Ozone Zephyr V5/6 17m or Ozone Hypelink v2 11/13m ?

[Archer77]

Hey guys!

Someone has had the possibility to try both these kites?

I ride on twintip, 80 Kg, I have a Zephyr V5 but under 12 kn to 8 with a 141*44 twintip I can't go upwind, in the best situations I can take the position without loose water
(Now I have bought a Bronq XL 148/47 and still have to use it, probably the situation will be slightly better I imagine)

The point is:

With the Hyperlink will I get better upwind angles than the Zephyr(cause the fact that foil kite have more forward position in the wind window)? will be noticeable or slightly better angles, I mean will worth the change?

In this case, the Hyperlink V2 11m will be enough or I should for sure go for the 13m ?

Generally speaking, the change will be worth it(from LEI to (easy) Foil)?

thank you all!

[RalfsB]

I have used only a very old Zephyr (the very first generation), it had a good pull but was heavy and somewhat slow turning. I have not used Hyperlink but have used a number of other foil kites.
For the situation you are describing, I do not think you will get better upwind with Hyperlink. Hyperlink will better stay in the sky in lulls but that's about it. It may fly a bit more close to the edge of the wind window but there it will not have as much pull as Zephyr. If you have a chance, borrow a Hyperlink and try it out. It is worth trying larger size foil kites as well (like 18-21m), probably they will suit you better.

[mar menor]

Have PMd you

[Foil]

Hey guys!

Someone has had the possibility to try both these kites?

I ride on twintip, 80 Kg, I have a Zephyr V5 but under 12 kn to 8 with a 141*44 twintip I can't go upwind, in the best situations I can take the position without loose water
(Now I have bought a Bronq XL 148/47 and still have to use it, probably the situation will be slightly better I imagine)

The point is:

With the Hyperlink will I get better upwind angles than the Zephyr(cause the fact that foil kite have more forward position in the wind window)? will be noticeable or slightly better angles, I mean will worth the change?

In this case, the Hyperlink V2 11m will be enough or I should for sure go for the 13m ?

Generally speaking, the change will be worth it(from LEI to (easy) Foil)?

thank you all!

I have used the 12 hyperlink and owned the 13 and 15mtr ozone chronos ultra lights V3s
also owned an early version 17mtr zephyr, but not for long
the Zephyr on a large Ttip for me for super light winds was not for me, slow and sat too back in the window for any upwind progress.
dropping the kite was a risk as well in very low winds.
the hyperlink 2 in its new super light cloth would be nice to fly on the beach and stay up there more easily but the power to keep a ttip going may not be enough as it would be on a foil board.
however if you wanted something that would work well, then a larger more efficient ultra lightweight faster turning foil kite would work much better, but the choice of kite to do that is limited and can be expensive,
The best kite I have seen doing just what you are asking of your future choice of kite and board was witnessed by me at Flag beach only 3 months back.
rider was over 100kg
board was a big wide door type ttip board
wind cross on at around 8-9knts warm air
kite was 18mtr Ozone Chrono V2(high performance freeride kite from 3-4 years back so not too expensive)
he was out blasting about before any other ttip or surfboard riders, and many foil users as well.
upwind progress was limited, not at all great, but he was fast and enjoying the ride.
he had come up with a very good style of turning to prevent any loss of upwind progress, he reached high up the leader line and yanked hard on the line to pull the kite into a dramatic helicopter pivot turn which did work very well,
other cheaper foil kites that are less high performance, slower heavy types may be much less fun and may not do that pivot turn thing that really did help prevent slippage downwind.

[joriws]

Just to add theory to help you understand what you need..
When true wind goes down but you are still able to ride and to ride you need constant speed, the apparent wind window will rotate even more making upwind progress harder.
- 12kn true wind and you ride 15kn cross-wind vs
- 8kn true wind and you still need to ride to plane 15kn cross-wind, wind window will be rotated more than with 12kn true wind, because wind is apparent when you move 15kn.

So in ULW (ultra low wind, single digit true wind in knots) you need efficient kite with much power and flying more forward in wind window.

For example if Zephyr produces 400N (minimum force you can ride minumum 15kn speed) of force at 15 deg from wind window edge and Hyperlink 13m produces same 400N force but at 8 deg from window edge, it means in simplified form that you can go 7 degrees more upwind on HL than on Zephyr. In ULW these minor 3-7 degree margins really count. So with Zephyr you might go 2 degrees down wind and with Hyperlink still 5 degrees upwind. But it all goes to *FORCE VECTOR* (strengh and direction) what kite can produce and all is relative to your ride speed, direction and various drag elements.

As rider speed & riding direction to true wind is in equation too, to get upwind you need to ride slower, 15kn is better for wind window rotation than riding 20kn because at 15kn apparent wind window is rotated less. In the end my 110kg can ride in ULW on quick LW-twintip (Flydoor) and 15m Flysurfer foilkite and go upwind when Zephyrs and other lei's do not properly fly.

On your alternative kite's, I have zero experience other than seen Zephyr 17m (2016ish model) fly and not to relaunch anymore when I've still ridden and have fun on foilkite. On your weight and TT I'd theoretically say 13m Hyperlink but really on low winds I'd suggest more Chrono V3-line with size 13-15m for even more efficient airframe to ensure going upwind. But remember on twintips, the board counts a lot too how you succeed.

[jatem]

If you want to ride on light days, why don't you get a foil board instead of a huge kite?

[joriws]

If you want to ride on light days, why don't you get a foil board instead of a huge kite?

He already *has* the 17m Zephyr, which he's not happy and he's considering going for foilkite 11/13m hyperlink if it works better for him at maintaining ground and ride, did you read the OP? Or other alternative is to upgrade Zephyr from V5 to V6?

Maybe he does love riding TT and doing tricks with it like many others do like. Hydrofoil riders are perhaps 1-2% (just a rough guess) of total kite community, like 500'000 kiters and 5000 hydrofoils globally? Foil boards are niche at beaches but overly emphasized in topics here at KF.

So just answer him with answers to his questions if he looks solution to ride TT with more power at low winds, what he needs to consider or better if you know HL is better than Zephyr with TT at 8-12kn range. Maybe he sees it more logical to invest 1500e for a kite than 2000e for a hydrofoil which can be blown to pieces in a single hit at rock at their local beaches. We don't know. And most probably hyperlink will be better with foilboard in low winds too than the Zephyr he already *has*.

[kitexpert]

On TT 15m usual foil kite is not that much better if at all better compared to 17m LEI. I've tested back to back with 15m Speed/17m LEI. Race kites are of course more efficient, and on ice/snow for example 15m Speed will go higher upwind than most 17m LEI's. Some very efficient high AR LEI's (Airush VXR, RRD Addiction, Ozone Edge) can get close to equal though. However 17m LEI is faster and more reactive than 15m Speed so ride itself is better. Keeping LEI flying is an issue only in so light winds using TT is not reasonable (8kn or below).

Hyperlink 11/13 is certainly not giving any power advantage to 17m LEI (even though Zephyr is one of the weakest big LEI's). With a bit bigger board I've had good sessions with 17m LEI without white caps, but not always. If you don't see any white caps TT riding is usually a challenge (for normal weight rider).

[SolarSet]

Yesterday ridden my Soul 15m at my 92kg weight in usual condition 12-14kts. I could jump high on my foil kite but in same conditions on my switchblade 14m I could barely go left-right with no jumping (no fun) Lighter guys were riding 12-14 LEI kites, didn't see many jumping. Foil kite is a game changer for me as I can ride & have fun on normal TT in 12-14kts where before I wouldn't even bother pumping kite to this condition. Another important thing with foil kite as mentioned before in lulls it stays in sky and if you jump and over fly you kite and lose tension in line, LEI would fall from sky in low wind condition often causing lines to twist but there is no such a thing with foil kite it just stays in sky.

There is some learning curve how to lunch and land foil kite and extra price but when you get foil kite and see how much work goes to make this kite I think you get better value than from LEI kite.

On TT 15m usual foil kite is not that much better if at all better compared to 17m LEI. I've tested back to back with 15m Speed/17m LEI. Race kites are of course more efficient, and on ice/snow for example 15m Speed will go higher upwind than most 17m LEI's. Some very efficient high AR LEI's (Airush VXR, RRD Addiction, Ozone Edge) can get close to equal though. However 17m LEI is faster and more reactive than 15m Speed so ride itself is better. Keeping LEI flying is an issue only in so light winds using TT is not reasonable (8kn or below).

Hyperlink 11/13 is certainly not giving any power advantage to 17m LEI (even though Zephyr is one of the weakest big LEI's). With a bit bigger board I've had good sessions with 17m LEI without white caps, but not always. If you don't see any white caps TT riding is usually a challenge (for normal weight rider).

Thats a load of BS my friend, try modern foil kite again. In low wind getting 17m LEI kite from water is a challenge in itself

[PullStrings]

Hyperlink 11/13 is certainly not giving any power advantage to 17m LEI
Zephyr is one of the weakest big LEI's
With a bit bigger board I've had good sessions with 17m LEI without white caps

No BS there