Very appreciated these guidelines, overview and advice Foil! Thank You!Foil wrote: ↑Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:44 amBuying your first foil kites for hydrofoiling is a exciting reach out into the unknown for many hydrofoilers, for many its a sheer joy, power that is just so controllable, power delivery that's so smooth, lift and glide around the corners with less tendency for slack line situations, easier body dragging out in difficult onshore winds with waves, less gear, and much lighter gear to carry down to waters edge, massive wind range of foil kites compared to LEI kites, one foil kite covers at least 2 lei kite sizes,and the much publicised grunt and lift that Foil kites can deliver in the initial get up and go.
sounds great,
but it's not for everyone, and sailing locations that you use must be considered,
as a guide then if you are still falling in a lot during a session, still feeling unsteady in the chop and tripping up more than the other foilers, if you keep dropping your kite in the turns, rarely if ever getting near a dry 30 mins on the water, if any of this applies to you then you may need to think carefully before changing to foil kites, learning two skills at the same time can be achieved, but its going to be harder, and you need to keep yourself aware of the risks that come with a foil kite and take all the steps to minimise that risk.
If you are in the early hydro foiling learning stages then you will drop your foil kite for sure, and drop it more often than others you may watch who never seem to drop thiers, ok, so with this in mind then think about your sailing spot, are there many buddies around to help out? with advice and be there when things go wrong, can you practice more often on a safe lagoon type area, shallow water area, easy launch and land location, the list goes on, can you practice foil kite pack down and relaunch skill/ability? you will need this skill in the bank for sure before going out in anything less than super safe and ideal.
Then there is the choice of foil kite,
don't just dive in and buy cheap,
be very careful who you listen to, yes foil kites relaunch much much easier than lei kites,but only in the hands of someone who has practiced a lot and is aware of all the downsides not just the advantages, but even for the experienced then if its a blown out bag from 5 to 15 years back, thats been well used, slower than slow thing, and is now porus, heavy by todays superlight standards, and out of tune with cotton thin bridals that will never deliver a good experience to a novice.but it may be going cheap!
Generally foil kites classed as freeride,are the ones to look at new or the latest versions, not budget price, recommended by the hydrofoilers you can actually watch and talk to to at your sailing spot, go for the lightest weight for size, strongest bridal set that "never" need adjustment ,they are available but limit your choices
I have found that guys newer to foil kite use on a hydrofoil may need to go up a size in the first year of use, and then as skill develops in the use of the foil kite you can drop a size for the same conditions that a year back seemed impossible, which then makes foil kite use an even better experience.
I will for sure wait to go for Foil kites! I have many LEI that I now understand are perfect to start and till I will be at least an Intermediated!
Just curious, how behave modern foil kites like the Hyperlink in places very gusty and with lulls too?
I normally ride in Porto Pollo (Sardinia) and the wind is pretty challenging...