Anyone Flying Foils?

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paulwhitaker
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Anyone Flying Foils?

Post by paulwhitaker » Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:53 pm

Just moved here from Texas. All my friends started flying foils this summer while the winds were light.

The windy season is over here it looks like (bad timing on my part) but is anyone here flying foils like the Speed or Silberpfeil?

Where do you guys do your winter riding?

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Post by knyfe » Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:28 pm

one guy from SF has or had a speed. I met him at 3rd one day he went out on the 17 and a normal board (130-140) and I with a 16 nemesis but my door style woody. I stayed upwind with fun, he went downwind. What does this tell you ? Basically nothing as the S17 might be still a good kite for light wind but a big board is way more imortant than the kite!

I had the PS2 in 17 and it was not my kite at all. Either a truck or the wind was still too low. After that I stayed away from foils which was a hard decision after 3 Flysurfers in a row.

I am sure Elli has more to say on that too. Winter riding. Basically there are the rare but epic Alameda storm days( kite >10), other than that Baha, or go mountian biking.

G

BTW dont go out in really light wind on a tube without a 5th line. Its essential for light wind relaunch. Give me a note if you have a silberpfeil. I would like to try it.

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Post by steve block » Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:02 pm

lots of foil users..bric from sf has extensive experience with the FS and Peter Lynn brand of foils..he can be reached @sfboarder@yahoo.com. my experience with late fall and winter riding is sporadic at best. Keep close tabs with ikitesurf.com for the local conditions and note that the coast is kitable in the winter with storm fronts..otherwise head to baja or costa rica, course hawaii is an option also..i noticed decent 18-20mph@maui beaches lately. steve

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nope

Post by zgur » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:00 pm

Nope....most people do not fly mattreses, oops, meant foils ;-), as we have really decent wind in the bay area. The "light wind" advantage of foils over inflatables is not required when 12m is the main kite.........

In the winter most folks either go snowboarding/skiing, go to Mexi/Baja for kiting, or catch the occassional storm front.

Daily kiting resumes in March.

Get some, Z.

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Post by al-kite-a » Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:02 pm

FYI- During the winter it seems my small kites get the most action as the wind usually comes in the over 25mph range. Also if you don't have a lot of wave experience I would not hit the coast in these conditions because the waves are big and unpredictable.

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Post by knyfe » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:25 pm

Now as I read the name, sure bric, and Elli .. as myself are converted and the others are rarely spotted. Sometimes you see the Arc users at 3rd. I think now with a good 5th you even get a tube relauched in the winter. I never did it but that was the weak point before.

G

Still hate pumping ;-)

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elli
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Post by elli » Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:18 pm

Points well made already on this thread.
Very few foils users. I saw a Flysurfer in the air only once this season, and I don't think he was local. I think Georg listed all the ex converts. There are probably more Peter Lynn arc flyers now than Flysurfer. Bric is probably the last Flysurfer standing when its super light wind, in normal wind he also uses a tube.

In the season you get daily riding and there is no need for something like a Silberpfeil or even close to that. People are also more aware of the importance of board, IMO in light wind its board first and kite second. You see more and more people using light wind boards with normal size kites. That's what I do now.

I also experienced the "if the kite has enough wind to fly you are overpowered" mentioned above, and way too much maintenance and modifications for my taste. The most maintenance I do today is wash the kite, and even that only after an extreme mud bath which happens maybe once a season.

IMO flat kites had all the traditional advantages of a bridled foil times X, without any of the disadvantages. Many of the popular riding spots in the bay area are fairly difficult launches which makes foils harder to use than tubes. I don't know what you do in Sherman, for example, drift launch?

There are still many mountain boarders using foils. From what I saw mountain boarding in the bay area is Ozone territory.

I still have one Flysurfer that I really like and I also use it to teach others. Its not rational, it was my first real kite. The kite is heavily modified with a redesigned bridle, but I don't really have time for those things anymore. Fly, fold, go home, do it again the next day.

If you live right on the water in Alameda, which is normally lighter than other locations, maybe it makes sense to invest in a gigantic foil, but in other locations its not necessary.

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Post by gideonlow » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:40 pm

I'm one of the very few PL riders in the Bay Area. IMO, Peter Lynn kites are NOT light-wind specialty kites even though they'll stay in the air with next to no wind. Waddell is my regular spot, and I don't really start to have real fun there on my Venom 16 until 14 Kts average.

PL kites main advantages are:

- "Rally" suspension instead of "Racing" suspension. In winds that aren't very clean, they are extremely comfortable kites.

- Simplicity. They are the only 4-line, non-bridled, massively depowerable kites on the market.

- HUGE range. I can ride my Venom 10 from 16 to 40 Kts. The depower lets you ride waves using wave power rather than kite power. Sweet-spot is 18-35 Kts.

- Great float on jumps.

- They stay in the air. You can go an entire season and never drop one in the water. People knock the "auto-zenith" feature as a safety hazard, but I think it sure beats the alternative of "auto-crash." You can get rolled by a wave and count on the kite to stay in the air and eventually help you come back up to the surface.

There are downsides, like with lighter winds or when you prefer that "racing" style suspension. Newbies can become quite frustrated until they learn to avoid certain flying errors, but isn't that true of all kites?

Bottom line? I love these kites and they will only get better. I'm also buying an SLE blimp to go with my surf board next year for light wind days.

Any way you go, the newest generation kites from the innovative designers--whether with bladders or not--are all fantastic.

Cheers,

Gideon

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elli
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Post by elli » Sat Nov 04, 2006 2:18 pm

Georg where did you get the door?
I am in Berlin now, do you have any local info of where to look for something used? I think I can fit a splenee session in my kite bag.

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thanks

Post by paulwhitaker » Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:17 am

Thanks for all the great responses.

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