Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

once again line length low wind UFO

A forum dedicated to Hydrofoil riders
wavy navy
Medium Poster
Posts: 113
Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2019 4:30 pm
Style: foil/wave
Gear: Slingshot
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 34 times
Been thanked: 7 times

once again line length low wind UFO

Postby wavy navy » Sun Dec 05, 2021 3:07 pm

Hi,
I flew a 9m UFO (nostrut) on 21m lines in 8-14 knots. It felt like it was too slow for me. So I changed to 7m UFO on 24m lines. It was much quicker and had the same low-end. I had much more fun. Now I'm interested: What are the longest lines to have fun doing 360s and fun stuff? Did someone try 27m or even 30m and can report wether it has the same effect? I know racers use such long lines, but I ride strapless freestyle stuff...

I assume riding longer lines is even better if the wind picks up or if it's gusty because of you don't move the kite it has less pull than a 9m kite!?

BWD
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 3848
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2003 3:37 am
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 81 times

Re: once again line length low wind UFO

Postby BWD » Sun Dec 05, 2021 3:20 pm

Sweet spot for extra low end but still quick enough kite response seems like 25-27.
30 is noticeably slower or laggy feeling. >30 I never tried. Also gets to be a pain for launch/landing in many spots. 20 or less can feel great but I don’t bother as more than half my sessions end up being light wind ones…
These users thanked the author BWD for the post:
wavy navy (Sun Dec 05, 2021 3:49 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

User avatar
jakemoore
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2518
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 3:59 am
Kiting since: 2003
Gear: More wing than kite
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Oleander
Has thanked: 146 times
Been thanked: 294 times
Contact:

Re: once again line length low wind UFO

Postby jakemoore » Sun Dec 05, 2021 3:27 pm

Seems like two questions e.g long or short lines and big or small kite?

My observation is that there is diminishing return in low end start on strut less kites. Cloud people seem to like their 6.x and the 8.x not so much. They love the smaller kites. I think is similar with the UFO and for me 7 is my biggest and I love the 5. It’s a light weight kite and that’s awesome but the design lends itself to medium winds and up. I think going bigger does more to increase the pull at the minimum wind speed and that may help some tricks but hinder others and doesn’t do much for getting a water start in lighter winds. I’m moving to foil kites in lower winds.

I’m flying the 7m UFO on 28m lines and I like that a lot to get moving in less winds and ride swell downwind in less wind.

I’m flying the 5m UFO on 21 and I can take that up in about as much wind as I want to kite foil in. I have some various 3-4 m kites but don’t seem to use them anymore up to 30 knots.

I fly a 5m UFO or a 6-8m Foil kite in less winds more than my 7. I use the same 28m lines bar on the foil kites.

With a longer lines setup line performance becomes important. At one time I had a 40 m lines bar and it was still responsive and fun to fly. The rear lines were 400 pound SK99 liros DC pro and 0.9 mm. This was a very-light winds cruising no jumping setup. My 28m lines bar has Qpower. I think normal kite lines specked for big air have too much drag at that length.
Last edited by jakemoore on Sun Dec 05, 2021 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
These users thanked the author jakemoore for the post:
wavy navy (Sun Dec 05, 2021 4:00 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

wavy navy
Medium Poster
Posts: 113
Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2019 4:30 pm
Style: foil/wave
Gear: Slingshot
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 34 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Re: once again line length low wind UFO

Postby wavy navy » Sun Dec 05, 2021 4:00 pm

Wow. You both have so much experience. I'm happy too read that. So I will try 27m lines and even a smaller size.

Alysum
Frequent Poster
Posts: 215
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 11:28 pm
Gear: a kite
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: France
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: once again line length low wind UFO

Postby Alysum » Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:15 pm

I run 20m lines on my UFO 5m and 7m. I like a direct response on those fast turning kites.

wavy navy
Medium Poster
Posts: 113
Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2019 4:30 pm
Style: foil/wave
Gear: Slingshot
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 34 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Re: once again line length low wind UFO

Postby wavy navy » Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:23 pm

@Asylum: Sure, me too. But the question was: What to do in lightest winds?
Definition of lightest winds: Anything when my 7m on 21m lines doesn't work anymore.

Alysum
Frequent Poster
Posts: 215
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 11:28 pm
Gear: a kite
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: France
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: once again line length low wind UFO

Postby Alysum » Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:05 pm

wavy navy wrote:
Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:23 pm
@Asylum: Sure, me too. But the question was: What to do in lightest winds?
Definition of lightest winds: Anything when my 7m on 21m lines doesn't work anymore.
I then switch to my Ozone Hyperlink 9m foil kite :thumb: still using the same 20m + bridle lines.

I've tried hard to get my UFO 7m with 25m lines going in marginal conditions and it's too much of a struggle to keep it flying. Foil kite is the answer.

wavy navy
Medium Poster
Posts: 113
Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2019 4:30 pm
Style: foil/wave
Gear: Slingshot
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 34 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Re: once again line length low wind UFO

Postby wavy navy » Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:18 pm

Thanks Alysum. Sure there are nice lightwind kites. At my homespot the wind changes quickly and unpredictable, and also it's nice to leave some ugly bars at the beach with different line lengths that nobody wants to steal. So in these special conditions I will go on to try longer lines, but no doubt a 9m foilkite is nice in steady low wind...


Return to “Hydrofoil”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 60 guests