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Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

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skyte
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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby skyte » Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:59 pm

hehe, I'm 75Kg (which is about 165lbs?) and was maxed in 25-35knots when the gusts hit. You'd be fine in 30knots+ I reckon but the boost is immense. Good hangtime is such a bonus for a small kite tho.

The Ion3s should be with you guys soon... it'll be worth the wait!

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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby si-fly2 » Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:46 pm

Thanks for info Skyte, Will try the rear setting next time out.

How do you find the jumping on the 6m ?
Si.

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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby si-fly2 » Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:09 pm

Got out again today wind gusting 40-50mph and kite was much lighter on low wind setting and seemed to have more constant pull...and again coped great with the gusts smoothing them right out.
Jumping was still poor and the kite did not seem to have much lift ...maybe I just dont have the skills to time the jumps in these gusty winds.
Overall the kite felt much better on the low wind setting...bridle point nearest the steering lines.

Si.

YNWA
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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby YNWA » Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:48 pm

skyte
hows the 12.5m ion 3 improved from the ion 2?
is it faster, better jumping etc?
& the upper windrange on the 12.5m ?
i,m 95kg (solid muscle :lol: )
really only can afford 1 kite ion 3 + maybe 1 ion 2
i,ve got a skim & 130 tt
should i get the 10.5 or the 12.5m? ion 3
whats your opinion?
:cool2:

skyte
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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby skyte » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:34 am

YNWA...

The 12.5 Ion3 turns quicker than the Ion2 Version and flies a little bit quicker through the air... a bit more bite, I suppose :-) What I've noticed most on the Ion3s is the bar pressure is spot on... not too light that you don't get any feedback and not too heavy that you get tennis elbow. It feels really nicely balanced in that sense.

Flexi R&D works very much on a refinement process and resists change for change's sake. I guess it's important to keep producing new kites every year but it's also important to continuously refine a design that works well. The Ion3s a refined version of an already great kite.

The Ion3 bridle is different... it supports more of the kite in the center and less at the tips which helps with the turning characteristics. (Don't ask me if you can put an Ion3 bridle on an Ion2 tho... I don't know! Possibly not!)

Since you're 95Kg, I reckon the Ion3 12.5 would be good for you. I'd guess at 15knots it'll start to be fun and after 30 it'll start to get full on! But it varies so much from rider to rider, I really don't like guessing at what'll work for you without having seen you ride.

The 10.5 Ion2 is a sweet kite... A lot of people I ride with use it and get on really well with it either overpowered or as a light wind alternative with a skimboard. I would say the 12.5 will be better for you with the skim, just because it's bigger, but being nice and responsive, you can still get that bit extra by working the 12.5 in light winds.

As a heavier rider, I'd definitely recommend making use of the rearmost attachment points for the front lines... the heavier you are, the easier it is to edge the kite to the front of the window, Moving the front attachment points back gives you less depower, but the kite sits a bit further back in the window when it flies and will power heavier riders along, no worries. It also works well for freestyle having the extra grunt for more pop. This only seems to work down to a certain wind speed (lower for lighter riders) when you can get more power from apparent wind from a faster flying kite, so time for the front attachments.

I would have to say go for the 12.5 and save up for the 8.5 for your high wind kite. Master the skimboard on days when there's not quite enough for the 12.5 on your twin tip. If you go 10.5 then you might still want a smaller kite for when it's howling but need a bigger one on the skimboard.

Si-fly2...
You must have had an early session!
How heavy are you? 40mph and I'd be getting pretty high on a 6mIon2. I'd have to see you ride to tell if it was you or the kite doing something wrong. From where I'm standing, it could be either :-D
The 6m turns fast and it's easy to over send the kite and do swingy pendulum jumps. Don't send it hard enough and you miss the most boost. On small kites, it's also easy to have the kite pull too hard coz they power up quicker - quicker than you can jump sometimes... if you don't jump with your legs hard enough, the kite will deform more under a higher load. and you'll get less boost. For me, the 6m was more of a fun high wind kite whereas a 7 gets that little bit more serious :-)

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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby toddsphresh » Sun Mar 23, 2008 1:10 am

give me 40 - 60 knot winds and any small kite. may it be a 3 m or a 6m or a 9m ill be boosting to the moon. really dont understand how you can not boost to the moon when it is honkin 40 knots. either you weigh 350lbs or you have no buisness going out in heavy winds. really never heard of anyone not being able to boost in such high winds.

si-fly2
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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby si-fly2 » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:52 am

I am 90KG and agree with what your saying ...but I still dont seem to get much lift from the 6m. Maybe it was the conditions as although the gust were getting upto 45+ (measured on the beach) it was probably averaging 35 but it was cold air 4 C. Went out yesterday blowing 25+ on my 9m Ion and was going twice as high as the 6m!! I found the 6m kite felt very safe to use in these storm winds and never felt overpowered so maybe its just to small for my 90KG, for boosting. The water was also very choppy so difficult to hold an edge when jumping. Hopefully next time we get these winds the tides will be smaller and I can try jumping on flat water with waves.

Si.

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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby prep » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:21 am

dont know how you can say the 6m is slow! its like a rocket, almost to fast. Im 75kg and go upwind on it in 23-24kts bad onshore wind on a surfboard no problem.

havnt had it out in big winds yet to test jumping

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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby si-fly2 » Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:58 pm

Hi Prep, I said the steering was slow on the "Hi" setting but much better when I flew it again on the "Lo" setting. It is fast through the air.

I first flew the kite on the beach in 15mph and it felt fast, light on the bar and lifty (this was on lo setting) so when I then had the first session in strong onshore winds I put it on the high depower setting to test the kite to see how it coped with the wind. I then found it heavy on the bar and slow to turn unless I really pulled on the bar, but wearing gloves due to very cold weather this soon gave me burning arms!!..so it would turn but was very heavy on the bar compared to my other Ions.

Next session I tried the Hi setting again with gloves and bar pressure was fine this time and kite turned a lot quicker for same bar input. If your used to heavy bar pressure then the turning will probably be ok for you. I also was using a longer bar than recommended 52cm so this could have caused some of the problem with heavy turning. I really liked the way the kite flew this time and it was great in the gusts.

My only issue with the kite now is that I dont seem to be able to get any height on the jumps compared with my other Ion 1's which even in rough water are easy to jump even if keeping an edge is hard. At speed I could do long low jumps so maybe the 6m needs more edging than my other Ion's. I asked this on the flexi forum and was told my another sailor that he also found the 6m poor for boosting and nothing like the 8.5 which he said was great.
Si.

skyte
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Re: Flexifoil launch the ION3 - the Hybrid with Teeth

Postby skyte » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:03 pm

Choppier water could be causing long low jumps (if you can't hold your edge for long enough)... also going too fast into the jumps.

I think some of the problem here is that a 7m would be better because you need serious winds for the 6m to work and in those conditions, the water can often be chaotic. This is maybe why Flexifoil have gone with a 7m Ion3 - there was just too much gap between the 8.5 and the 6m... Maybe!

It's a hard one to call though... I have friends who rave about the 6m but personally, I only liked it on the grunty front line settings.

Oh, the 52cm bar should make it turn faster than if you used a 48cm bar!


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