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You were probably asking Horst but I can answer based on my experience with the 6-meter Firefly. I think it would be fine for a beginner. Easy relaunch, mild power spike when you dive it. It is not real fast through the wind window. It does turn fairly quickly. It will not over fly the wind window and it sits back a bit while you're riding and makes turning easier. So mistakes in flying the kite are not likely to be punishing. When they do crash it relaunches very easily and doesn't pull that hard on the way up. It would be important to keep it between 13 and 18 knots for a beginner after that it starts to pull pretty hard. Launching and landing solo it's quite easy. No pre-inflation is required even in quite light winds.

gl wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 01, 2019 3:13 pm

You were probably asking Horst but I can answer based on my experience with the 6-meter Firefly. I think it would be fine for a beginner. Easy relaunch, mild power spike when you dive it. It is not real fast through the wind window. It does turn fairly quickly. It will not over fly the wind window and it sits back a bit while you're riding and makes turning easier. So mistakes in flying the kite are not likely to be punishing. When they do crash it relaunches very easily and doesn't pull that hard on the way up. It would be important to keep it between 13 and 18 knots for a beginner after that it starts to pull pretty hard. Launching and landing solo it's quite easy. No pre-inflation is required even in quite light winds.

What is your self landing technique with this kite?

slowboat wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:12 am

What is your self landing technique with this kite?

I can answer that one Just pull the back lines and it will fall down from the sky, completely closed. It is easier than the wave with its double skins and no brake lines (v. Good for snowkiting, I will be able to pack it without removing the skis in steep slopes (I also do that with the waves but it will be even easier)

Stéphane Goffinet with his FF 2.5

I do exactly like Stef said. I take the kite to the edge of the window and pull the back lines. So far even in quite windy conditions it has just sat there. Really stress free. I have not done this on land yet as I always launch and land in shallow water.

stefFZ wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:45 am

slowboat wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:12 am

What is your self landing technique with this kite?

I can answer that one Just pull the back lines and it will fall down from the sky, completely closed. It is easier than the wave with its double skins and no brake lines (v. Good for snowkiting, I will be able to pack it without removing the skis in steep slopes (I also do that with the waves but it will be even easier)

Stéphane Goffinet with his FF 2.5

Does this work for you with Peak4 in 20+ knts? Cause i find it too twitchy and prefer side crash landing

thank!

Edit:
Sorry i misread this i was in impression that this is Horst - anyway - it will be interesting to compare "back land and reride" feature of both kites. I find Peak 4 - too twitchy to back land in strong wind.
Winter is comming

A short video with the fireflies 2.5 & 4 and a CA Wave 4.5 in the background:



Rider: Bozzo from FZ / Spot: Marseille, FR

I recently discovered something interesting about my 6 metre Firefly. I was putting a new bar on it and I took it into a small field surrounded by trees to test it out. The wind was really gusty and at the high end the gusts we're pulling very hard on the kite. The wind would shut off almost completely and the kite would drop back. The lines went completely slack. The interesting part was that the kite stayed flat and just drifted backwards until the lines were taunt again. I could sheet out and get very little pull until the kite was back at the edge of the window. None of my other kites would have been so manageable with that big a drop off in the wind. I now understand why Ben was saying that they can be used in very turbulent winds.

I liked my 6 meter firefly enough that I also purchased a 4 meter. The lakes are frozen here so I have not been able to try it on the hydrofoil. I have used it on snow a couple of times and now have a feel for how it is compared to the 6 meter. Even in quite strong winds the flapping is considerably less. It is gentle kite that does pull as hard and quickly as my open cell kites. I tried skiing towards it in both strong and light winds and it drifts along nicely. Only in the very lightest winds do the lines slack a bit. Then it is easy to recover by sheeting out and redirecting it up. It works fine as a snow kite and launching and landing alone is easy. Having said that I am not likely to use them for that they work better in low friction activities like hydrofoil and mountain board on the beach. For snow I prefer my kites to have a bit more punch when diving them.

Anyone have any experience in deep water drift launching the firefly?

I’m also really curious to try the large volume/large wing/small kite (maybe 6 or 8 firefly) thing as I progress. To specifically see how low wind that can go. Large volume board would seem to mean I don’t need that waterstart surge from a bigger kite, but how low can you go is the ultimate question. Especially when you see people like Marc Blanc playing around with absurdly small kites and big wings Makes you wonder what’s achievable for us normals

I have not tried tried drift launching in deep water but I drift launch them all the time. For me they are the easiest drift launching kite I own. They only require a small amount of air in the vents before I drop them on their back and let them drift away. They lift easy once they get to the end of the lines and they fly fine before they're fully inflated. I would be surprised if they're not easy to deep water drift launch.