The Hybrid from Flysurfer

[Peter_Frank]

I wonder if FS Hybrid in 11.5m size makes sense at all?

Good question - my thoughts (without ever having ridden one above 7.5):

Rider weight means everything, so if you are over average weight 75-80 kg, bigger sizes will make a lot of sense.

Also, Hybrid simply feels a lot better turning than Peaks, I dont like the Peak 8 m2 - yes it can be a session saver as it can give you 1 knot better lowend, but on cost of bad drift and lousy turning (IMO and experience).
So I use my 8 m2 (too) often because of too little wind for the "perfect" 6 m2 and smaller.

The 7.5 Hybrid has a bit less power than its size, but it is AWESOME for playing around in the waves, feels like a much smaller kite.

Meaning, a 9.5 might have the same advantages, and then an 11.5 could have the same for heavier riders.

Anyways - the option to be able to relaunch these kites, are quite attractive IMO, as the only kite I have dumped and had to swim, has been the 8 m2, as used in these 8-9 knots of wind where dropping winds close to "mirrorwatersurface" CAN happen...

The lack of peak power would make very expensive twinskin foilkites even better, yes, but they will turn like dogs, compared.

So not that easy to predict

Peter

[Adventure Logs]

I wonder if FS Hybrid in 11.5m size makes sense at all?

Also, Hybrid simply feels a lot better turning than Peaks, I dont like the Peak 8 m2 - yes it can be a session saver as it can give you 1 knot better lowend, but on cost of bad drift and lousy turning (IMO and experience).
So I use my 8 m2 (too) often because of too little wind for the "perfect" 6 m2 and smaller.

The 7.5 Hybrid has a bit less power than its size, but it is AWESOME for playing around in the waves, feels like a much smaller kite.

Ha great example of different strokes for different folks because I think the opposite. Now I haven't ridden a Peak8m but I really dislike how the Hybrid 7.5m turns. I'm constantly reaching up on the steering lines to get a tighter turn. Yes I could super shorten the rear lines but then the bar pressure goes way up and I don't like that.

I think a larger Hybrid makes more sense than a larger Peak just because the hybrids make less power. It's not what I could call a "Performance" kite. I have a Gin Marabou 8m coming and I'm excited to see how it compares to the Peak/Hybrid. Overall, honestly I've been disappointed with the Hybrid. I think they purposely dumbed it down too much which has led me to buy a foil kite from a different brand which is the first time I've wanted to do so in over a half a decade.

=Jason-

[djdojo]

Hi Jason, I have a mate with a 6m Marabou 2 and I've flown it on the beach and had a couple of runs on the foil with it. Not surprisingly it's somewhere between Peak and Soul in most characteristics, though much closer to Peak than Soul. (I have 7m Soul and 5,4 and 3m Peak4s). The Peak will turn faster than the Marabou and has a more direct feel through the bar. Soul will obviously crush it for upwind and straight line speed. Just from the videos I've seen the Marabou doesn't look quite as dumbed-down as the Hybrid but it's still too sedate for my taste.

Any further sessions on your 2.5 hybrid in the 30 knot range? I agree that dumbing-down is probably more tolerable in the tiny sizes but I'm still on the fence without being able to demo.

[Adventure Logs]

Any further sessions on your 2.5 hybrid in the 30 knot range? I agree that dumbing-down is probably more tolerable in the tiny sizes but I'm still on the fence without being able to demo.

No not get, been back to work and have another week of my rotation still to go. I'm hoping for some strong winds when I get back to really test the mini hybrid again. The self landing technique interests me so I want to see if it's really a feasible method.

I'm looking forward to a direct comparison between the FS and Gin.

[Peter_Frank]

True Jason, very different likings.

In general I dont like the way an 8 m2 Peak turns, and bigger than 7.5 Hybrids would probably be too slow also, and if you dont need the fast relaunch a 6 m2 Peak might work as well as the 7.5 powerwise and feel more nimble, but I can not say for sure as the Hybrid can be tuned for more camber thus more (grunt) power.

I dont fint the 7.5 has high bar pressure at all, even with shortened rearlines.
In fact very "pleasant" pressure, not too low not tiring either, but good feedback so a lot easier to feel the kite.

Peaks has silly low pressure, which is what we also like when experienced, but it can be really difficult for less experienced, and even for us on occasion we make mistakes and stall or pinwheel undeliberately when crashing.

High bar pressure, here I think of the old Naish kites - they had HUGE bar pressure all of them, untill the frontline flyers came in 2001 and spread all over brands very fast.
Although many of the new brands coming out in the early 2000s had unfortunately copied the heavy Naish pressure
You had to be, or became, THE HULK riding these kites

But after windsurfing and now also wingfoiling, ALL kites has low bar pressure of course

Many freestylers like some bar pressure, and many freeriders with experience prefer low bar pressure - just a general observation, as we are all different in this respect, true.

Peter

[Adventure Logs]

High bar pressure, here I think of the old Naish kites - they had HUGE bar pressure all of them, untill the frontline flyers came in 2001 and spread all over brands very fast.
Although many of the new brands coming out in the early 2000s had unfortunately copied the heavy Naish pressure
You had to be, or became, THE HULK riding these kites

Sure you can compare to LEIs but that's not really fair. I compare to foil kites and mostly the Peaks since most riders will do the same and my shoulder does not like the Hybrid lol. Plus it seems you need to be in the last couple inches of bar to do anything with it. I'm just frustrated because this *could* have been a great kite. I don't understand FS's obsession of not pushing performance except when it comes to racing which is a pretty small niche.

While other company's are putting out more advanced kites, Flysurfer is once again playing it safe. Hell we didn't even get the Sonic(first real performance foil from FS in my opinion) till Ozone released the Chrono. I'm just frustrated I guess.

[drsurf]

Hi Jason.
Have you changed the knots on the "Performance tuner" on the Hybrid to see if it changes the performance characteristics to suit your style?

[Adventure Logs]

Hi Jason.
Have you changed the knots on the "Performance tuner" on the Hybrid to see if it changes the performance characteristics to suit your style?

Yes I have and while there is a difference when you change it, there's trade offs(like it will turn faster but also increases bar pressure) and it still doesn't fly anywhere near what I like. The major deal breaker for me is that the kite doesn't accelerate forward when you sheet out. I just need a more dynamic kite.

[Adventure Logs]

Here's my comparison of the build and design differences between the Hybrid 2.5m and Peak5 2.5m. My extensive review is coming soon.

[Mellowyellow]

Any feedback comparisons between flysurfer hybride and gin marabou 2 ?