The Hybrid from Flysurfer

[a99]

Seems it is quite problematic kite…

Odd, that hasn’t been my impression of the reviews at all. I’m excited to give it a try in Baja this winter. It is definitely different than some people expected and it is more expensive, but I would not call that problematic.

Such experimental aerodynamic thing as hybrid kites especially in their v1 or v2 releases of course are and will be problematic. Nobody complains about UFO v2 or similar. But FS of course have big respect that they pushing kite technology further and releasing such experimental product. I wonder why nobody releasing NASA type kite with real depower bar? NASA type kites are very very powerfull, and it can be perfect suited for light winds for foiling img.

[Adventure Logs]

In other case UFO v2 with much much bigger range and also very light weight is definitely much better choice vs Hybrid. With UFO you much safer can feel in open sea water far from shore, plus much more power spikes on water start. 7 meter UFO goes from 8 knots till 30 knots! it weights just 1.6 kg!

I won’t ever buy another LEI. Pumps are for chumps and pumping burns off your beer buzz

Here’s a quick vid of the inflation of the 7.5m Hybrid. This foil might actually benefit from preinflation which is easy with the super wide butthole. Let’s see what the 2.5 does in 30+ winds

[drsurf]

From that i have read seems Hybrid is far from we expected and what he hoped. Seems it is quite problematic kite, just one advantage is good relaunch from water. Maybe in version 2 FS will do better job, but due to high price i highly doubt if this kite will get popularity as Peak. For experienced riders Peak is much better choice regarding good price, drift, power, turn and etc. In other case UFO v2 with much much bigger range and also very light weight is definitely much better choice vs Hybrid. With UFO you much safer can feel in open sea water far from shore, plus much more power spikes on water start. 7 meter UFO goes from 8 knots till 30 knots! it weights just 1.6 kg! To cover such range you will need 3 Peaks what will be 2 times expensive than one UFO. I even not will speak about perfect UFO as small LEI turn, on Peak you still feel lag as in all double skin or single skin kites vs LEI control and turning precision ( i mean comparing relatively the same size kites, what means in nature LEI has much better control precision).

Seems to be some selective reading a99. As you can read from my experience the Hybrid performs very well as an alternative choice from the Peak. The only downside for me and my customers is that it costs more than a Peak but it's still way cheaper than a twin skin foil and comparable in price to an LEI kite such as a UFO. If you say you can use a 7m UFO from 8 to 30 knots then so can I with a Hybrid or Peak. Would I want to with any of these kites? Of course not! Pushing the boundaries of discomfort is not my idea of foiling fun. I daresay the Hybrid like the Peak would last a lot longer than an LEI kite as well.

While the UFO weighs 1.6kg the comparable Hybrid weighs less than half that at .74kg. There is no way the UFO could drift as well or be as responsive as the Hybrid with so much dead weight to carry. I find that the Peak and Hybrid have much better turning characteristics with no lag compared to an LEI, and I do fly both types of kites. I can also fly a much smaller Peak/Hybrid kite than an LEI which obviously improves the responsiveness of the kite. So far this season I've been using a 2.5m Peak and 3.5m Hybrid for foiling with a 7.5m Naish Pivot on twin tip on a gusty high wind day. When I've had the 2.5m & 3.5m kites out, other foilers have been using 7m to 10m LEI kites and heavier riders than me have been using 5m Peaks.

I would feel much safer with a Hybrid in open sea water than an LEI. No bladder to fail and the kites floats and relaunches with virtually no effort.
I, and from what I have read others, have not yet spent much time testing the Performance Tuner on the Hybrid which would appear to offer a wide range of performance characteristics to be taken advantage of. So much more fun to be had
a99 you would be much better advised to make your comments with experience than display your ignorance so publicly.

[Smeagle]

Very nice review:

[a99]

a99 you would be much better advised to make your comments with experience than display your ignorance so publicly.

I just wrote my independent opinion which i did in summarize opinion from reviews which there was posted, also i'm not related with this product as you as dealer.

[Flyboy]

I think the Hybrid presents a rather unique situation. The Peaks have one, very specific drawback - they don't water relaunch with any degree of reliability. If you don't drop the kite, this is completely a non-factor. In the last year I seem to have settled into a pattern of dropping the kite about every 18th session. 18 sessions is a lot of kiting, so you start to completely discount the possibility of dropping the kite until ... it suddenly happens.

The drops are usually "severe" now, which is to say no possibility to quickly reverse launch. I have had zero success relaunching a waterlogged Peak. This may be largely because I haven't tried that hard. Controlling the board while dealing with the kite is very difficult and tiring. The prospect of rolling out the lines back out again while controlling the board & hoping that all will go well with the relaunch ... and if not rolling the lines back up etc. is pretty daunting. By the time I have rolled up the lines to the kite & messed around a bit trying to sort out the kite, I'm ready to give up and just swim/drift in. Younger Peak users may have a different experience!

It has to be said, that even with an LEI, or a double skin foil kite, it does happen that the kite is dropped in such a way that it is difficult, or impossible to relaunch. I'm very happy with the advantages offered by my Peaks and resigned to occasionally having to swim in. This does mean I'm a bit more cautious about how far from shore I go. Given the fact that I already have a full quiver of Peak4s and the Hybrids are so expensive, I think I will be sticking with the Peaks for the foreseeable future.

[joriws]

I wonder why nobody releasing NASA type kite with real depower bar? NASA type kites are very very powerfull, and it can be perfect suited for light winds for foiling img.

There are nasa wing kites, usually marketed for snowkiting. Not sure about depower range. But I've seen one riding fine at local mountains in the middle of a forest. Those on link are steered like a wingythingy.

http://www.skiseil.no/produkter.html

[Peter_Frank]

You have a full quiver of Peak4's you say Flyboy?

That is rare to see, amazing.

That's 7 kites

How do you rate the 8 and 11 and 13 m2?

Many drop either the 11 or 13, instead of having both.

Off topic though

Peter

[Peter_Frank]

I wonder why nobody releasing NASA type kite with real depower bar? NASA type kites are very very powerfull, and it can be perfect suited for light winds for foiling img.

There are nasa wing kites, usually marketed for snowkiting. Not sure about depower range. But I've seen one riding fine at local mountains in the middle of a forest. Those on link are steered like a wingythingy.

http://www.skiseil.no/produkter.html

Have never seen one, but amazed they can be ultra powerful being so low aspect?

Peter

[bragnouff]

Nasa wings are very powerful in a kind of grunty/truck way, with a small flight window. (from memories of a looooong time ago...) Very different from what we're used to as kitesurfers. But it works on skis where the low friction and good edge ability compensates for it. Similarly that could work on foil, although you'd possibly miss the initial power spike to get started, and be overpowered quickly once going.

Fun to try though!