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Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 2:32 am
by jfk88
I am about 6'2" tall and weight about 215lbs...I'm very athletic and I am what I guess you could call a quick learner..took a course in Hatteras ....I live in NJ where I kitesurfed all last summer in the ocean. The winds on avg. are anywhere from 9kts to 15kts.

I have F.One kites both the shadow 7 and 9 along with coffee table directional known as the cheater. I am interested in going to a "blimp" and have heard several different things about a few kites..

taking my info. into consideration what would anyone suggest - the Wipika Hydro 11, or the Fone Mach1 12.1? even throwing around the idea of the Slingshot Fuel..140...

My main area of concern is I want to ride in the ocean and improve greatly on upwind performance and jumps...I am what you would call a beginner in being able to gybe and boost girly airs.. =) but no upwind ability largely due to my gear I would imagine..

Thanks...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jfk88 on 2002-05-16 05:09 ]</font>

Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 8:25 am
by BlueSky
I would say buy the Fone Mach1! It's a great kite. Switched from wipika airblast to Mach1 and am really stunned. If you want to sail from roundabout 4-6 Beaufort, buy a 15.1 with your weight (ca. 100 kg?). It's a very nice kite. 12.1 will get you going from 5/6-7/8 Beaufort I imagin. Sizes are NOT projected!

I'm kitesurfing 1 year now, go upwind, can ride wake, twintip, directional and jump as high as the wind will blow me.

Going upwind on a twintip means steering the kite far upwind as possible and make sure your kite is big enough to have a good edge. Place most of your weight on your rear leg (pressure on your heel). To go upwind you need quite some pressure in your kite. With more pressure you can edge more and go more upwind.

If you can go upwind well, you have to try to control gusts by edging your board more and turn your kite as much upwind as possible and edging hard. That's your brake.

If you can edge well, it's just a matter of extending your body just before the jump and up you go. And pick out a gust to jump. Don't do to much steering, just from 10-11 to 13-14 h. and keep the kite above you for a soft landing (Zenith). At the moment of landing send the kite forward.

If you want to know more, just send me an E-mail on willempuk@yahoo.co.uk

Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 11:27 am
by Guest
I have been on the Hydro for two months, riding in South Jersey. I am rippin' hard and boostin' very high. I ride the 11 up to about 20-22mph winds. It will relaunch with the slightest fart(super easy). The construction looks solid.
My .02
BTW -NJ has been getting 20+mph 3-5 days a week for the last month, if you know where the thermals are....

Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 11:44 am
by Mega-Air
My Friend, if your staying with the same board you can buy the mach1 12.1. But if your thinking of getting a other board, it is better to buy a Mach1 15.1. It's around the airblast 11.8.
I like the F-one kite better because I have three Mach ones ( 9.1 , 12.1 , 15.1 ) I have these kites for around five months and I use them around four times a week. I have never had a problem with my F-Ones kites. I never saw the bladder yet because i still didn't get a leak. Only once one of the leader lines broke but that's it.
I like the airblast too. two of my friends ride the airblast and i've tried the and they are also very good. But they always has some kind of a leak. especialy the leading edge. Making it difficult to relauch if you get it in the water. Both are good but i like the durability of the F-one 10 times more than the Wipika

Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 2:42 pm
by jfk88
This site is great...thanks for the input..

I was thinking on going away from the directional to a TT..something like a Slingshot Jarvis 157...the only concern I had with the Mach1...something like the 15.1 was it's ability to water relaunch...is this kite reliable enough on relaunches for the ocean?
I was told by someone who sells Wipika of course that I will spend more time floating downwind with the Mach1 as opposed to the easy re-launching of the Wipika???

Taking into consideration my skillset which is intermediate...and my size with the Jarvis...and the fact that I haven't had much experience with a blimp yet...would you still recommend the Mach1...

Thx...
BTW..to the anonymous post who rides in NJ...lets hook up bro...I'm always in Sea Isle City... jfk88@email.com

Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 3:24 pm
by BlueSky
Hi Joe,
No problem. But I think your shop may be right that a Hydro will be easier to waterstart than an Airblast and a Mach1. You should ask yourself also, how many times you will crash your kite. I did not crash my kite often, though riding airblasts as a beginner. Second is that I wouldn't recommend you going to surf the ocean or sea if the wind is offshore!!!! :smile:)

Also it's better not to surf in a spot with waves of 2m or higher that may crush your bones.

If you have sideshore to onshore winds, you'll be drawn to the beach if you can not restart the kite with the leading edge down. Happened to me one time with the airblast, when I got my lines tangled in the water. Don't ask why, but it may happen with any flying object...

A tric I heard some people also use is to take the tips of the kite in your hands and use it as a sail to go back to the beach. But as I said, if the leading edge is down, the kite will still be pulling you in a direction and if you beware of offshore winds, you'll be drawn back to the beach.

Good luck and be careful!

Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 3:30 pm
by BlueSky
BTW boardsize:

you can ride any board you like, but a smaller board will need more kitepressure so more wind. Bigger board (more volume) starts earlier, but is harder to edge with high winds. I ride a 175 tt Olry. Am happy with it, but need a second board for girlfriend.

Will be a small board so that we can combine smaller size kite tt175 and 65kg and a big kite with a board of 140 and 72 kg with the same wind. Saves us kites.

Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 7:27 pm
by Mega-Air
The Mach 1 is a high aspect ratio kite and is a little more dificult to relaunch than a medium aspect ratio. But i never had a problem that i could not relaunch the kite. sometimes when the wind is very light it is a bit more dificult. You will see that after a couple of times relaunching a kite you will see it is not a dificult task. It is the same as waterstart in windsurfing. the more you do it the easier it will get. But in kitesurfing the better you get the less you will have to relaunch the Kite.

Posted: Thu May 16, 2002 9:32 pm
by Andres_Santacruz
Hey Bud,
If you have been using foils, why don't you go to the newest better foils which have depower and give you more range than some inflatables. You have been using f-one foils which don't have the biggest range, and the 9.0 is a really slow kite compared to others. It has a small range, and doesn't turn too well. These kites might be part of the reason why you have had trouble going upwind. I would reccomend you go to a http://www.flysurfer.de mastair 12.0. This kite is very powerful, yet still fast, and you can go huge in 15 knots. It has depower which helps you go upwind, and with your weight, you could probably take it up to 20 knots. I am completely sure it is faster than your 9.0 and much more agile and powerful, I have the mastair 12.0 and sell flysurfer.de in Mexico, I have also flown the 7.0 and the 9.0 many times(a friend has them). I forgot to mention, relaunching the mastair is so easy, just let go of the bar, and it gets on the trailing edge by itself, then just hook in, depower and up she goes. It also has less bridle lines, so they never tangle(mine haven't). Regarding the board, try to move your straps as far forward as possible on the board so that you have a more centered stance. This will help you with planing in the lulls, and in going upwind easier, and planing earlier. You should also look at the italian http://www.loose.it boards, the AX160, or the twintips would be great for you. I think the usa dealer for flysurfer.de is in New Jersey, this is their site: http://www.flysurferusa.com
They also sell the loose boards in the U.S.
Another advantage, these kites are cheaper than blimps.
I know this may sound commercial, but I am genuinely stoked about these kites, and this is my honest opinion.(I also sell takoon in mexico)
Let me know if you get the mastair, so that I can give you some tips.
Andres Santacruz

Posted: Fri May 17, 2002 3:55 pm
by jfk88
Andres...thanks for the input..

I have to admit it is pretty tempting to stay with a more efficient kite like a foil. I really do think I should consider a blimp only because I am in the ocean and I like the added security of having an extra life raft around. =) Just in case. I love my foils I have now. But the couple times I had to paddle them in, I didn't love them so much. I think I would like to be able to put the leading edge of a blimp under my arm and just swim in. I would bet my arm that within a year alot of people are gonna go back to foils. But what do I know...

Pretty ironic that the flysurfer dealer is literally 20mins. from me.