advice on foil and LEI

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Scanman
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advice on foil and LEI

Post by Scanman » Thu Aug 04, 2005 2:40 pm

I currently have a 14m LEI for water, and a 3m and 6m foil for land. I'm trying to decide what my next kite should be. Here are my options:
1) Get a 10m depowerable and water relaunchable foil, so I can use for land and water to fill in the gap.
2) Get a 10m LEI kite only, and use the bar from my 14m LEI. Then get a used 10m foil (maybe Frenzy).

Thanks for any advice. If you think 1) is a better choice, what brand and model do you recommend? BTW, I'm just a beginner.

Thanks for any advice.

Joe

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Post by knyfe » Thu Aug 04, 2005 3:31 pm

Joe,

a 10 foil is to big (~12-13 LEI) to match the 14 LEI for high wind days. other way around, a 10 foil is really a BIG thing on land.

How about you get the 10 water Foil (try Flysurfer) which you can also use on land and replace your LEI later on by a bigger LEI or foil.

My ideas, K

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Post by Scanman » Thu Aug 04, 2005 3:40 pm

So should I get a smaller water foil then? If I get another LEI, I would get a 10m. I guess an equivalent water foil would be closer to 8m?

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Post by dewey » Thu Aug 04, 2005 3:58 pm

Go for the 10m LEI. You could use it on land to. It will fit perfect in your quiver. If it's to light for the 6m foil then you could use the 10m LEI, and if it's to windy for the 14m LEI you could use the 10m. Sounds about right.

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Post by Scanman » Thu Aug 04, 2005 4:03 pm

Yeah, that's what I'll probably do. I was just thinking foil so I don't have to pump. :)

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Post by dewey » Thu Aug 04, 2005 6:39 pm

It's easy to pump a 10m. The 17m is the tough one.
Dewey

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Post by Guest » Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:05 pm

A 10m Flysurfer sounds like the solution. It covers the range of two inflateables, and works better on land. It is a water relaunchable depowerable foil with all the goodies. The XTC 10 that I have is a high wind kite. There are many other advantages (and some disadvantages) to Flysurfers over LEIs.

On the advantage side:
The average Flysurfer covers two traditional LEI sizes because of wider range. The new model (speed) has even bigger range.
Much more stable, never hindenberg on you. When it overflies if flies back to the window. To crash it you have to fly it into the ground.
Very simple water relaunch on the smaller sizes. Kind of idiot proof, you put the bar on the harness and it will usually take off.
More durable and last longer. Flysurfers last and last. They are built to aviation standard and the materials are much better than anything else, foil or LEI.

On the disadvantage side they pull more when parked if you don't use the PSS.
They also fly different, but since you already have foils this should not be an issue.
Turning is slower, more of an issue on the bigger sizes.

On land LEI just sounds wrong, what happens if you crash? It sounds like the kite will get beat up very quickly. The wind on land is also more turbulent and LEIs will Hindenburg more.

When you measure sizes of foils depowerables pull less than non depower. A 10M will cover 12-25 on the water and up to 20 on land. Older flysurfers generally have bettor low end than new ones and not as good top end for the same size. I took my XTC up to 26 but did not have the guts to get on the mountain board in that wind. Still did some static jumps that scared the s**t out of me.

If you like flying on land and snow depowerable will open new horizons over non depowerable foils (I have both and like both). Using non-depowerable foil on land is not as fun and the wind range is limited.

And final note, prices of Flysurfers went down. They are cheaper than the big brand inflateables (Naish, Cabrinha) but more expensive than the cheaper owns (windwing, Best).

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Post by sflinux » Fri Aug 05, 2005 7:58 am

Opinions are like a-holes, everybody has one... here's mine.

When comparing kites, I tend to look at the projected area (it works for me).
I assume your 14M flat lei has a projected area of ~ 10M.
Your 6M foil probably has a projected area of ~ 5M.
Your 3M foil probably has a projected area of ~ 2M.

A 10M lei will probably have a projected area of 7M.
A 10M foil will probably have a projected area of 9M.

A 10M lei would fit nicely in your quiver and are inexpensive.
Looking at the numbers I agree that your 14M lei and a 10M foil are a bit close in size. A 9M foil (8M projected) or 8M foil (7M projected) would give you less overlap.
You may also consider getting a peter lynn arc: Venom 10M (7M projected) or a Guerilla 2 11M (7M projected). The arcs are super safe in nuclear winds and are great for landboarding too.
If you go flysurfer, the new speed looks pretty sweet. But the 10M (9M projected) speed would be too close to your 14M lei. And the 7M (6.3 projected) speed is too close to your existing foil. And imo, they are still super expensive.
But leis, especially used ones, are cheap like dirt.
-bric

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Post by Scanman » Fri Aug 05, 2005 9:32 am

Great tips, thanks everyone! I'll let you know what I decide.

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Post by Scanman » Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:14 pm

I'm leaning towards the 10m Venom, anyone fly this kite before?

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