Flysurfer Soul vs Ozone Hyperlink V1 - Video Comparison

[andylc]

10m FS Soul KO = £1484 RRP, 9m Hyperlink £1404
10m New LEI kite eg Naish Pivot £1189, Cabrinha SB £1419, Enduro V2 £1224.
So yes they are a bit more expensive, but since we are talking about facts, they are not 2-3 times the price!

[SolarSet]

10m FS Soul KO = £1484 RRP, 9m Hyperlink £1404
10m New LEI kite eg Naish Pivot £1189, Cabrinha SB £1419, Enduro V2 £1224.
So yes they are a bit more expensive, but since we are talking about facts, they are not 2-3 times the price!

You can easily buy LEI with 30%-50% discount at the end of season and you start to have 2x higher price.
Foil kite hardly get any discount however they lose less value hence price difference start to disappear.

There is other thing to mention if you don't mind how foil kite fly you can probably get away with 2 foil kite quiver i.e. 8 & 15m which should cover 10-35kts wind range depending on your weight board type, where with LEI you probably would need 3-4 kite to cover such a range.

[Okkiteboarder]

Here is Part 2 for the comparison
Comparing the Soul vs. the Hyperlink V1 on a Twin Tip & a Hydrofoil.

[slowboat]

You do a really good job with production quality and some of the graphics. Your observations are also good but I question the conclusion that Soul is better for the less experienced foiler. I would think a lower aspect kite like the HL would be easier to fly when trying to learn foiling moves.

[fernmanus]

I agree, excellent review. A couple comments:

1. I was born and raised in Utah. “Ute” is being too kind, “Utard” is the proper designation.
2. The 15 minutes you spent trying to get a snarled Soul kite to straighten out will decrease with experience. So far, I have never had to pack up the kite due to an unfixable bow-tie with the Soul. However, on higher aspect kites like the Chrono 2 or Sonic 2 that has been an issue.
3. You really should consider a part 3 and 4. Part 3 - how the kites compare in powered up conditions. The Soul 12m Soul really shine when you hit 20 knots. Due to the copious amount of depower, you can boost huge and still come down soft as a feather and ride controlled. I am not sure how the Hyperlink performs in similar conditions. Part 4 would be wave riding. Part 5 Snow Kiting. And, part 6 land, part 7 skateboard...
4. I like the back line depower line that Ozone has on the bar, but in powered up conditions, it is not much of a help. I agree that a good fixed depower system is needed. I usually get the kite near the ground and flag out the kite to land. It works, but it is not an elegant solution.
5. Turning speed - You mentioned in the video, that you felt that you had a 2 meter power advantage to an LEI kite, that is true (foils are flatter and more efficient than LEIs). So for example, I found that a Soul 10m has similar power as a 12m Core XR5. When you compare the turning speed for those 2 kites, the foil doesn’t seem slow anymore.

Thanks again for the excellent review!

[geron]

Another part that was not reviewed was WIND RANGE; specially on the tt: If you can go better upwind with the Sole ?? then the wind range on the tt goes up since this is the limiting factor.

[SolarSet]

Another part that was not reviewed was WIND RANGE; specially on the tt: If you can go better upwind with the Sole ?? then the wind range on the tt goes up since this is the limiting factor.

To test wind range he would have to own both kite for a while to ride with very different condition. My guess is that Soul is likely to have slightly larger wind range as it's higher AR and sits further on the edge of wind window.

[TomW]

The whole part about the kites contributions, or lack there of, to being able to surface gybe on the Hydrofoil is actually irrelevant.
Kyle, you have to keep your kite lower in transitions, it's your technique.
Ok granted, The Soul compensated for poor Hydrofoiling / kiting technique. Thing is, you'll soon learn better techniques and then the results change...

[foilholio]

Part 2 of the review is not that great coming from my experience I was disagreeing with plenty of things.

10m FS Soul KO = £1484 RRP, 9m Hyperlink £1404
10m New LEI kite eg Naish Pivot £1189, Cabrinha SB £1419, Enduro V2 £1224.
So yes they are a bit more expensive, but since we are talking about facts, they are not 2-3 times the price!

10m Pansh Aurora 2 ...£188. lol

[Okkiteboarder]

The whole part about the kites contributions, or lack there of, to being able to surface gybe on the Hydrofoil is actually irrelevant.
Kyle, you have to keep your kite lower in transitions, it's your technique.
Ok granted, The Soul compensated for poor Hydrofoiling / kiting technique. Thing is, you'll soon learn better techniques and then the results change...

TomW, this is a statement that I completely agree with you on. But this review was to address my current ability level when comparing the two kites. My opinion is that there are many entry level hydrofoilers at the same point in progression as myself. Maybe not, maybe I should be the "Almost OK Kiteboarder" . Progression in an inland lake environment can be very slow and seasonal as well. To assume that the Hyperlink will long term give me more success on a hydrofoil, is not something I would argue, but also not an assumption that many (myself included) would like to invest in when their level doesn't match that performance expectation. Keeping the kite lower for transitions is definitely a deficiency, but when the winds increase for the entry level hydrofoiler, you can tell them to keep the kite lower over and over, but the results remain the same. These are some of the reasons that my conclusion was that the Soul filled a larger spectrum of ability levels and the Hyperlink may shine with the more advancing hydrofoiler. Thanks as always for your input TomW. It is solid advice, just not advice I can currently carry out.