Flysurfer Peak 5

[Flyboy]

Yesterday I found out the low end of the 6m Peak 4. I could not get going in 8-11mph wind. I was up once or twice for a minute. It was super hard to create enough power to get up over the board. Not complaining, I knew the 6m will have a low end limit. I ended up pumping my 9m Neo and the additional power spike got me going on the first try. Nevertheless, I ended up swimming back as the kite dropped from the sky after my first jibe. Stupid rider mistake. After the kite got wet, there was no way to go out again. Anyways, got frustrated as my friends were just barely riding on 10m Core Xlite and BRM Cloud 8m.

So now comes the question. Would an 8m Peak 5 do the trick to extend another 1-2 mph down? Or should I simply look for a Cloud for these super marginal days? I am hesitant to pull the trigger on the 8m Peak, they seem to not have the needed power spike to get going. How is the 8m in comparison to the 6m? Probably pretty slow.

A 6m Peak4 should get you up & riding in 11 mph, depending on your weight ... but definitely not in 8 mph. My observation is that a 6m Peak4 is equivalent to somewhere between an 8m & 9m LEI in power. A good 9m will probably give you a stronger initial power spike to get up on the foil. A good 10m LEI will definitely get you going in a little less wind than a 6m Peak4. However, there is a law of diminishing returns: a 12m LEI will give you a power spike that will get you up on the foil in still less wind, but you're then vulnerable to any lulls, not able to do much in the way of maneuvering, restricted to riding backwards & forwards in a straight line ... & swimming if you make any mistake in flying the kite. The Peaks have the advantage that once you are up, you are unlikely to drop the kite, even in a significant lull.

I am OK with just foiling when it's 10 knots or above. At that wind speed I can still go upwind, play in any swell & ride back downwind with a Peak4 6m.

[Peter_Frank]

Assume you are medium weight daspi, when you dont write.

Just to get the windspeed right, as mph is not used by (m)any.

8 mph is 7 knots or 3.5 m/s.

No way you can ride with a Peak in 6 m2, not even an 8 m2.

11 mph is 9.5 knots or close to 5 m/s, more than sufficient for a 6 m2 Peak.

10 mph is 8.7 knots or 4.5 m/s - which for me at average weight 80 kg is my lower limit for a 6 m2 Peak.

I dont know how much you have ridden with the 6 m2?

As when looping the kite, most dont do it correctly, they choke the kite and turn too narrow - which is useless.
You have to find the exact sheeting point all the way around in the loop, AND make a smooth wide loop.
This is key to starting in their low end - the same goes for the smaller Peaks.

10-11 mph will be sufficient to foil with a 6 m2, but not in less.

An 8 m2 will go down to 9 mph (7.8 knots or 4 m/s) so the difference is small, but present.

Peter

[norcom]

...
8 mph is 7 knots or 3.5 m/s.

No way you can ride with a Peak in 6 m2, not even an 8 m2.
...

Peter

Completely disagreee. I can ride in 8MPH with my 6m Peak4 on my GL240 wing with a 50L or 100L boards. In fact it's much easier to do with the 6m than the 8m or 11m which I haven't used in over a year. The 6m can be moved fast enough to generate power to get going. All I do is ride stupid light wind here in FL. I'm forgetting how to ride when it's nuking.

Is it fun? NO. It's hard to get upwind but usually I can keep ground.

When it's 8 MPH, it's usualy 4MPH to 10MPH. I'll rig if it's 7MPH+ but not if I see it drop to 4mph, though I have.

Had a sesh on my new Peak5 5m but not sure if I want to upgrade the rest yet. Felt almost the same as my Peak4. But these kites are sesh-savers in FL with big wings and boards.

[andylc]

I’m no expert but a massive wing and a board big enough to wingfoil with - does that really count???

[ieism]

I ride an 11m when it's 7 to 8 knots, pretty sure I couldn't ride my 8 or 6 that low unless there are gusts.

84kg on 1250cm foil. The 11m is slow, I don't recommend it.

[Trent hink]

Big foil is fine if you just want to cruise with low power, but if the board is to big it becomes very hard to get up on.

You want a board that is easy to sink the rail a bit until you get the hydrofoil moving. Then it's easier to get positioned and set up to get your ass up over the board.

I’m no expert but a massive wing and a board big enough to wingfoil with - does that really count???

[Trent hink]

On low end riding, I always loop the kite to start, but it takes a bit of touch to figure out how hard you can sheet in on the kite without choking it off.

Really light wind, I might loop the kite three times to start, but in ideal wind, only once.

When you loop the kite, you want to make the loop big and have maximum speed right near the bottom of the loop, and then try sheeting in for power as the kite moves through the bottom of the loop.

For the best "juice," It's probably better to aim the board a bit too far downwind as you are getting over it, rather that try to point upwind too quickly.

Don't choke the kite. Give it an opportunity to take off.

[daspi]

My weight is 165lbs.
Great tips on how to loop and get going in low wind. It's what I was working on. In general I claim to be pretty efficient in light wind technique, but probably have room to improve my looping starting technique as I am new to Peak flying. So I will try again. I have to say, to get going with the 9m Neo was way easier that day. Got up the first time. I agree that the issue is with the lulls. I've noticed during a previous session with the Peak, that in a lull the kite can collapse on you a bit, but you can save it and it won't just drop. Where the LEI kite will keep going for a moment in the lull, but if wind is not right back, the struggle to keep the kite up is the issue. Some trade offs with each. I was contemplating if a LEI no strut or single strut would be the happy compromise in these conditions. I must say I do like the idea of the Peak to be my only kites for foiling. I am just not sure if the 6m Peak will get me out in the summer when we have fairly unstable light wind sea breeze days. I guess I will keep on trying and probably have to experience a swim back with a Peak one day too. So far no kite drop and never had to try a re-launch. I probably should try it out one of the next sessions. Just to get a feel for it.

[Gerwinnaar]

Maybe you can get some valuable insights in this topic : viewtopic.php?f=196&t=2412876

[Gerwinnaar]

I am new to the peak as well and I still need to try a high volume board with my peak 5 6m