unwrapped my new 9mtr soul yesterday and flown only for a short session,first impressions.
yes I can hear some of you asking why, why? another 9mtr,
Why Not!
But I need advice.
As an owner of Ozone Chrono v3 ul kites and Hyperlink V1 and the V2 my first launch of my soul made me say blimey, this feels different, very different in fact.
Wind was around 9 knts and dropping at times, but the kite was mega easy to launch, that very large extended area down from the vents that seems to be supported from inside by long battens and clever construction just holds air inside even before launch that just aids "quick launch ability" and up she went with minimal wing tip flap,
the speed the kite filled up was fast, as fast as my hyperlink v2 and a bit faster than my chrono thats for sure, even though the Chrono holds way less air, maybe 50% less air volume I am guessing.
Then once in the sky the flying nuances (differences) quickly made me wonder why the flying of the soul felt so different to my other 9mtr kites of the same era,
for 30 minutes I kept bringing the kite back down to adjust the pigtails to try and gain more positive steering inputs, as my adjustment from the click bar end was already on maximum power, I got to the point where I was happy to get on the water, but had a long long walk to the water where the kite was less than happy to sit at 45 deg as i hurried along, it wanted to drop down and curl the lower wing tip, so i just had to hold the kite much higher in the window, that worked! but that was a big difference to my foil kite experiences up to date,
the first 10 mins or less on the water was comical, the soul felt solid, which was messing with my senses, if my other kites ever felt this solid then that would mean well powered up, so I decided not to loop the kite to get going, and that caused a catalogue of errors, as even though the kite felt strong I could not develop the power to get up,
but then relaxed, laid back in the water and worked it out, I clicked off half the power around 10cm or more of depower, pushed away the bar stopper and looped the kite from behind round to forwards and the power came in good and progressively, and I accelerated away, now its normal at this point to click away some power, but looking down at my click bar power indicator and feeling the feedback from the kite I was fine flying the soul much more depowered than my other kites which was to me was a big difference, I checked the power in the kite by agressivy looping into turns and then was very happy to find the looping power felt very linear and controllable, phew! that was my first worry dispelled, then the jumping!
yes the wind was weak but I know my chrono will boost big in weak wind, my hyperlink v2 less so, so lets see,
and my first attempt was rejected by the kite, I sent the kite back too aggressively and killed the lift in an instant, my other attempts were successful but still need work to get them good with foil away landings, but that will be just adjusting to the kite flying differences I am sure, as it was the same with jumping the hyperlink, so different than the Chrono, and from the few good jumps I did get I can tell this 9mtr soul kite will be awesome when i get some real wind and a bit of practice in,
but here's a thing,
for you guys who jump, and jump big, line length question, what length do you find best, I am using 23 mtr lines which are just great on my hyperlinks and Chrono v3 ultralights, but the soul feels slightly delayed in kite response from the bar compared to my other lighter feeling kites, but my fear is if i shorten my lines this will mean using two bars, one for each brand of kite, but if the advantage is using a soul in its optimum mode of operation, then so be it.
I already think to get the speed of turning,or rather to get rid of the delay I am feeling, not the speed through the air once moving, as that is just great and very samey as my Chrono, (but not as quick as the 9mtr v2 hyperlink) however If I can get the response to near the level of the hyperlink v2 or match the chrono then I will be very happy.
the main reasons for buying the soul are.
I am staying over at flag beach for 6 months each winter and the sailing area is extensive to say the least, with the best waves and long extended rolling swell way out to sea, maybe 1km out, where the best boosting off large swell lines is simply epic, the chances of me dropping my kite is low to very low, but can happen (only once maybe twice in the past 18 months, but the risk is there, and my Chrono v3 ultralights are good at relaunch, very good when new, but not the greatest, however they are awesome at boosting and fantastic fun to use,
I believe the soul will be better at relaunch, will equal the boosting of the chrono, and feel just as locked in for fast speed runs, you know, that locked in driving high upwind feeling, a feeling that is hard to match when using my lower aspect hyperlinks which are more fun to use in the waves at slightly slower speeds or in more marginal winds
so is the answer to go shorter< if so by how much?
I don't want this to turn into a who can p**s the furthest competition, just the real truth of how little I can reduce my lines to gain the best feedback without loss of power.