kitexpert wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 9:42 pm
LOL, most of my kiting skills are for ultra light wind. Many many times I've kited alone because no one else don't want to go because the lack of wind. I've done it for nearly twenty years now and most of it with foil kites, up to 24m. Mostly FS kites, but also many others including several race foil kites from brands like Ozone, PL, Joker, HQ.
If you joriws think that Yteri video impresses me that much think again. It is typical mowing the lawn with a big board, nothing really happens. Kites on the beach of course could have been used if they wanted to do so or had skills and preferably big boards like you had. Personally I haven't used doors for years (2012 maybe?) because they are so clumsy but I do have a light wind TT, I guess it is 145x45 size. Using hf of course makes this kind of equipment less important.
If you know how to fly kite and and how to ride a board (keeping it precisely right on the water and riding precisely correct angle to wind) kite significance essentially decreases. I once showed a guy with a 14m LEI (he was lighter weight than me) how to do it when he wasn't able to pull it up (it was a pity because he came to the beach with a bicycle hauling his gear with all difficulties
). Yes it wasn't much of a ride but I did go out and more importantly came back, without walk of shame. It is all about kiting skills. My goal wasn't to embarrass him but to show him it is possible, show how to pull it up with strong long pull and how to use kiteloop start, how to get some speed first, how to not lose ground etc etc..
I also know a local guy who is semi pro, he always uses smaller kites (LEI's) than anyone else and voila - there he goes again. In extreme cases he has been with a 10m kite, others 14m to 17m and couple with 15m Speeds. I think his secret is superb board skills (surfboards and foils), but of course he has excellent hand for kites too.
Unfortunately your weight alone joriws makes real ultra light wind kiting impossible on water. So your doubts for my low wind skills feel a bit funny to me. Do you even know what ultra light wind kiting is? I know what it is but I don't give crazy claims like riding in 4kn or in 6kn. On ice I've done it because then friction is near zero and you don't need power to get going but never on the water, not even with hf because I don't have that good skills with hf nor any desire to go out if wind is that weak.
When people tell their LEI's are falling from the sky and fix is to take a foil kite I shake my head.
Jumping 4-5m is possible when you get some speed, it is more about board and rider than kite thing. With a 17m LEI in 10-12kn I typically get 15-20 ft jumps, if I had better technique perhaps some more could be possible. No big air for sure but if weather is nice - like it often is in low wind days - it is ok. And actually 20ft jumps start to have some feel of flying. For practicing new tricks light wind days are very good because you can push it to the max without much fear from hurting yourself. There is also not much chop when wind is light.
Instead of long boring text & bullet -thread, like you had many with foilholio (which I did not bother to read), in 20y of riding you *must* have VHS-videos
of you riding in low wind. Please share so that we can scrutinize your alleged kite skills that on 17m LEI you outperform and see your technique and sheeting skills. You can write anything you want (like I can write anything I want), for example I've kited 50y and I kite in -4 knots and I've ridden million hours per kite on all kites on the market and with 100m kite (not me but fellows stacked maybe 60m2 of kites, video on youtube), blah blah. You wrote "ft" in your jump height (my feet are 46EU or 12US, my feet must be bigger than yours but my jump measured in my feet are lower than your unless your feet are larger
) so you must be in USA where you say "talk is cheap" so show some real action. I did and I call you for your bluff similar Foilholio did. Start building your expert brand on VLOG or something, I'll subscribe so you got at least one viewer.
Among my local kiting pals there are many 20y kite-hobbyist coming from windsurfing, the usual path to kite, but they do not have LEI-trick in their sleeves despite of their "experience" to outperform with LW-LEI a 15m foil kite. So years of hobby does not tell anything if you only make bad choises after bad choises for *your* riding environment (temps, winds etc). Many of them actually had 15m Speeds and now Sonics. One kite pal (18y of kite behind him) was North (now *is* Duotone) importer and we back-to-back (like you did 17m lei against Speed4-15) tested days Speed3 15m against Dyno 16m and Speed3 was the winner by these 20y (today, back then 13y) experienced guys, now same importer guy had North Ace 14.5m and earlier had 15m Chrono v1. Maybe he's buying Duotone foilkite or something.
but some points you made needs comment:
* yyteri video is not to impress *you*, it is a view of real-life kite life at low wind beach => Big LEIs big problems. Kiteforum had thread about lightwind competition maybe 2014 so I quickly assembled the video to proof light wind by charasteristics of kite flying. Now I just use it to prove that on foil kites there is something magical in ULW. Video also shows people getting cheated for their big light wind LEI for the money. If low wind tricks are what you are after ("
nothing really happens"), please check my video at same YT-channel where I first time test Sonic-FR 15m. Definitely LW - jumps, rotations, hand plant back roll tacks, jump downwind to *upwind* ie take-off position is downwind of landing position, ever done that with your setup (please share video, I did, remember talk is still cheap). Sure you can question everything on me, sure I can question too about your
only self claimed skills. Don't write BS text here at KF, put a video of you showing your skills to back you up.
* I did not make any claims of wind speed me riding (your comment 4 or 6 kn, you did). 1) I posted a jump picture of jump and surface wind (and generic wiki on surface wind estimation in mph-units) at lake to take away suspicion of just lawn moving (by now you should have also checked Sonic-FR demo video of mine). 2) I stated that LEI 12m could not on 30kg lighter rider go but LEI flied properly and I recommended him to get 15m LEI I knew he had but he refused. 3) I told that I could still jump nice LW jumps (you say only lawn moving). 4) And stated that there was some inversion (surface vs kite level wind, but 12M LEI just could not produce impulse (do you know what impulse is?) to get planing. Then I also I posted the Yyteri-video without windspeed, look your "15m speed equals 17m LEI" so 17m LEI are not riding but I am with your back-to-back -tested Speed4-15m which does not have benefit. If you cannot find any difference in light wind with 17m LEI and 15m Speed4 - it gives to my IRL experience all rights to question your skills, because my other 20y kiter-pals do find difference and refuse to buy over 12m LEI kite so their quiver is LEI under 12m and 15m foilkite.
* You can shake your head as much as you want, I also shake my head too but for the opposite reason. "Poor guy, invested 2000eur/usd/ukp to overly hyped/marketed 17m LW-LEI and still he cannot ride or maintain ground due to facts stated previous post of mine, must feel disappointed and cheated wasting money for the wrong gear". Like said earlier in this post, we have hundreds or so more or less active kiters on my country and they go for LW LEI because it is the only option on our LW area they think. And I ride at the same beach & water & time as they do. And I see unhappy faces, disappointments to their hyped session saver kite gear. Again if you kitexpert cannot use the gear properly and don't know basic rules of LW kite flying - it is not the kite's fault. I am still waiting for your video to prove that *you* can ride in single digit knots, or in other words I am calling your bluff. (insert Michael Jackson eating popcorn meme picture here if you like)
* I follow the zeitgeist, I am using HF with 5m Peak4 this summer and I've had HF since 2016 (want to see my 1st ever HF-ride on demo session, it is online too?). For sure at beach I am heaviest rider and I'll use roughly 10m smaller kites than others, I already did this winter snow kite camp with 150 kiters. But if someone asks tips / recommendations on *TT* and light wind, I like to think I've competence to answer the question because I've seen a lot and I understand the ULW problem area. Kitexpert, you just answer without real proven competence.