Postby herbert » Tue Nov 17, 2015 11:18 am
Relaunch of the LF Solo and BRM Clouds is "different". The Solo is really, after all, a strutted kite. The strut at the center helps keep the canopy up off the water. It light or higher winds the Cloud's canopy will be up, but in very marginal winds you pull slightly on an outer line without over sheeting and the canopy works its way up as the wind lifts it. So in very marginal conditions you may be quicker to relaunch position with the Solo. The Cloud is much lighter weight than the Solo which then gives a lift-off advantage in very marginal winds. I can envision a very marginal condition and circumstance (and I have seen conditions when both were down at the same time) in which might might have an advantage and another circumstance in which the other has an advantage. On average, in my experience, the Cloud would have the advantage. But either way, close enough, and I would choose a kite based on how you like your kites to fly.
The LF Solo and the Naish Trip and the BRM Clouds are quite different kites. The Cloud does not luff in turns unless you want it to do so or are flying it incorrectly. Most riders are accustomed to moving the bar a certain amount with other kites...and they need to learn to sheet in and out less with the Cloud. I have seen some figure it out in the first session...some take a while longer.
I know this part is not answering your question about the relaunch, but your question is interesting in that it groups together two kites that are actually quite different. The LF Solo and Naish Trip might be comparable insofar as they attempt to mimic most other kites by maintaining canopy shape behind the leading edge under all conditions. By the name, you can see that the Trip was designed as a travel kite and has battens added to hold that shape....the battens doing or attempting to do what struts do. Likewise the Solo's center strut helps maintain that shape when sheeted way out. To a great degree they are aiming to be more traditional kites. The Clouds were designed from the ground up with the idea of a canopy that can flatten, and as a kite that is very light for performance reasons (not for travel reasons). The Cloud has a notably thinner leading edge, is markedly lighter overall and has a number of other differences.
I suppose if someone was phrasing the question: Which kites pack really small, because I need a small one for travel? Then Trip, Solo, and Cloud would come to mind as all small enough (though the Cloud would pack smallest and be lightest). But after that if you wanted the best boosting kite (going to absolutely maximize the altitude of your hydrofoil jumps)...perhaps you would choose between the Solo and Trip. But if you wanted a fast flying, very fast turning and looping, very nimble, super drifting kite..then the Cloud.