Seeing one kite on the water doesn't exactly tell me much. I am very much interested in seeing how much we can squeeze out of a kite/board combo while still having fun in light winds.

I would love to see this:

Get all the top kite manufacturers competing for the lightwind trophy kite and put them all on the same beach at the same time with the same wind and the same board and the same type of experienced rider. Let em rip. Not a race. Just for braggin rights on which kite is truly the best for light winds in the range we are talking about here. LEI only. Last kite standing (and riding) in the lowest winds win.

Any takers.

Whaoooo...this is going to be hard to get these guys out with their light wind kites, but I am willing to do so to prove you how good the INFINITY V1 or V2 performs in light wind.
Maybe having some magazines testing all the light wind kites will be even a better idea. I know that one of the kite magazine did this 2 issues back and I got a little upset because they never contacted us to include the INFINITY and told them they were misleading customers because of not including the INFINITY. So now for 2012 they asked me to send them the INFINITY V2 once they are doing another light wind test with other kite companies. This will be a perfect test.

Sorry Dimitri that you are at a lost about my 9/27 posting. If you could please read again "carefully" you will notice that i am taking about your "beach" video INF.V2"3G" Prototype on surfboard strapless on the glassy ocean waves and not in the sound.....Now tell my honestly that you do not know about what the effect of "UPWELLING" (please Google it) has on creating "double" the wind strength 10 feet and above over the glassy ocean. The light wind direction is "always" southerly (sse-s-ssw) during this phenomenon and parallel to coastline.So if it measures only 6mph on beach the you will get double or 12mph on the water!!!! Now if i am teaching you something that's ok.... I am just saying that the day of the video your were blessed with this phenomenon and most likely you were unaware. UPWELLING type conditions can also exist after the passage of tropical storm or hurricane. All it takes is for the colder water from sea floor to rise and replace the displaced warm surface layer.When this happens and in addition to the "normal" way UPWELLING occurs you get "magic" conditions that can create "surreal" riding and videos in almost no wind at all......Maybe you learned something new...If so you are totally welcome.... I only want to share my knowledge with you and in no way put you down. ENTHUSIASM is the number one quality in a man for success and you have it! SupaEZ

For you Dimitri "unrelated info" about such interesting fact. Did you know (pretty sure you do) that Hatteras Island's lighthouse latitude is 35.15N and that Crete/kriti the biggest island in Greece is also exactly at latitude 35.15N. I find this very meaningful. Take care. SupaEZ

SupaEZ

I did look upwelling up and while it is very obvious it creates and strengthens ocean currents I did not find anything that supports your claim that it creates wind. Could you explain how this happens?
At my home beach, I often get out on light side shore breezes, typically WSW, if I can keep the kite in the air till I get to the water I'm usually good to go.
Something I have noticed though, once I get about km out, the wind suddenly shifts S, which is off shore... at first I thought it was a fluke but this happens every time I have a light WSW wind... can you have upwelling on the great lakes?

Hello Laughingman. "Yes" the great lakes can experience upwelling. One example showed on lake Ontario a water temperature drop from 64.5F to 51.5F from upwelling. You are correct in the fact that you will "not" find "claim" that it creates a stronger wind for kites 10 feet and above over the glassy water "within a certain distance" from coastline. I have to say that it is "my discovery" after over 12 years of kiting during upwelling events. Your experience was correct with a "light sideshore" wind. It may or may not be upwelling that you experienced but similar since great lakes have them and water warms up during june/july from south to north. At our beach (northern hemisphere) light southerly "warm" wind blows parallel to coastline for several days to create upwelling.( in southern hemisphere) wind would be northerly.In both scenarios from the equator warm wind. On the sand at the beach you measure 6mph sse-s or ssw sideshore wind.The glassy water surface will feel so "much" colder than usual and will be quite amber full of plankton life.This will also to contribute for added "float" and reduced "drag" for the board! The reason for magic wind has to do with glassy "cold plankton rich water" combined with very light "warm" steady breeze differential following coastline. I never experienced this windsurfing (23 years) but with kitesurfing using kites sizes 16M and up i do!!! "magic surreal wind" is what i call it. So 6mph on ground/9mph with kite overhead on ground and12mph on the water riding...12 is 4 times more powerful than 6. Probably lots of those superlight wind kiting videos that defy science are unknowingly due to this still unknown kiting phenomenon.YOO HOO IT'S SupaEZ

But wait I do remember the kiteboarding magazine reviewing this kite.

One of the 2 CONS was not that great low end.

here you go.
http://www.thekiteboarder.com/2011/05/e ... te-review/

Still sounds like a good kite to me for lighter winds but not super light winds.

The V2 hasnt been tested by magazines yet.

And the about the V1 i heared several different statements. Some say they ridden it in very very lowwind and some say it is about the same as the other "big players" on the market. The most remarkable thing about the V1 is maybe not its lowend (which is really good) but the fact that as soon as it goes you can do tricks with it. The fun factor is really good of this kite something i think is important. Now the V2 combines that with an even better lowend (at least thats what i hear)

So Dimitri listened to the comments and feedback and actually did something with it.. i call that great..

Cant wait to test it and see what my personal lowend is with the kite. The V1 was remarkable to say the least. To all just test the kite when you get the chance and you just might be amazed.

I posted this in the other thread, but maybe Dimitri missed it:

Hey Dimitri, I'd like to demo the Infinity v2. I currently own a 2010 Ozone Zephyr and could do some back to back comparison testing. I'll let the other locals ride 'em both for more feedback and post up a comparison video as well.

We are pretty much in the heart of our lightwind season here in central Texas, so we'll have plenty of opportunity to test lightwind kites here and on the coast in Texas City, Corpus Christ, or South Padre Island.

As far as lightwind boards, I own a 146x46 Cabrina plasma and have access to a FlyDoorXL (170x50) as well as other medium to big twintips and a couple of surfboards.

I don't know how the shipping scenario works, but I'd be willing to pay shipping both ways (I've shipped plenty of kites, so I know shouldn't be more than $35 to get here from NC and $35 back via UPS if you pack it down small (kite+bar, no pump)). Let me know!

Superez...interesting info, but how do you know for sure upwelling is taking place here? What proof do you have?

Also...how do you explain the riding video on the sound which is only a few feet deep. I've spent tons of time on the sound and can tell by the texture of the water (or lack thereof) that it's no even close to 12 mph. Looks like a legit 5/6-9 mph to me.

Bob
www.kiteridersllc.com