Kite size vs aspect ratio

[dave1986]

I'm interested to know why high aspect freeride foil kites are typically not available in the smaller sizes？

For example:
High Aspect Freeride Foil Kites
－ Ozone Chrono V4 sizes : 11m, 13m, 15m, 18m（11m smallest）
－ Flysurfer Sonic 3 sizes : 9m, 11m, 13m, 15m, 18m （9m smallest ）

Mid Aspect Freeride Foil Kites
－ Ozone Hyperlink V2 sizes: 5m, 7m, 9m, 11m, 13m
－ Flysurfer Soul V2 sizes： 6m, 8m, 10m, 12m, 15m, 18m, 21m

[leeuwen]

I guess its related to needing relatively "clean" winds to keep a higher aspect kite happy and usually higher winds equals gusty winds.

[PugetSoundKiter]

Yep they're handful

[dave1986]

When you say "keep a kite happy" what do you mean?

For example why not make Ozone Chrono in 5m, 7m or 9m? Or no Flysurfer Sonic 3 in 5m or 7m?

Is it because they will easily collapse and misbehave? I would personally love a high aspect kite for big boosting in 25+knots.

[leeuwen]

When you say "keep a kite happy" what do you mean?

Is it because they will easily collapse and misbehave? I would personally love a high aspect kite for big boosting in 25+knots.

Yes, to quote flysurfer faq:

“ The SOUL is more good-natured and sits deeper in the wind window, has significantly more stability in strong winds”

And why there is no smaller/ high wind sonic;

“Due to safety, we strongly recommend our SOUL and STOKE ranges for strong winds (over 25 knots). Exceeding the wind ranges can lead to dangers.“

An educated guess would be the kite will have bad behaviour like collapsing and “overfly” at zenith in gusty conditions.

[derek440]

The other thing is that there isn't much of a market for small size race kites or free-race kites as the people riding them are often on very small foils which means you gotta "rig big" with the kite. So when its 25kn often racers are on 10m kites, the race foils help to hold down the power and rocket upwind/downwind. You can buy 8m race kites but not many people do, most race quivers are 10,13,18 or 11,15,21 and people just hang onto their 10 or 11 up to 25-30kn or sometimes they have an 8m tucked away for nuking conditions. Also racing is sometimes cancelled when it goes over 30kn for safety reasons. Most racers if they have a sub 10m kite its got very very low hours, almost none.

[Carlos_C]

I have a Speed 5 6mt - needs a lot of wind to be fun - but can be a pain in the ass with tip tucking etc. my speed 4 10 deluxe as a joy to fly - have no issues at all. so I think the smaller high aspect kites are sensitive to bridle adjustments - smaller low aspect kites such as the pulse 2 are solid

[mgs]

I purchased a Chrono V1 (9m) as a higher wind kite and having launched it a couple of times in the 20mph wind range it’s not for the faint hearted and needs careful planning.
It fly’s very fast across the wind window and in hindsight I would suggest this kite would suit a lighter rider in less wind.
For me if I arrived at the beach to find the wind speed around 15mph I could either the use my 12m or the 9m Chrono. The 9m may need a bit of working at first but once you are up and running is a great kite.
For the 20mph plus winds I opted for a Mid AR kite to use, having said that I recently launched my new Peter Lynn Nova 10m in 20mph plus winds and had to place more sand than usual on the up wind wing tip, put sand on the speed system to hold it place to avoid any tangles when launching. You have to be totally committed as you lift the downwind wing tip to start the launch process, it launched very well with no issues. I walked to the water only to find the wind was even stronger! and felt very over powered and came in.
I checked wind speed again to find it 25mph and hitting almost 30!

Interesting to read that in the 2024 Olympics that kite racing will be introduced, using kites from 7 to 21m in winds from five to 40 knots! (40 knots = 46mph) I would suggest that launching a race kite successfully in a 40 knot wind is a competition in it self.
https://www.kiteworldmag.com/news/clear ... ic-future/

[geokite]

Consider not only the aspect ratio, but the cell count. Generally the more cells, the higher the speed and efficiency of the kite. IMO, high wind kites should have less cells to keep them slower and more stable.