Flysurfer Peak 4

[Peter_Frank]

How can we compare Peak4 (Turns speed) versus Lei wave kites?

Peak4 8m, 6m, 5m and 4m.
Recently I tried my 5m2 and it's very fast, I have never flown any Lei kite larger than 8, and it was a long time ago, so I don't have any parameters to compare in the same wind speed.

Are you talking about waveboards or foilboards?

I have used the 5 m2 Peak4 on a day with wind for a 6½ to 7 m2 LEI on a waveboard.

Drifted soooo much better than the LEI, and I could stay higher on the wave.

Also could be turned on a dime whenever I wanted.

Then I took a 6 m2 LEI out, as the wind increased a tad - it was horrible, felt so heavy and slow in every way

Downside with the Peak was it was flapping like h... when walking in/out on the beach, felt uncomfortable somehow

On a foilboard I think the 5 corresponds to a 7 m2 LEI, and turns a bit faster.
But feels sooooo much lighter and easier to handle, difficult to explain

Still not sure about its capabilites when on a waveboard though.

The 8 is slow in my experience, maybe the same as a 10 m2 LEI which would be same size powerwise.

6 is pretty fast, but not in particular.
5 is fast yes, but 4 and 3 are REALLY fast (turning)

I think you are right, the smaller ones are faster than their powerwise corresponding LEI's, whereas when you go up in size, foil kites in general are the same or slower than their corresponding LEI's.

Peter

[joriws]

How can we compare Peak4 (Turns speed) versus Lei wave kites?

You could use Gopro with chest harness. Then from video frames calculate latency from bar turn to kite reacting, then on kite degrees per second it turns. Do it while running i.e. lines loaded and try to have similar foot/board pressure against kite when turning the kite. Then you could do similar test with loose lines riding towards kite so kite is drifting when you are on the wave and again how it reacts to bar input and turning rate. But remember turning rate is accelerating rate, so have a target for turns you want to measure, like 180 degrees direction change, or 360 degrees loop. Or 1080 degrees.

[Flyboy]

My first session today using a Peak4. I was hoping for lighter winds so that I could start with the 6m ... but winds were in mid to upper teens, so too strong for the 6m. Heres the Good, the Bad & the Ugly from my experience.

I was pretty nervous about trying the Peak, as I hadn't been on a foil at all for a couple of months, lost my "muscle tone" & had no idea how to set up the Peak. Notwithstanding the above, I pulled the crispy new 4m out of the bag, stretched out the bridle, attached the 23m flying lines with exactly the same bar set up as used with my wave kites. Tugged on the bar (hot launch) & the kite shot into the air. It felt perfectly fine - plenty of power ... but not too much.

Popped up on the foil easily & headed out into the Cabarete swell. I was perhaps a little more powered than I might have preferred, but not uncomfortably so. I can't say the Peak felt majorly different from my wave kites - mostly it feels very light & sensitive. The occasional flapping of the canopy helps you keep in mind where the kite is in the wind window. I think the Peak's qualities are most apparent when you head further off the wind. & I suspect will be more noticeable in a less powered mode. Will need to experiment more with it to get the most out of it. Didn't really feel at all nervous about dropping the kite, but stayed away from steep, breaking waves to minimize the chances of an awkward fall.

The bad came when I came in at the end of the session. Someone "landed" the kite for me, but clearly had to idea what to do with it. Nor did I really. The kite ended up in a bit of a ball on the sand. I weighted it down with sand & left it for a half hour. When I went back to the kite to relaunch, it was clear there was a bridle line wrapped around the centre of the kite. Tried to unwrap it, but succeeded in getting some kind of twist in the bridle. Doing stuff on the beach in the wind is tricky, because the kite is SO light. I spent half an hour trying to sort out the bridle but eventually gave up.

So ... it seems to me the primary difficulty with the Peaks is not flying them, but learning how to take them down & secure them on the beach. Any pointers on appropriate technique would be appreciated. Also, any pointers on sorting out the twisted bridle would be welcome! It'a a pretty minor twist, but apparently beyond my limited brain power. I'm hoping it will be easier when I lay the kite down out of the wind tomorrow ...

[loco4viento]

My approach:

Lay out the kite with weight on the windward tip.

Examine the entire leading edge first, making sure that all bridles are coming down as they should and not being wrapped around the top skin of the kite.

Find the A lines on the downwind tip and assure the bridles are coming off in a nice stack (A>B>C>brake).

Repeat on upwind tip.

Run your lines.

Best of luck to you. I believe there’s a lot of fun in your future.

John

[bragnouff]

Landing assistants need to grab and hold the lower wingtip and step backwards as you slacken the lines. Super easy but different. I feel much less worried asking for assisted landings to random strangers than with a LEI. (if I had the need for that). As per self landings, a windshadow behind a bush or behind a parked large kite is usually fine. But when I'm on my home spot, it's just a onshore flat profiled beach with nothing to act as a windshadow and to prevent some parts of the fabric to be blown again and come tangled. So I used to drop my foil board on the beach, board upwind of the foil, and crash the kite on edge of window just upwind of it, so that the board would stop it (or the foil, which is not the best part...) In lower windrange, when I can barely foil on the Peak, then I can stall it till it's grounded downwind, and wrap up the lines like that till I reach the kite bridles.
However I have now discovered how placid the kite sits depowered on the edge of the window, so I now attach the chicken loop to the foil fuselage or to the upturned buggy frame, or upturned landboard, and I walk to get it. Once at the kite, pull the wingtip, slacken the lines, fold and secure the upwind wingtip, clean up the bridle, put it inside the kite, and roll the kite, then roll the bar.

For setup, I prefer putting sand/snow all over the trailing edge, and have kite directly downwind for hotlaunch. That's what gives me the best visibility of the bridle, and you can put some level of tension on it to assess the bridles clarity. Shake and repeat at will. With a more sideways launch when only one wingtip is secured, it's not as clear, and with a loose end part of the kite, it's a bit more sensitive to shifts in the wind.

I was also very reticent about the complexity of bridles and sorting out all of that shit, but in real life, it's not really an issue. Definitely much less of an issue if the bar lives attached to each kite. And with a simple routine that you'll develop.

[Flyboy]

Training an assistant to do the right thing is not really an option. I think it will be easier at my home spot where there's no one around & usually an available wind shadow/light wind.

As for the bridles not being an issue ... well, they already ARE an issue. It seems like it should be possible to fix what is actually a fairly minor tangle by undoing the back line ... but the front lines on one side also seem to twisted in a way I can't get my head around. Hopefully I'll figure it out tomorrow by comparing it to the good side.

[Peter_Frank]

C'mon, it is the simplest foil kite one can get, very few bridles, and only a 4 m2.

Compared to "real" foil kites, say bigger race style, its a no brainer to untangle no matter what

Of course, if you are not used to foil kites at all, you might need a few days or weeks to get used to it - but it will come really fast, super easy.

Sometimes if raining heavily, I dont pack it down "nice", just roll it up, or crumble it together, put it in the car, and dry it when back home (and our cat likes to play with the bridles too) - meaning bridles can be tangled extremely now.
Doesnt take many minutes to untangle

If you take your bar off, tie the 4 ends into a loose knot, and everything is in control when unpacking the next time.
Even if a bridle has looped around something, it is fast to get it right, if you have the 4 connection lines tied together.
Dont do it on the beach/in the wind, as you have seen it doesnt work well if not experienced - stand in lee of the car or something.


As bragnouff says, yes you can get ANYONE you meet, a total stranger passing, to take your kite down - couldn't be easier as you tell them to grab the tip/end of the kite, and just hold on while it hangs as a flag, and you will come take it now - nothing to it.

I do this on occasion if wind has picked up.

Otherwise always backing it down (and launch the same way, as here I know the wind is right), and put the edge of my board on the bar, so kite is kept down firmly fully powered.
Be careful backing it down if new to this, as if you let go just a tiny, it will shoot up into the powerzone - no problem, just be prepared.
You will learn to avoid this, just a matter of feel - so you can back it down fully and without powerspike.
The 4 and 3 are more difficult regarding this, as sensitive - but this is also whey they are so good on the water.

Peter

[Brian H]

My wife won’t land an inflatable but she will land a foil kite all day long . The peaks are the easiest kite to land ... she just grabs it and bunches it up in a ball and holds it as I wind up my lines all the way past the bridal. SO EASY.

[Janus]

I always start sideways, sand or sandbag the folded tip.
Won't descibe landing with assistance.
Landing without assistance can be done with an landing stake or what I do if there is not a little windshadow from a little hill, bush or fence; put my foilboard on the beach or grass, front of board and foil facing wind (foil trailing edge can be sharp..) and land the peak sidewards and backstall it just in front / on my board / foil.
Then take the cloth and bridle of the board & foil and put it down with the bag or sand. If there is a briddle mess or line over, alwas start with A's and then your way up.
It's an easy thing after you've used it a few times.
Drying a wet foil (single or double skin) doesn't need a lot of space, just a dry ventilated place. The Peak dries fast and a Soul takes some time. shake it some times makes it go faster. (wont'discuss the twinskin here)
I'll attach 2 pics of how I do this with the Peak's;

[Flyboy]

I think what happened, is the guy who caught the kite put it down with a couple of the bridle lines wrapped around the canopy in some way. When I went to relaunch the lines did not get put back in the right way. Sorting it out on the beach was tricky because it was blowing 17 - 18 knots & for an added bonus the sand was covered with dried seaweed which stuck to bridle lines. I haven't used a foil kite since my first year kiting, in 2000. Need to sort out basic handling protocols for the Peak4 - the flying part is easy!