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Flysurfer Peak 4

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tomtom
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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby tomtom » Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:46 pm

"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"

this is A KEY LINE

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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby jjjlaudenslager » Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:10 am

I'll second or third what some others have said. The Peak4, at least in the 5m size, the only small Peak I've tried, is very responsive without being twitchy or too fast or anything but fun if you are not into jumping. It goes upwind about as well as 6m and 8m Clouds which were my previous favorites for hydrofoiling. Clouds are not upwind monsters either, just good enough for hydrofoiling. As is the Peak4.
The only reason I don't sell the Clouds is that when I have to launch or land in water I don't trust that I can keep the Peak from becoming a soggy, tangled bridle mess.
In 10-20 knot wind the Peak4 can be a seriously fun hydrofoiling kite. Maybe just don't put it in the water much.

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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby Séb » Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:35 pm

On Hydrofoil with the small size Peak and in the mid wind range or more, do you ride with 21m lines or anyone have tried with 14m lines?

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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby tomtom » Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:56 pm

I rode 25m lines, But it is because i have such bars. I think that Peaks dont benefit much from longer lines because they dont generate much apparent wind. I have plans to try them on shorter lines but it is still too cold here...

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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby Horst Sergio » Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:47 pm

tomtom wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:45 pm
jakemoore wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:41 pm
Is that a Peak4 jump on the surfboard?
NO WAY :)
Exactly, defenetly no peak that jumps like this, but some lotus, out of this old video:

@Séb:
I also would say yes, short lines could be interesting for the same reason tomtom already said. Want to try myself some day. Only bad thing could be that crashes also those more critical one on the wind window edge could become more likely. But even if, at least winding on and off after will be much faster and also for a first start in the water, which additionaly could make short lines interesting for me.

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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby jakemoore » Sun Mar 17, 2019 4:54 pm

I’ve had a few sessions now on Peak4 11m and can say that it is a useful light wind insurance policy for hydrofoil that is modest in price and packing volume. However, I would also say it is better suited as a light wind land kite with the ability to propel the buggy or ATB when closed cell foils just won’t fly. The wind range on HF is very narrow.

I attached a screenshot of the nearest sensor from my session yesterday, alternating between 9m Hyperlink regular cloth and the Peak 4. I’m using 30m lines and a 900 cm efficient foil. Our North winds tend to have a lot of lulls when they are tapering off. So for example, on the 9m Hyperlink I can go in 8 knots on a South as long as there are no adverse currents and no waves to slack the lines as I body drag out. But on a North I need at least 10 knots or the kite will drop from the sky in a lull and I have to drag it in. The blue line is the average wind, so I’m guessing lulls as low as 5 knots in the beginning and getting towards 8 later in the session. First half of the session was mostly Peak. Second half, mostly Hyperlink.

Where the Peak4 shines is its ability to stay in the air. Even in the lulls there was no difficulty bring the kite from the side of the window to Zenith. HL in regular cloth for example might require a downloop to recover if it gets too low in this light winds. In 6 knots body dragging out is trouble free. The problem is there is not enough power spike to get on the board. Even doing 3-4 loops at a time just results in the board drifting down wind. Maybe a lighter rider? Maybe it would work if the board was a SUP and you could climb up on to it?

There is a definite range where the Peak4 11 will work on HF and the HL 9 does not. I’m guessing a 1 knot advantage in low end, probably about 7-8 knots for me. Once on the board its easy to get on foil but there is a need to ride a little more downwind to get some speed. Once the foil breaks free, easy riding up and down wind. In the lulls there is a loss of power sometimes to the point of touchdown, but never a fear the kite will fall. The kite easily becomes overpowered riding upwind fast and I’m riding upwind at the lowest speed I can stay on foil so as not to become overpowered.

At 8 knots its hard to ride the swell downwind without slacking the lines and collapsing the kite, but as the wind comes up to 10 I really start to enjoy the Peak’s drift. Back to back with the HL I find the Peak has less fear of getting wet, better drift, but less power spike in a loop and less depower. One advantage of the Peak compared to closed cell is better drying and therefore less sand on the kite and in the car.

At 12 knots the kite is overpowered and Peaks aren’t fun overpowered. Riding upwind is very deliberate and slow. The bar sheeted out and the kite flapping to the point that tips on occasion collapse requiring a correction in both riding and sheeting in the bar. 12 knots is 7m wind for me but if I was out on the 9m HL and the wind came up I would probably keep riding and enjoy the power. With the Peak you are ready to put it away as soon as the wind comes up. There is no sense of danger as the wind comes up, just an increase in hassle and loss of fun.

I’m certain I can go in lower and higher wind with my 13m closed cell foil. But if the wind is not steady Peak4 11 wins in the ability to stay in the air and drift while riding waves. There is no doubt an ultralight closed cell would offer the most utility in light winds and would be worth the cost in a light wind area.
PeakWinds.jpg

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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby jakemoore » Sun Mar 17, 2019 5:05 pm

Séb wrote:
Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:35 pm
On Hydrofoil with the small size Peak and in the mid wind range or more, do you ride with 21m lines or anyone have tried with 14m lines?
I used my regular bar which I believe is 21. The smaller Peaks are reasonably fast for their power so I did not find a need to try shorter lines and hold a bigger kite.

I did try my short lines bar which I believe is 12m with the Peak4 11. In can then reasonably fly the 11 on land in 16 knots. I was hoping that more wind and power would let me use it with the surfboard. I'm still not riding enough upwind to ride waves downwind with it on my surfboard even in better winds and well powered on short lines. No problem going upwind on 9m one strut or 7m closed cell for me in these conditions.

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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby tomtom » Sun Mar 17, 2019 6:47 pm

First proper ride on 5m Peak 4. Wind ca. 12- knots. In short best HF kite ever. You loose all your kite skills you have if you rode with peak for longer time because you dont need it with peak.
You can ride STRAIGHT downwind and kite not only drift but it also remain responsible... I admit we have special condition on river where is about 2 knots counter current against wind direction but this just effectively making 15 knot wind. It was impossible to do something that this kite cannot handle. I let go bar and just pump ride direct downwind. Upwind is definitive worse than Closed cell and LEI. It goes upwind well but it is not so effortless like you are familiar on HF. 5m has reasonable ammount of static lift for transition. No restart yet.

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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby jatem » Wed Mar 20, 2019 11:20 am

Excellent session today with the Peak4 5m in 8-15 knots. It makes inflatable kites seem like lead balloons. It is simply incredible the way this kite drifts when pumping the foil on wind swell. If I was on a LEI tonight, I would have been swimming with the kite in the water when the wind dropped to 4-8 knots at the launch area. Instead, I was able to pump the foilboard through the wind shadow, and make it back to the launch area with the peak floating in the air like a plastic bag.
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Horst Sergio
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Re: Flysurfer Peak 4

Postby Horst Sergio » Sat Mar 23, 2019 6:28 pm

Hi jatem,

nice to hear and thanks for the idea to combine it with pumping. Never gone to much into it, but I can imagine it is THE kite to drift beside while learning to pump.

Last session I came back with a 9 m² Sonic² at around 7 knts when the wind dropped, wanted to try 5 m² Peak4 first time in lowend, but at around 6 knts it was clear that it would be to low for my small foil.
But with the feet on the ground I managed to do some water drop tests and result was pretty ok:

Even with just those 5-6 knts it was possible to relaunch at least 4 out of 5 times, even with some harder drops and a bit water behind leading edge. So within the usefull kitefoil wind range I see, down to 10 knts or a bit less, I think no reason to be too much worried that it will not relaunch, when having some experience with how it works.

Basic rule stays:
Don't drop unattended on wind window side, Always try to keep line tension and don't oversheet to much, but that's it.

Nice to see so many share the fun in the water with it.


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