appreciate it. Pure, unadulterated fun

In contrast, this is what my journey looks like on the Soul:
(NE wind)

(I started on the Soul before changing down to the Peak to play in the shoredump - hence crazy tracks by the beach, although you can see a classic Peak trail sneaking out at the bottom.)

There is nothing wrong with the Soul tracks and I appreciate that some riders love going fast and blasting upwind. The Soul is definitely better if you want to cover some serious distances and points noticeably higher into the wind. They simply do not turn as well as the nimble Peaks and you have to concentrate more on flying them. I know the 9m is a bigger kite, but I have also used the 6m Soul extensively and, in my humble opinion, they just don't compare. Different tools for different riding styles. Both excellent.

Sorry for a ramble, but I hope that the pictures help convey why so many love the Peaks for foiling. If you are a straight line rider, there are better kites out there.

If you like squiggles, you really should try the Peaks

[LeoLeal]

moses 790 vs 633 is one size peaks difference
633 is 1200 cm - 790 is 1500 cm2

But 790 is slower. So what is better to use one size bigger peak but slower in turning or slower wing but faster peak in turning? Quite big dilema i would say.

My favorite set up for ride unbroken waves Peak4 5m² + W790. This wing glide better than w633 , when I say glide is when you let you Peak4 at 12 o'clock or loosing line tension. For me 790 turn ok, I would score a 8.5 for 790 a 10 for 633.

I didn't had a chance to try a Peak4 4m² but definitely it will behave better on waves than a 5.

[ieism]

Dropping an 11m peak in breaking waves is a bit of a disaster. But if all else fails I could just leave it and ditch the kite. People on here always say the peaks never crash and can be relaunched. I agree for the small sizes in decent wind. But an 8 or 11m below 10 knots and breaking waves there's just no way. I've practiced and watched all the videos but I don't think it can be done. I'm OK with that, but it's something to be aware of.

[Peter_Frank]

I still dont know why we want a 252 page long thread about the Peak, instead of topic specific single threads - but thats maybe just me...

Regarding 6 m2 kites in waves, I disagree hugely that there is a risk.

Even the 8 m2 which is boring and way too big, can be ridden in waves if you want to.

Not very good IMO, as too slow.

But I dont see (have never experienced) these kites will drop or fold, NEVER !!!

I have an idea, some have bought the Peak4 kites because of this thread - and have not learned to ride them basically from the start.

So reading they can just drift, and you can ride the wave freely - they try to do so, and will of course fail

One have to push the limits slowly, learning exactly where the limits are - and if you progress like most, slowly and gradually, these kites will not drop or fold.

On the other hand, if you think they are invincible, and you just ride like there are no limits, you will fail

Sounds a bit harsh maybe, but reading some posts here, make me believe this is the case

They ARE magic, in my eyes, and can do things no other kites can - but if you are pre-ingested, it might go very wrong, as we can see now.

You could ride big racekites in waves if you want to, without folding - I dont find it fun, but definitely possible when you know how to.

As said many times, the 6 is a great kite that turns and drifts like the smaller Peaks, awesome, whereas the 8 and bigger are not for waves, simply too boring
Night and day difference between 8 and 6, whereas 6 and smaller are in the same league

Peter

[jumptheshark]

For sure man, I ride the 6m in winds that are too low for relaunch. That takes about 11-12 knots to pull off consistently. I'm not talking about when the kite doesn't lose shape, I'm talking full flat wet mess, wind the lines, reset, drift and launch.

Have gotten careless lately and dropped the 4m more than a km off shore while playing on a shoal. Thankfully once your in 4m winds, its a pretty easy task. Washed ashore again the very next day playing near shorebreak. Had to pop it back up at a super tiny little clearing while walking back out into the water and breaking waves.

Though I rode home both days, I'm 100% certain these wet kite activities are not everyones idea of a good time. These are absolutely great kites. They suit me perfectly and I couldn't be much happier with their performance and am willing to learn relaunch to the best of my abilities, but also accept the inevitability of the occasional swim.