Flysurfer Soul

[airsail]

Kristen,
I am in a similar funk re: my brand new Soul. I am a competent foil boarder, all Clouds for years. But on almost every transition smooth toe or healside carve I'm coming out of the turn with a ton of too much juice. I've found some relief in reaching up grabbing a float and pivoting the kite rather than a simple bar turn. Somewhat surprised that my new 55cm Ozone Foil Race 17m lines bar doesn't rotate the 12m Soul quicker even when I "fishing pole" turn the bar.
And.... In 2 sessions I've got 2 crashes and a trunk for of a heavy wet kite. I can't explain but there was clearly enough wind. The wingtips had taco'ed together and were on top of each other and would never clear after 25 minutes of trying all the tricks in clean wind.

Solution: I'm either looking for a smaller 10m or 8m Soul... or I'm giving up.
[/quote]

I have the 12 Soul too but it is really only for my fast foil. I always downloop in transitions on my surf foil, foil kites just don’t depower like LEI’s during the loop so you either get pulled off the board or gain too much speed. I have tried smaller foil kites, similar result.
Others at our beach have smaller Souls, 6 and 8 and I rarely see them downloop, it’s always over the top. But on a fast foil where your not downlooping, wow, nothing better.
All my kites smaller than the 12 Soul are LEI’s. You might need to change your riding style to convert to foil kites on a surf foil.

[Adventure Logs]

The 6m seems more tuned for HF. Weaker loops, drifts extremely well, and won’t yank you off the board. That said, there’s a huge difference between a LEI and a foil like the Soul. Even bigger difference from a cloud. You’ll need to adapt your riding style. I actually like the gruntyness of the Soul. I use it frequently in almost standstill tacks and rely on it for foot switches. Also I love the huge power spike when I loop my 8m on my twintip. But I’ve been riding foils for almost a decade now. On the rare occasions I ride a LEI, I’m just full of complaints but I know that’s because I’m not use to it. Give it a season or so to adjust and then go back to what you use to ride. Then you’ll see the difference. My 2cent.

[Tomlutz]

I am only learning to foil and can`t compare with other kites, but I also got the feeling that the 12 Soul might not be ideal for (learning) to foil. Either not enough, or all of a sudden too much power. I like it on TT, but we always have gusty conditions on the lakes here and I wish I would have a kite which delivers power more smoothly for foiling.

Just reluctant to buy another kite for a lot of money just for (learning to) foil, and wonder if I might better cope with it after some more foil sessions. What would the experienced foilers advise: buy another kite or rather try longer lines 30m? I have 82 kg and we usually have light winds 7 - 10 knots (I have one Nobile allround foil, 822 cm2 and a Gong super light wind foil 70cm, 1200 cm2 front wing).

[TomW]

At the risk of being flamed for hijacking this Soul thread....
1. You don't need a new kite to learn to hydrofoil. Use what you have in appropriate winds until you are flying and doing flying carves/gybes.
2. Then consider a foil kite.
3. Look at the low to mid aspect foils on the market. My opinion, based on watching others with Souls and talking to the guys using them is that the Soul is a performance foil that has been designed to be closer to Tt jumping / hydrofoil performance freeride. Many say Ozone Chronos is similar.
There are other options :
The ozone Hyperlink is more " down the scale" towards easy freeride on foil and Tt cruising. It's less performance oriented and easier to set up and fly. Other options seem to be Peter Lynn's Nova, the Concept Air Wave and the Kitech FRS.
( yes I have 2 Hyperlinks).

When I converted from Lei to foils on Hydrofoil, several experts advised me to not get a " big one" first, as in light winds a foil kite needs some foil kite skills to use and get the most out of it. They said get a 9 ( or 10) that works for me in 10-16knots. I was sceptical. It turned out to be really good advice, Ive used that size 85% of my sessions and replaced my 12-9 lei kites. I learned to launch, fly and land my 9 and then was ready to go to big kite an use it in 6-10 knots.
I'm 80 kg on big 1200cm2 wing.

[PurdyKiter]

At the risk of being flamed for hijacking this Soul thread.... Ive used that size 85% of my sessions and replaced my 12-9 lei kites. I learned to launch, fly and land my 9 and then was ready to go to big kite an use it in 6-10 knots.
I'm 80 kg on big 1200cm2 wing.

If anyone knows anyone who'd like a simple clean trade of my 12m new Soul (kite only) to a 10m nearly new Soul, please find a way to contact me. I weight 70kg, and almost %100 on a Moses 633, competent foiler, new to foil kites.
Thank You,
Located in Tacoma WA USA,

[andylc]

I had a 12m Soul as a light wind kite, and briefly tried a Soul only quiver. I ended up back with LEIs for various reasons:
1) Although the Soul feels similar to an LEI in handling, there’s no way around the fact that it’s SLOOOW to turn in larger sizes.
2) It loops slowly and with lots of power
3) Handling between sizes is really different. Smaller sizes turn much faster but can either drop you like a stone or yank you in the redirect with fairly subtle differences in when you redirect.

Going back to LEIs I can get really consistent handling a similar response / turning speed / feel between my largest and smallest kites. For me a combination of LEIs and Souls didn’t work - too big a difference in handling. A full quiver didn’t work either as in higher / gusty winds the 8m Soul was a complete handful.

[Carlos_C]

Depends How you ride...I have 13 sonic2, 10 speed lotus for under 25 knts and 9 and 6 fuels for over ....I have no probs going from the lotus to fuel.....apart from less hangtime.

[Kristan]

I too selling my Soul to swap back to LEI. The hype is gone, so people realized that it's not the miracle kite. Maybe I'd have more luck if I picked Hyperlink in the first place.

[andyjiggs]

Wasn't caught in the hype,just looking for a nice handling blend of ease of use and decent performance.
Recently picked up a 10 m Soul and have to say after nearly 20 years of kitesurfing,ok so no it's not replacing all my Lei's, but it's a great addition to my quiver.
I was probably nervous of buying because of the cost. Now having used it in a limited capacity I have to say it is delightful in light winds.
On a Zeeko Carver or Spitfire I find it's ease of use so far has been lovely. I haven't put it in the water yet,so don't know how well it will come out
In 8-12mph it seems in its element and as the wind has picked up,I've not felt particularly uncomfortable.
The test for me comparing to say the Naish Trip is how well it will relaunch and I'm guessing it can't be any worse than a no strut kite.
My Lei's are Naish Pivots and I have no trouble going between those and the Soul.
I'll let you know in 6 months time if I feel any different but at the moment I very much look forward to kiting when there is just enough wind for the kite to fly to experience that dream like feeling of flying over still water.

[PurdyKiter]

Wasn't caught in the hype,just looking for a nice handling blend of ease of use and decent performance.
Recently picked up a 10 m Soul and have to say after nearly 20 years of kitesurfing,ok so no it's not replacing all my Lei's, but it's a great addition to my quiver.
I was probably nervous of buying because of the cost. Now having used it in a limited capacity I have to say it is delightful in light winds.
On a Zeeko Carver or Spitfire I find it's ease of use so far has been lovely. I haven't put it in the water yet,so don't know how well it will come out
In 8-12mph it seems in its element and as the wind has picked up,I've not felt particularly uncomfortable.
The test for me comparing to say the Naish Trip is how well it will relaunch and I'm guessing it can't be any worse than a no strut kite.
My Lei's are Naish Pivots and I have no trouble going between those and the Soul.
I'll let you know in 6 months time if I feel any different but at the moment I very much look forward to kiting when there is just enough wind for the kite to fly to experience that dream like feeling of flying over still water.

Thanks Andy,
You have captured what initially drove me toward a Soul... flying over still water in 8-10-12 mph winds on a larger foil wing. Seriously considering a Soul smaller than the 12m. My LEI kites are Clouds, and prior to they were all Pivots.