Closed cell foil handling in light wind

[nothing2seehere]

Are there any tips for handling light(ish) wind lulls with a closed cell foil?

After trying the Peak 8m as a light wind hydrofoil option I'm starting to think that its not powerful with a low volume board (for my skill level) and I'm going to have to go back to my 10m Soul. The problem with the soul is that it seems magnetically attracted to the water. Usually happens on the walk through the calf deep water to and from the beach which happens to be the most gusty area (I'm talking 9-10knots average with maybe 6-7 knot lulls). I'm pretty sure this must be a skill thing but I'm not sure what the tricks are to stop the kite falling. Usually what seems to happen is a lull hits and the kite loses line tension, then shape, folds and drifts down. Less of a problem at the beginning of a session (unless it flips or gets caught on beach debris) but a wet kite takes ages to fly dry at the end of a session and if its an evening session it probably won't get fully dry even then).

As an LEI kiter I'd try and stop the kite overflying by moving it back and forth high in the window. The soul is less manoeuvrable but I also try and keep it flying too towards the edge of the window so it doesn't stall. Is that wrong and am I just panicking because I'm not used to how far above my head the kite will sit?

How do other people get around the walk out to deep enough water to get going?

[Janus]

9-10 wth luls 6/7 is doable with the Soul 10m (I prefer the 12m for that range)
I fly them on shorter lines (-extensions) feels much finer for foiling.
I have a setup with my flying lines a bit shorter so oversheeting is possible and handy to prevent overflying and frontstall when the lul hits.
I suggest to keep it flying and powered up, don't let it sit depowerd on the window edge.
You could do a mixer test, check A-Z equal. check flying characteristics, not better: C-2cm. (B follows with 1 cm) check flying again, still not good: C-1cm. etc.

[Herman]

Similar to above. I have my light wind foils rigged so that I have to apply trim in to get them to fly at reasonable and useful speed in light wind, backstall easily available. Then if I want to keep them away from the window edge where they will need less attention I can trim out, but of course you then don’t want to go mad with oversheeting or you will backstall it down. Might be worth thinking about how you rig pig lengths for trim set up bearing in mind recovery is easier from backstall than from a luff or collapse. This means you would trim out for the walk and messing around and then trim in to find the optimum AoA for riding just before you water start away……. I presume I would do the same for Souls if I had one.

[drsurf]

I think you're pushing the limit at the lower end with a 10m Soul especially compared to a Peak.
I'm not sure what your weight is but try an 8m Peak5 as it has a bit more punch than the Peak4 models and should get you going. In the wind you mentioned I'm 65kg using a 5m Peak5, 110cm board with a Moses 679 (990 sq cm) foil!

One of my customers who is 100kg is using a similar foil setup to me with an 11m Peak4. He's comfortably foiling in a steady 6-7 knots.

[nothing2seehere]

I'm relatively light at around 72kg but with the onshore wind I was needing to drag so far out to get enough room for the number of loops I needed to get up. At the moment I'm not dialled in with peaks so I suffer with the upwind angles where as with the soul its a piece of cake to get out. The problem with the soul is making sure there is enough wind to keep it in the air. I'm not trying to chase the ultimate low end - just looking for something that's better than the old 9m Airush ultra and long lines which would fly down to a nice limit but if you dropped it it would never get going again. The peak was very good at hanging in the air though. I'd go to a peak 5 for sure if they slightly increased the aspect ratio of the big sizes. The 4m has a permanent place in my quiver though I'm still learning to trim it as in light wind I still lose a lot of ground at the low end.

[Jyoder]

You can backstall foilkites back to the hot launch position and the closer it gets to the center of the window, the more stable it becomes. In a few lull, the kite may fold almost in half but if you keep the bar sheeted fully in and aggressively turn the kite toward 12, it will recover in the hot zone. Sheet out just before the kite backs down onto the water. This is radically different than LEI kites.

Also, when walking with the kite and not riding, you should keep the bar sheeted in as far as you can without the kite backstalling, so that if a gust comes, the kite won’t accelerate as fast to overfly the window.

[Regis-de-giens]

Soul V1 is a bit heavy for very light winds ... other brands make lighter kites more adapted to 6 knots.
Otherwise shortening C briddle on the mixer should indeed make it more stable ( but less agile and less power full in low end, and less fly minimum wind when you activelly move it)

[foursquare]

It took me a while to hit my stride with the Peak4 8m (the only peak I own). I sold all my other kites, and just pull this one out of the car when there isn't enough wind to wingfoil.

Ironically I didn't really gel with it until i tried it when i didn't have a low volume board around. With a 34L board it was awesome ... I had enough volume to not worry so much about pushing down a pocket board ... and it gave me a bit more resistance against the kite to keep things under control in a lull without having to do weird stuff.

[jakemoore]

As said the Soul is not the very lightest kite but I would guess a 2-3 knot advantage over Airush Ultra in my experience. There are conditions where only a Peak will stay in the air but unfortunately not enough pull to get on the board.

If we are talking about shore break and wind too light for an LEI to fly this is a very big challenge as the foil kite wants to fly out of the window at the same time even small waves push you to shore. I could not tolerate 6 knot lulls in these conditions but could easily go in 6 knots if the water is tame.

If the lull comes with a change in wind direction you might also be stuck. If the kite is high in the window there is hope to save it by down-looping before all tension is lost.

If we are talking about a sandy beach and a previously wetted foil kite I wonder if there is sand and salt adhered to the kite. Rinsing and drying the kite in fresh water can help a lot.

Longer lines help keep the kite in the air even if the kite is more sluggish. Also keeping the kite moving from side to side at the zenith as you describe helps. Keeping the kite high in the window can also help. Sometimes rather than body drag I swim elementary backstroke with the kite at 12.

You might look at how the Soul sits in the wind window fully depowered. Most foil kites go farther forward as the bar is pushed away. The Soul at some point will sit deeper due to the triple depower and active wingtips. If you have your bar positioned where the kite is farthest forward that is the highest risk for the kite to end up out of the wind window.

The recovery characteristic of the kite can be tuned with the PMA. I like to think of the PMA as affecting how the kite behaves with the bridle lines slack and the mixer affecting how the kite behaves with the bridle lines tight. You might try with one or all of the top skin PMA shortened by one knot. However I would mess with the PMA only after all other other options are completely exhausted. First practice with a salt free kite and tune line length and mixer.

[edt]

busy hands. to keep line tension constantly give inputs to the kite. Doesn't really matter what the inputs are. You can go left right left right left right left right every quarter second or you can push the bar out pull the bar in push the bar out pull it in. You don't have to make S's in the sky like you do with the tube kite. Just don't sit there without any inputs. Just remember "Busy hands keeps your kite in the sky". You don't have to fly the kite any particular way, continue giving inputs to the kite. You don't even have to be particularly graceful or have a plan. Little inputs will keep line tension and that prevents the kite from falling down.