Solo 12 vs Breeze 13 vs Mono 12

[abel]

I had the chance to compare the Solo 12 and the Breeze 13 on the beach at marginal 6-8 knots.
(Wind data from a weather station at 10m height on the spot)
I am familiar with the Solo 12, so it was easy to keep it in the air.
The Breeze seemed to have lighter weight, but surprisingly, I had to work it a lot to keep it in the air as it tended to stall on the mid-lower window edges.
I managed to go out with the Solo (miserable downwind only), but I was sure that I'll drop the Mono, so I didn't go out with it (me chicken )
Anyhow, on another day I saw an experienced 85+ kg Hfoiler, going fast upwind and jibbing like a ballerina with the Breeze 13 at 7-9 knots (on Freeride 600 Hfoil).

A friend instructor (that bought a whole batch of Monos 12 for teaching) told me that the kite is good, but
if I buy one, I'll have to take into account faster wear and tear at the trailing edge, because of the single strut flapping effect.

Anyone compared the LF Solo 12 vs the Fone Breeze 13 vs the North Mono 12 under 10 knots?

[Sombra]

Hi

I use the Storm Voyager III 15m, works for me with 7 knots. Stays stable at this wind.
I'm 107 kg. Seeks board with carver wings, 30m lines.
Only at the high end the kite has a down tendency that is not comfortable on the foil.
Very light kite with minimum reinforcements.

And there is a big difference in the price.

CU

Carsten

[Wielandt]

I had a quiver of Solo's6.5-9-12 m2. I used the Solo 12 as my low wind kite on a foilboard. If the wind dropped to 5-6 knots it could be hard to keep the kite in the air. I changed to Storm Voyager 15 and Gong 9 and 12 m2. Strutless kites. I never had them fallen down due to lack of wind. If the Storm Voyager drops and have to be relaunched it a pice of cake to get up again.
Soo for foiling and low wind go strutless !!

[ciscokitesurfer]

good comments. I am now interested on the gong kites. I had the solo 15.5 and 12. Kept the 15.5 and sold the the 12 (the leading bladder to weak and to much power when gust hits the kite when strapless). I have demo the Mono 12 meter. I prefer the Mono because is similar to the NEO but without the weight. Relaunching the one strut kite is difficult if the canopy get very wet on the solo. I didn't get the Mono kite wet on the demo day. Interesting topic

[windmaker]

Tried the 11m Breeze. Very light kite and well built. Could foil with it in about 7/8 knots no problem (65kg) but what I liked most was it's fast turning speed for an 11m. Because of that I am sure this will also be an excellent kite for light wind wave riding, being light it also drifts very well.
Didn't test the water re-launch but this kite has wide wing tips and is designed to also reverse launch and therefore can stall easily if not properly trimmed.

[Sombra]

Hi Wielandt

Can you tell us something about the gong kites? Before buying the storm I tried to get information about the gong kites but impossible. Nobody seems to use them. What kind of bar do you use?
Thanks

Carsten

[Regis-de-giens]

I have feed back from a friend who owns FS Sonic and Gong strutless on Hydrofoil (17m I think) with 40/50m lines; he is very happy with the Gong for very light winds in this configuration ; he is not very skilled at foilkite, but prefers the Gong for marginal winds. He swap to the Sonic when there is a it more wind to gain much speed.

Another friends compared the breeze and the Mono, and found out that the Breeze required more wind to flight in light wind, knowing that the Mono is even not the lightest kite among single struts...

[nothing2seehere]

good comments. I am now interested on the gong kites. I had the solo 15.5 and 12. Kept the 15.5 and sold the the 12 (the leading bladder to weak and to much power when gust hits the kite when strapless). I have demo the Mono 12 meter. I prefer the Mono because is similar to the NEO but without the weight. Relaunching the one strut kite is difficult if the canopy get very wet on the solo. I didn't get the Mono kite wet on the demo day. Interesting topic

In my experience, relaunching the mono 12 isn't a trivial task when the wind drops. I accidentally rolled mine and the single strut didn't provide enough float to be able to hot launch. It was about 8/9 knots lull. Not a problem to keep the kite in the air (unless you crash it whilst bailing - doh!) but down on the water it required patience to wait for the gust. Haven't had any problems relaunching in normal kitesurfing wind (11/12knots +)

Much prefer the Mono 12 to the V1 Solo 12m I had. Much more responsive and doesn't pull like a truck in the top of the wind range.

[Wielandt]

Hi Carsten

I bought the Gong direct from the Gong dealer in France. They have a big home page and sell all kind of kitesurf stuff. Right now you can get the Gong strutles with a 30 procent discount.

I like them a'lot. Of course extremly light. Stays up in no wind, easy to pump/pack. Very easy to handel, no bar pressure and not the same pull as I experienced with the Solo's.

[faklord]

Hi Wielandt,
Found the Web page with discounted gongs: http://gongsupshop.com/epages/box1707.s ... 20Ailes%22 Very impressive prices!!!

Seeing as you own both, albeit in different sizes, I would be very interested to hear your views on the differences, pros/cons between Gong and Storm 3.
eg. relaunch, wind range, flapping, turn speed, build quality etc
I'm specifically interested in a 12m.

I wonder why you ended up with 2 smaller gongs (9 & 12) and one storm (15) - maybe the next size up in gong (17m) was just too big??
Thanks