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Rider: Weight,Level (beginner,intermediate,advanced)
Style: Freeriding, Surf, Wake, Freestyle
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My Comments:
There are lots of diferent brands of foil snow kites, but are there any other water friendly brands other than flysurfer and peter lynn.
How do they perform?
Sheridan - www.sheridan.com.au/
Whiteport - www.whiteport.com.au/
Neeki - www.neeki.com.au/
You pretty much have it. There was more years ago but now just-
Peter Lynn
Flysurfer
HQ Powerkites
I know a few non-believers would bag foils, I only hope that they have tried an up to date one before they make any comments.
I have flown pump ups for 10 years and last year I got a Peter Lynn. It took a couple of sessions to get dialed into it, but then it performs as good as any other leading kite. They have good hang time, fast turning and are easily water relaunchable.
They do not deflate as soon as it hits the water and you have plenty of time to relaunch.
I launch and land my own kites including the foil unasisted all the time.
There are certainly some benefits to a foi ie no pumping, no bladder issues, packs up more compact, its light, makes a good travelling kite as less gear to carry.
Think we might be forgetting one of the biggest foil brand in the world??? Ozone??
How many world snow championships has Chasta now won????
Ozone Frenzy, Manta and Access, not to mention Yakuza for racing.
DM
I can crash my inflatable into a tree and fix the bladder in 10min with tearaid. You can crash your foil into a tree and break 15,000 bridle lines. Horses for courses :-)
I have only flowen the Peter Lynn kite and it is a 4 line kite with no bridle lines, I dont fly it into trees so whether it survives or not I dont care.
In my original question I was asking if any one knows of other water usable kites on the market and how they perform, thanks to those who were able to give some positive feed back.
I will try to give a break down of the basic differences-
Peter Lynn C shape 4 line with almost auto zenith. They turn faster for their given size than the HQ and Flysurfer but you will need a much larger size so the turn speed equals out.
Eg- 12m FS = 16m PL for power
Self launch of the HQ and Flysurfer is simpler and faster, so is water re-launch.
Like the PL the other 2 are also very difficult to over fly and they actually offer more hangtime due to the additional projected area.
Bridles can be a hassle if you have a lot of debris on the beach but once in the sky are no dramas at all.
If looking at one of the bridled foils you will need to be aware that the higher aspect models turn a bit slower than other kites.
Started on foils 9 years ago, went to LEI's, then bought a Flysurfer pyscho 4 this season and the guy who sold it to me was gracious enough to give all my money back, then I bought kahoonas. Love them.
The P4 flew okay, real smooth, lots of power and the best jumping kite i've ever flown. These things boost big time.
But to solo land is a complete nightmare. And a kite you can't land quickly by yourself is a dangerous kite in my opinion. With the kahoona and the redline (like most brands now), throw the bar away and it just sits there on it's front line. The only way to land the P4 (unless you have a strong anchor point - and even then it better be secure!) is to activate the FDS which creates 8 out of 10 times an awful bridle mess). I tried bloody everything, and i'm now slouch been kiting for 9 years and have owned warriors, peter lynns and a huge range of inflatables, including F-ones, airrush, best warroos now the kahoonas and the P4 was just downright dangerous to land.
Also they do turn slower and on the p4 the wing tips curl and stall unless you fly with absolute precision - down the line compared to say the kahoonas is just no comparison.
also this may sound a little picky, but when you do get it down, you find yourself in really high winds, bent over trying to get the air out of the thing with sand blow, but into every orrifice in your body - just a little thing but it pissed me off.
Mate I'm soooo dissapointed i really, really wanted to fly foils, just something about the power delivery i love, but they just don't compare.
Can't speak for the new peter Lynn arcs, the ones i flew were incredibly stable but you needed a bigger size and they wind range wasn't as good.. maybe they are better.
The new flysurfer Viron might be worth checking out, looks promising.
I'm still waiting, but there is a reason the market differential speaks volumes. Some might say the powers to be influence us bla bla bla, and some of that is true enough, but the shear volume of non-foils on the water speaks for itself.
I must say the Speed is the ultimate light wind machine, don't think clumsy LEI's can touch them. Also at the real, real top end the FS pulse is a greta kite, but in teh wind range we mostly fly I don't think they have got it right yet.
Again I'm no slouch and i untangles my bridles 10 out of the 15 times i flew it ..and landing this thing (and subsequent launching is not packed up right) was a complete nightmare.
