What foil kite for stormy weather on twintip

[elguapo]

just get a 6m soul, man

i traveled (lightly) with a 10m and 6m soul...and it worked well for foiling (only)
..long lines on a 6m (and then option for short lines on the 10) gives you crazy range and you'll be pleasantly surprised with the low end just on the 6m

but you're highly unlikely to ever see hurricane (>40++) super gusty type winds when traveling.

not sure where all this storm chasing stuff came from..

[Foil]

2 of us here have kept hold of our hyperlinks just for these nasty wind days, 5mtr mk1 ultra lights, just for the stability and ease of use in high strength gusty wind days, and the waves /chop and slop that go with such conditions, they work very well for foil kites where the other models and sizes we own are just much less suitable, good easy predictable launch easy to self land on safety, will not stick to the water, in 3 years it has always relaunched easily, not that I have dropped it in that much as it has to be steered in, its never folded up in the sky or dropped back with floppy tips, great confidence in this small foil, i have used it in throwing down hard heavy rain, no difference in performance, so this talk of getting wet and soggy is just not true for this kite.
its safe and predictable in the air, and launch or land is drama free once you get over the worry of the first few launches and landing experiences, and realise not all foil kites are hard to get on with in horrible conditions.
there is a limit of course, but even with a small lei there is a limit for most guys who have been at the limit of what is fun.
launching is the big barrier to many as larger foil kites can be scary in strong gusty winds, but not this 5mtr.

[Nelis]

Like you, I love my 10m Soul, especially for light wind hydrofoil. In higher winds, I use high aspect 5-strut LEIs, both for hydrofoil and twintip. They work just fine for the hydrofoil. They loop fast, float downwind well, handle gusty conditions better than no strut/single strut options, and, of course, motor upwind better than low or mid aspect LEIs. In higher wind, kite weight isn't an issue as it might be in lighter wind. So, don't rule out the 5-strut high aspect LEIs as a high wind solution if you're relying on your Soul for lighter wind.

Thanks, this is valuable insight, especially the weight part I hadn't thought about that way.

2 votes for tempting me into another Soul, duly noted.

In terms of investments there's also this; Soul 6's are almost not around 2nd hand (and if they are still expensive), but HA LEI's can be had for not too much...

[edt]

It doesn't get any better than the soul it's the single best foil kite for gusty conditions. I hope other companies start making their own version of the soul but for now it's the go to kite.

[Adventure Logs]

I agree, go with the 6m Soul. Huge range, extremely versatile, tons of fun, and VERY stable. Also I may know where to find one second hand too from someone who now has the V2

[cr4p]

2 of us here have kept hold of our hyperlinks just for these nasty wind days, 5mtr
…
its safe and predictable in the air, and launch or land is drama free once you get over the worry of the first few launches
…
launching is the big barrier to many as larger foil kites can be scary in strong gusty winds, but not this 5mtr.

As a guy who is hooked on flysurfer since many years, I would like to better understand this. I always self launch my (well prefilled) foil kites and I found this very easy to do with all the flysurfers during the last many years (currently souls).

However, lately I tried my friends Hyperlink in 9sqm and I did not manage to do a „controlled“ self launch on the edge of the wind window, not even close. Sure, it flew well after the first few seconds, but at first it did not peel itself easily from the ground at the edge of the window as expected and then it did not stay on the edge while filling the missing last percentages of air. (While on the water with a foilboard, the Hl was very predictable, nice and intuitive as expected).
I also bought a 5sqm hyperlink for me, but when I tried to launch it a few times it showed the same strange launching behaviour that I never experienced on my flysurfer foilkites…

This is why I ask you here: Is there something different with the HL to self launch it on the edge if the windwindow, am I doing something wrong, or are you just overhyping this because after a few seconds of flying it is fine anyway?

[knyfe]

I do t want to stir the pot but I want to see a smooth and simple launch of a foil kite at 35nts. Landing even more so. Any utube links? For that tubes are really easy. No difference between 12 to 35 knots except the kite size of course. G

[elguapo]

not sure if i understand...


you're saying you can self land a tube kite exactly the same from 12-35 knots?

back in the old days.. i had a heck of a time trying to self a tiny cloud in 30 knots winds.. it never wanted to stay on the ground.


i always needed a helper.. just like i would use if using a foil kite in 35 knots winds.

[Nelis]

Leave the bridle flapping for a couple of seconds too long (say, the time it takes to walk from your bar to the kite) and there's spaghetti ruining your sesh.

Do you guys have tips on handling/setting up foil kites in higher winds wrt bridle tangles?

[jbrodin]

Leave the bridle flapping for a couple of seconds too long (say, the time it takes to walk from your bar to the kite) and there's spaghetti ruining your sesh.

Do you guys have tips on handling/setting up foil kites in higher winds wrt bridle tangles?

I do - from experience. You can put sand on more off the kite than just the upwind tip, for instance on the trailing edge, just make sure that it is so that it slides off easily when you start to launch. But, the most important thing is to stretch the bridals out well and to keep the lines taught enough while you uncoil the bar and when you put it down - so that the pulleys etc cant get tossed back into the bridals if the kite flaps on the ground.