Looking for a good kite for Foiling, any tips?

[junebug]

Has anyone tried the LF Envy for foiling? I am set for up to 13-14 knots, but I was thinking about getting 7m or 6m Envy for 14 knots+. I'm presently using an old 2012 7m North Fuse I had lying around, but its looping power is way too strong for foiling, even at 15 knots. The only way I can loop through a turn is to reach up and yank an outside line. Does anyone know if the Envy has the same issue?

[junebug]

Im 77kg, so size should be 8m i guess,

Preference for the "big" brands:

North Rebel
Cabrinha Switchblade


more?

Help is welcome

I have a 12m LF WOW for 8-11kn days. I love it. Very light, drifts well, and pivots through loops with very little power.

[Peter_Frank]

Snip...
Peter, I'm surprised your still using 5 strut for 9m and down. Again, they work "fine", but you have multiple wings, boards and masts to tweak your set up to perfection. Sounds like there is room for improvement in your kite quiver. I bet once you grow accustomed to small ultra light kites and how they spin, drift, luff, reverse, and relaunch compared to 5 strut kites, you would value the difference.

Don't really need it, as I got a quiver of relatively light superfast turning wavekites 9-8-7-6-5-3.5 m2 with loads of range, that I use for waveriding (Takoon Furias and Log), and not in wind under 10 knots so a 9 m2 is spot on for hydrofoiling and I dont want two quivers when they work so well for hydrofoiling.

10 m2 and up, no doubt, lighter foil specific kites is a must
This is easy though, as they are not used in heavy surf (or for ANY surf), but only for hydrofoil.

I've tried some of the superlight smaller kites, and they work great indeed, but just not worth the difference to me, in sizes 8-9 and down

PF

[alexrider]

that new single strut airush kite looks nice

Yes Marcos, you should definitely consider the Airush Ultra. There's a topic on it in hydrofoil section. I am a ram-air guy, but just got myself an Ultra that allows me to:
- ride waves
- ride when it rains
- relaunch if the wind picks up again after 30 minutes of lull.
- launch from a boat
The 9 packs really small and weighs 2.2 kg, and is just perfect for foiling.

My 2 kite quiver covering 6 to 25+ knots is Ultra 9 with Flysurfer Sonic2 13.

[Peter_Frank]

Concur, the Ultra is a great kite for both

PF

[NEkitesurfing]

I like the CORE GTS4 a lot! On the first sight it may surprise that a freestyle kite works good in combination with a foilboard but the GTS4 does. A freestyle kite has to give a direct bar feel that is very helpful on the foilboard too. The GTS4 is an allrounder or Universal kite (CORE Marketing) that can be trimmed with less bar pressure and more important in an way that it is flying more to the edge of the wind window. This and a design that was strongly influenced by the development of the CORE SECTION Wave Kite gives the GTS4 a huge depower potential by bar throw and edging and a great stability in the air or drifting capability even with slack lines. Because I like boosting high even on a foilboard I have my personal preference for the GTS4. The SECTION is so much fun to fly too and loops as expected with less power. Both kites are durable and can bear a punch and can be relaunched easily in different ways. In gusty conditions they keep their shape a lot better than the kites that are built with a reduced structure with weight savings in mind. Weight for sure is an issue when trying to keep the kite in air at the very low end but the weight distribution is very important too. On dedicated wave kites the best weight distribution can be found. If you have gusty conditions like me than I would try GTS4 or SECTION too.

[Pedro Marcos]

It seems that there are 2 totally diferent kites preferences for foiling:

1 - The ultra performance kite: high AR kites like Ozone V9, Ocean Rodeo FLITE, North Rebel, etc

2- The Easy kite with low weight spec: Naish Boxer, North Mono or Dice, or wave oriented kites.


Question:

Besides being lighter by having less struts etc maybe also relaunch, is there any other benefit of the (2) over the (1) ?

Thanks

[Peter_Frank]

It seems that there are 2 totally diferent kites preferences for foiling:

1 - The ultra performance kite: high AR kites like Ozone V9, Ocean Rodeo FLITE, North Rebel, etc

2- The Easy kite with low weight spec: Naish Boxer, North Mono or Dice, or wave oriented kites.


Question:

Besides being lighter by having less struts etc maybe also relaunch, is there any other benefit of the (2) over the (1) ?

Thanks

Hmmm, not sure I agree with above classification Pedro

Many of the kites in 2 are just as heavy as those in 1.
Also, the kites in group 1 wont stand a chance in a race, compared to racekites, so still "freeride" kites.
Meaning you should have a third group with racekites, but as you ask about the differences with above, that is fine.

If you compare a lighter kite with lower AR to a heavier kite with higher AR, the major difference is the first ones are way easier to relaunch, and will pivot turn faster.
They will usually not feel just as pleasant for hydrofoiling, because (some of them) of sitting back in the window which you DONT want, and they will also have less windrange, besides being crappy for jumping compared to the other ones.

So ups and downs

PF

[Pedro Marcos]

Yeah i didnt take in consideration the "racekites", back in days those were mostly prototypes, is there many brands now with specific racekites?

Ive been out foiling today again and i think any kite will do the job after the 10-12 knots barrier, getting used to my fuels 9m and 7m with 27m lines.

I think the question now is more: Which kite for under 10 knots of wind, and which size ?

Thanks

[TomW]

Today it was15-16 knots. My 2010 RRD Obsession 9m works great. The dump valve starting to fall apart though..