Hi all,
Just a quick edit of an epic super low wind hydrofoil session yesterday in Canada. Best watched in HD
Select to expand quoteBletti said..
What are the specs on the kite and line length? How much wind was there?
If you need to ask you don't have the skill
Select to expand quoteflyingcab said...Bletti said..
What are the specs on the kite and line length? How much wind was there?
If you need to ask you don't have the skill
Yet another constructive comment, go troll elsewhere.
Select to expand quoteBletti said..
What are the specs on the kite and line length? How much wind was there?
Hi Bletti,
Chris is flying the Ikon Kiteboarding PEAK 2 - 12m.
As he is travelling, he has only one bar with him and he is using a CORE bar.
We did some test before he left Perth with 50m/40m/30m/25m ... he is riding 30m line on the video.
Not sure about the wind but Chris was saying 4 to 7-8knots
Impressive skills
Spot is Shippagan in New Brunswick, a popular kiting destination. We just didn't get the strong winds we expected so foiling is the only way to go.
In very low winds, I find line length to be more important than kite size. I was on a 12m kite but it could've been done on a 10m kite easily. The key is to have a kite that doesn't stall easily and everything perfectly tuned...and a dry kite!
It seems in this case there was a layer of stronger wind higher up as there was next to zero wind at ground level. Longer lines also help in developing a much stronger power stroke to get up and going. We tried 50M lines in Perth (pictured below) and the wind was about 5-6 knots, we couldn't get going on standard 24m lines but 50m lines was no problem at all. Just don't drop it!
Totally agree – long lines makes a big difference. My standard lines are 23m, I have a 2nd bar with 30m and the difference in light wind is unbelievable - the kite is in the power zone for so much longer. I’m nowhere near the standard of you guys show but I still enjoy the feeling of getting along in low winds.
Select to expand quotedusta said...
is that a mk1 kfa Chris ?
It's actually a prototype KFA MK1 (something I found out later on...) which "should never have been sold" said the manufacturer himself. Unfortunately I'm the one who bought it and had to deal with a Tuttle box head that was then made of aluminum powder and eventually fell apart completely. The other issue was a very soft mast due to the mast splitting along the trailing edge....
Fortunately I have friends that are skilled with those sort of repairs. A new Tuttle box head had to be built and we had to inject epoxy to fix the mast splitting and to bring back the much needed stiffness. Would've cost a fortune to have it fixed by KFA... At least it rides much better now.
l dream about foiling at a spot like that.
