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will the soul2 be what the speed6 was going to become ? with a higher aspect ratio and a thinner profile maybe than the present soul

I cannot see the point of making ANOTHER kite with a high aspect ratio. The Sonic kites have that covered, don't they?

I think that every effort should be made to enhance the agility of the Soul, including curved batons to round out the leading edge all the way to the tips.

The Soul has more performance than the Speed 3,4 and Speed 5 with much better stability and handling. The Soul 2 per my data is more just an evolution and refinement of the original Soul and Flysurfer willl not put this kite into a different category. The Sonic 3 is super stable and is not harder to handle than the original Speed series really, while offering way more speed and performance. So personaly I dont think we ever see a Speed 6 in spite of the fact that I would love to see a Speed 6 with the aspect ratio between 6.0-6.5 depending on the sizes.

There are two main properties of a large foil kite that factor into its performance - inherent stability, and controllable stability.


Inherent stability is exemplified by the rider moving along with a kite fixed in the window. As the kite passes into turbulent wind, an inherently stable kite will get knocked around, but recover mostly without any rider input. Many kites like the HQ "Matrixx 2", Pansh "A15", and the Flysurfer "Speed" series.

The problem with inherent stability is that it tends to limit 'controllable stability'. This means that with the kite being somewhat self responsive, rider inputs are dampened. Thus there are effectively less controls available, or those controls are limited in range. Also, inherently stable kites tend to sit further back in the wind window, making them less capable of upwind angles.


Controllable stability is exemplified by the rider, once again, moving along with a kite fixed in the window. As the kite passes into turbulent wind, the kite will catastrophically fail (crash) without the correct rider inputs. However, by giving up a bit of inherent stability for controllable stability, there are more options available if the rider is skilled enough to understand/feel them.

Turning speed, and stall capability, are primary rider inputs which a controlably stable kite has. Oversheeting in an updraft (horizontal or vertical) can stop the kite from overflying the window (though it is counter intuitive). A quick turn can also set the kite back or gain valuable altitude to at the kite . Thq rider can also quickly turn upwind or downwind to change or set up a different apparent wind window position. Kites that have these properties are the HQ "Matrixx 1", Ozone "Chorno 2" and to some degree the Flysurfer "Soul" and "Sonic" series.



The big takeaway from this explanation has to do with rider experience. It takes lots of light wind flying time to understand "controllable stability" to the point where you can use it. An inherently stable foil kite.... well you could teach a monkey, or even someone who has only flown inflatables, to use it.

mashimisha wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:20 pm

I cannot see the point of making ANOTHER kite with a high aspect ratio. The Sonic kites have that covered, don't they?

I think that every effort should be made to enhance the agility of the Soul, including curved batons to round out the leading edge all the way to the tips.

I don't think people expect the soul to jump in AR close to the sonic kites. I agree that it wouldn't make any sense.
However, I'm quite confident that the ar of soul 2 will increase slightly. It's a normal evolution. If you look at the speed kites
I think the ar increased slightly with each new version. At least it did between speed 4 and 5 ...
today the AR of souls is between 5.0 for the small ones to 6.0 for the 21m.
I can imagine fs will tweak this. Maybe 5.2 - 6.5 ?
They might even got a smaller one (4-5m2) that still has 5.0 for stability in high winds.
In some weeks we will know

I am curious to see the new Soul 2. What I would like to see are the following characteristics:
1. Less bar pressure - I feel it in my forearms and elbow after a long session on a Soul, the Sonics give me no issues.
2. Better deflation - the Soul takes so much longer to deflate compared to the Sonic 3.
3. Simplified bridling
4. And the Holy Grail - complete depower of the kite when flagging out the kite. Yeah, I know it is not going to happen, but It is a wish list.

Makes sense this is more of a update than new generation. Like what they did with the Speed 3-3.5-4(lotus). I’m sure with the pandemic they are hurting right now financially like most others. Good way to create more revenue without costing the company too much.
What I expect we will see:
New fabric that’s lighter yet stronger
Same drainage as Sonic3
Maybe some bridle tweaks
New color design(again more like Sonic)

What I would like to see:
More info and easier usage to the PMAs so you can quickly and easily change the characteristic of the foil

A big break through with the bridle. FS has had great strides in design, performance, and fabric, but nothing major in a long time(except long bridle test). I see the VMG2 and how cutting edge that is and I would like to see that influence their whole lines. Hell the last big change was the Ginger Bastard Speed 4s with only ABZ levels

That Kiteboarder Magazine article already references the new TXLight fabric

Very difficult task to improve Soul. I don't what could be done. Of course you can say it should be more stable, boost higher turn faster, but how to do it.

Main parameters are pretty finished already. If anything I'd have it further from Sonic so a bit lower AR and perhaps bit more canopy curve. These are more like defining kite than making it "better".

It is a challenge to increase cell count because it makes kite even more complex. New lighter materials and some small detail tweaks (shorter bridle?) is most probable. Going to less line rows won't happen, it wouldn't make much sense.

I want the new version to auto park on the edge of the wind window like an LEI. Born kites have a single skin kite that does: