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Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

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Raynski
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Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby Raynski » Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:11 am

Hi yall,
A friend of mine flies foilkites especially his 12m flysurfer soul and does insane jumps on it (15m) in only 18-23 knots. However he stricly sticks to flatwater/shallow spots which get insanely crowded in the spring/autumn times with beginners.


He refuses to go out into the ocean/north sea with it because of safety issues (kite bowties for example and cant relaunch) swimming 100 yards in those conditions is very different/difficult then doing it in a closed off body of water. So im curious how/where most of you guys fly, and if you share his opinion of not using a kitefoil in ocean/sea conditions
Last edited by Raynski on Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby Janus » Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:18 am

Raynski wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:11 am
Hi yall,
A friend of mine flies foilkites especially his 12m flysurfer soul and does insane jumps on it (15m) in only 18-23 knots. However he stricly sticks to flatwater/shallow spots which get insanely crowded in the spring/autumn times with beginners and refuses to go out into the ocean/north sea with it because of safety issues (kite bowties for example and cant relaunch) swimming 100 yards in those conditions is very different/difficult then doing it in a closed off body of water. So im curious how/where most of you guys fly, and if you share his opinion of not using a kitefoil in ocean/sea conditions
Everywhere and in all conditions.. Soul's and Peak's
I don't see the safety issue with the Soul at all, with the Peak it is not a issue either for me. Go out in conditions you can handle, if you're not sure skip the day.
Swim in's can happen with all kind of kites, use a impact / flotation vest and don't go out alone if you want a bit of risk management.

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby Raynski » Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:27 am

Janus wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:18 am
Raynski wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:11 am
Hi yall,
A friend of mine flies foilkites especially his 12m flysurfer soul and does insane jumps on it (15m) in only 18-23 knots. However he stricly sticks to flatwater/shallow spots which get insanely crowded in the spring/autumn times with beginners and refuses to go out into the ocean/north sea with it because of safety issues (kite bowties for example and cant relaunch) swimming 100 yards in those conditions is very different/difficult then doing it in a closed off body of water. So im curious how/where most of you guys fly, and if you share his opinion of not using a kitefoil in ocean/sea conditions
Everywhere and in all conditions.. Soul's and Peak's
I don't see the safety issue with the Soul at all, with the Peak it is not a issue either for me. Go out in conditions you can handle, if you're not sure skip the day.
Swim in's can happen with all kind of kites, use a impact / flotation vest and don't go out alone if you want a bit of risk management.
For sure, but lying in cold water (around or below 10 degrees celcius/50-60 fahrenheit) it can get dangerous pretty quick? I mean a inflatable 9/10 times you could use as a sail to drift back to shore. With a foilkite is just you versus the current

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby evan » Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:39 am

You can use a foil kite as a sail without a problem, just roll 1 tip to the point the rest is at max pressure and hold the tip of that side up as a sail.

But in those kinds of wind you should be able to relaunch it 100% unless you break some lines. you can roll the lines up to the kite, sort out the bow tie, unroll and relaunch again or let your buddy sort out any tangles (we do that a lot when race foiling to help a buddy relaunch when his tip is tangled). Especially a soul will be floating a long time before it gets soaked, I even managed to relaunch the 6m after 20min+ after a bad bridle tangle.

So no point in being more afraid on foil kite compared to a tube, but as always it helps to know how to handle your gear and have pro active buddies that also know what to do!

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby Raynski » Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:17 am

evan wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:39 am
You can use a foil kite as a sail without a problem, just roll 1 tip to the point the rest is at max pressure and hold the tip of that side up as a sail.
Thats amazing, i thought once it floods with water you cant use it as a sail anymore? When you say roll 1 tip to the point, do you mean roll up the kite 2/3 of the way and use the remaining as a sail?
evan wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:39 am

But in those kinds of wind you should be able to relaunch it 100% unless you break some lines. you can roll the lines up to the kite, sort out the bow tie, unroll and relaunch again or let your buddy sort out any tangles (we do that a lot when race foiling to help a buddy relaunch when his tip is tangled).
Is it safe to roll up the bar without having pulled the safety? With tubes thats a big no no ive always learned :nono:
evan wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:39 am

Especially a soul will be floating a long time before it gets soaked, I even managed to relaunch the 6m after 20min+ after a bad bridle tangle.

So no point in being more afraid on foil kite compared to a tube, but as always it helps to know how to handle your gear and have pro active buddies that also know what to do!
Damn, I thought when it fills up with water theres no way in hell you could relaunch it even if its blowing 20-25 knots. Does that hold up even when it gets soaked by 1-2m swell? (unbroken waves)

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby evan » Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:29 am

You always want to start rolling or swimming to your kite as soon as you notice it won't relaunch anymore by pulling on the lines. Good thing about the soul is that it takes in water dozens of times slower compare to a race kite so you have a lot of time before it has gathered too much water. Also all foil kites have a drainage system, so as long as you can keep 3/2 filled with air you can use that to lift the kite off the water and let the water slowly drain out of the submerged tip (can take a while, so be patient and keep wet tip on the surface until it is empty).

If you have made a waterbed out of your kite you are f*cked, so act swiftly when it comes into a position that it starts to soak more water. As long as it floats on it's back without crashing waves you have all the time to sort any tangles.

Roll the bar indeed in a way that the kite can't power up again. can be in flagged position or with the back lines stalled by 1m to keep the kite on the water.

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby Raynski » Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:34 am

evan wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:29 am
You always want to start rolling or swimming to your kite as soon as you notice it won't relaunch anymore by pulling on the lines. Good thing about the soul is that it takes in water dozens of times slower compare to a race kite so you have a lot of time before it has gathered too much water. Also all foil kites have a drainage system, so as long as you can keep 3/2 filled with air you can use that to lift the kite off the water and let the water slowly drain out of the submerged tip (can take a while, so be patient and keep wet tip on the surface until it is empty).

If you have made a waterbed out of your kite you are f*cked, so act swiftly when it comes into a position that it starts to soak more water. As long as it floats on it's back without crashing waves you have all the time to sort any tangles.

Roll the bar indeed in a way that the kite can't power up again. can be in flagged position or with the back lines stalled by 1m to keep the kite on the water.
Just to make sure, its crashing waves that mostly soak the kite right? Unbroken waves will probably just lift the kite a bit and move under it?

Also what are some giveaways that the kite is soaking up water and you need to start acting swiftly?

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby SolarSet » Tue Feb 08, 2022 12:35 pm

Soul can fill up with water if you land it leading edge down and you tension all your lines for long time like 15-20min it could start to take water through air intakes. It happened to me only once as for some strange reason briadals go tangle and got seaweed on them and I couldn't relunch for 20min or so. Once briadals were sorted it took so much water that even when flipped on trailing edge it wouldn't relunch. It happened to me once in like 50 sessions I had it for.
Bowties and other crazy shit that can happen to foil kite usually happens when there is marginal wind and I landed jump bad (all line got slack and kite overflown me)
I would say be mindful of these possible scenarios and gain experience by not chasing low 10kts windspeeds in the beginnings.

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby Raynski » Tue Feb 08, 2022 1:12 pm

SolarSet wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 12:35 pm
Soul can fill up with water if you land it leading edge down and you tension all your lines for long time like 15-20min it could start to take water through air intakes. It happened to me only once as for some strange reason briadals go tangle and got seaweed on them and I couldn't relunch for 20min or so. Once briadals were sorted it took so much water that even when flipped on trailing edge it wouldn't relunch. It happened to me once in like 50 sessions I had it for.
Bowties and other crazy shit that can happen to foil kite usually happens when there is marginal wind and I landed jump bad (all line got slack and kite overflown me)
I would say be mindful of these possible scenarios and gain experience by not chasing low 10kts windspeeds in the beginnings.
I never chase low windspeeds, but in the past ive had fair share of bowties on a older flysurfer speed after a jump, i sent it too too hard and it would to 2 o clock and the kite would fly past me and bowtie. What would you do if it bowtied? Try to relaunch/untangle or directly start wrapping up and swim/sail back?

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Re: Do you fly your foilkite on ocean/sea/deep water?

Postby drsurf » Tue Feb 08, 2022 1:37 pm

I regularly go our 500m plus offshore with a Peak kite, Soul, and LEI. My wind conditions are nearly always cross onshore or occasionally cross shore. If I drop a kite and can't relaunch I'll end up being blown back to shore in time and use that to advantage if I can keep a bit of kite up as a sail.

I don't kite in offshore wind areas where the next shore is hundreds of km away, I always wear enough wetsuit to prevent any likelihood of hypothermia, I can swim and float easily and I'm not worried about sharks because I don't eat seafood :D

If you're limiting yourself to 100m off the beach you'll be in conflict with other kiters, wing dingers, windsurfers etc, the wind probably won't be clean and if the worst happens, you'll end up having windsports banned from the beach if you cause a serious incident.


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