This I can finally do. Ozone held a demo day at my local beach so I grabbed a chance (haha - actually I was the only one trying it and the Enduro and Edge in big enough sizes to ride were booked out all afternoon).
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. I have actually gone back to the dark side with a couple of UFOs - I have only used the 5m a couple of times (literally just got back from a great session) but it is impressive and I am looking forward to trying out the 8m. I still think the Peaks are the best for raw flying, but the security of relaunch is a definite plus for the UFOs and the turning speed and general playfulness of the UFOs blows the Soul out of the water. Early days and I want to try the bigger one before coming to any conclusions, but I have really enjoyed the two sessions I have had on the UFOs and they suit the kind of riding that I like to do. Spoilt for choice really as they are all very good kites, each with particular strengths.nothing2seehere wrote: ↑Mon Nov 07, 2022 1:05 pmThis I can finally do. Ozone held a demo day at my local beach so I grabbed a chance (haha - actually I was the only one trying it and the Enduro and Edge in big enough sizes to ride were booked out all afternoon).
Note. My only comparison kites are a 10m soul and some Peak 4s and I was testing a 9m Hyperlink v3 on the middle setting. I didn't change any settings during the time and it was a fairly gusty day.
TLDR: Feels even closer to LEI. Fast inflation. Still floaty jumps. Still slow compared to LEI. Rock solid stability in the sky.
Got a chance to test out a 9m Hyperlink v3. First impressions - its tiny. Laid out it looks more like a 7m compared to my soul. Bridles seem shorter too. Its remarkably quick to inflate though. A little bit of preinflation on the ground and then a quick launch and it seemed like it was done. Was fully pressurised in the time it takes for my soul to get to the point where the tips are ready to inflate.
Whats it like to fly? Much closer to an LEI than the soul. Definitely the most LEI-like foil kite I have ever flown. But - it still doesn't fly like an LEI, it just feels - more - like one. I was trying to work out why this was and I think its the way the trim works. Sheeting out drops the power more immediately - like an LEI - compared to a traditional foil kite where sheeting out will momentarily increase it as the kite pushes further to the edge of the window.
Steering feels a bit tighter and bit more responsive. Might be the difference between a 9 vs 10m but it feels like it starts a turn a little quicker compared to the soul. Note I fly my soul on a 60cm bar compared to the standard 50cm of the Ozone bar. Speaking of the bar - lines look nice. Bar is comfortable but didn't think much of the trim pull. Tried to trim it by an inch whilst on the water and struggled to change it. Might just be a one off though but prefer my click bar for everyday use. Feels faster than a peak4 8m though - although its a while since I last used that so this is more subjective than most
In terms of performance, I can't help but think that the soul is probably higher performance. Probably its the difference in aspect ratio (5.5 for soul vs 5 for the hyperlink) but for a predominantly LEI user, the hyperlink feels like it takes less time to get comfortable (I always seem to take 15 minutes to dial in boosts on my soul). I was out on a 9m hyperlink and seemed to be similarly powered to the 12m LEIs. Maybe a fraction less. Worth pointing out that I didn't seem massively better off than another very experienced rider out there on a 10m XR7 and he's usually slightly better than I am on the low end compared to my 10m Evo - so the 9m isn't the greatest light wind kite with a regular twin tip. I grabbed a bigger twintip from the demo to see if I could get a few boosts in (I was hitting 5-6m when I picked up a gust on my board). Fortunately this coincided with a few more knots wind so I was able to get some decent boosts in (estimate 8m - different board so no woo). Landings were nice and soft and easier to adapt to get some speed out. Tried a couple of darkslides and still struggled to get a loop out (massive yank once - sank on the other couple of times). I tried a few downloop gybes which were predictably grunty. The kite wheeled nicely with a big spike in pull.
I didn't get a chance to try on a hydrofoil but I chatted to someone who did and had nice things to say about it. From what I experienced I would expect it to be a good fit.
So did I like it. Yes. VERY much so! If I can work out a deal I could see my trading in my soul 10m for an 11m Hyperlink. For me, I want a kite to foil with in the lowest winds (like 8-15knots) and then with a decent sized twin tip be able to have fun on a twin tip to 20knkots when my LEI kites come out to play. The 9m would possibly make a good one kite option. I don't feel its high end is any higher than the soul 10m (which can be still comfortable at 25knots) but as that's the sweet spot for my 10m LEI, I'm not too worried about high end.
I think, most kite foilers who like to ride foil kites have a foil kite by now There are not many newcomers now... And foil kites can be used for a long time, they are not switched as often as LEI.
Agree, wonder what will happen with the foil kite market long term, as sales quantities go down some companies will drop out and others will have to increase prices. About ten years ago Ozone dropped their line up of high quality 4-line fixed bridle kites, Flow (low-aspect/beginner), Method (mid-aspect/intermediate), Yakuza (high-aspect/expert). Flew each of these, all great kites. Would not be surprised if a lot of the open cell depower kites go away, closed cell kites and single skin kites kind of have it covered.
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