In my case, 60kg and hydrofoiling and snowkite, i tested same kite (CA pulsion 12m) in different cloth (much more pleasure with UL cloth under 9 knots )and i can conclude with my personal taste:dave1986 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:27 pmUltralight fabric has clear performance benefits over standard fabric, but I expect the benefits are less noticeable in stronger winds.
It would be interesting to hear opinions on what size foil kites they would choose ultralight fabric over standard fabric considering the faster wear expected for ultralight fabric (of course if money is no object then ultralight is always the clear choice).
Ideally I would like to hear from someone who has flown the same model of foil kite back-to-back in both ultralight and standard fabric in medium or strong wind strength to get their opinion on whether the fabric makes a significant performance difference even when the wind picks up.
- 18 or 15m (pulsion) , say 4-6 knots: i will never buy a kite of 15m in std cloth . 32gr is good but 27 gr better , noticeable (also see with a FS speed 2 Silver Arrow : Speed3 dlx was worse in 6-7 knots).
- 12 m (pulsion and plusion S, kitech FRS), say 7-9 knots : i highly prefer UL but intermediate cloth could do the job (with less pleasure: decontraction and agility)
- 9m (pansh a9 and kitech frs) , say 8-12 knots: std cloth is acceptable. Still more fun with light cloth like 32 gr, but "balanced" arguments for snowkite for example.
Above 13 knots : std is enough (except in waves with HF in on-shore wind).
Ps: these figures need to be adapted for a heavier rider : 12m instead of my 9m, ect ...