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Why none of the top 50 use Ram Airs?

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sq225917
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Postby sq225917 » Fri Jan 24, 2003 12:44 pm

anon poster, you obviously don't know shit about wing design, do you.

and i'm willing to bet that you don't actually even kite.

but on the off chance that you do, why don't you show us some of your great stuff.
any pics or vids that aren't of you wanking into kite mags i'd be interested to see.

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Postby Guest » Fri Jan 24, 2003 1:13 pm

anon o boyo

you r a complete ...

oh i can't be bothereed to say it

anyway when we see you on the beech we are going to knife your bladders!

SSramboy

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Postby Royce » Fri Jan 24, 2003 2:35 pm

Yeah going in a straight line infront of a big wave takes balls but the claims from Chris in my opinion have put him in the same league as Rick Markham of windsurfing fame. Really good at marketing but thats where it ends. He's one of my friends but anyone that knows him will agree. 90 %hype 10 % performance. Oh and I think that now he rides LEIS. No offence to anyone.
Later.R

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Postby Guest » Fri Jan 24, 2003 8:50 pm

The new Naish Xeon is a foil kite...

Ok, it's a trainer but it means something... There is also a snow kite project in the works and who knows what else...

They did employ the ex. kite constructor from Flysurfer, not only to build a trainer kite one can assume.

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Postby Guest » Fri Jan 24, 2003 9:33 pm

WHY do the RAMmies hold Chris Calthorp up as some sort of RAM ambassador???? HE HATES RAM AIRS!

He now uses LEIs and bags the crap out of RAM AIRs.

There is not ONE - repeat one (1) credible rider that the RAMmies have claimed for their own who hasn't dumped rams and taken up inflats. Apart from that, there is not one (1) ram air rider in the top 96.

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KiteGlider
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Postby KiteGlider » Fri Jan 24, 2003 9:47 pm

A guy in our town builds his own frame kites.
He's been kitesurfing about 3 years, staring with foils, LEIs, then Cquad and now flys his homemade frames.

He does jumps, backloops, rotations, surfs small waves. All the newbies with LEIs are still learning to go upwind.

My friend doesn't get in their face and say,
"you guys suck!, you have inferior equipment!, get rid of your stuff!"

What would that accomplish?

I was thinking of getting one of those foil fest "no-pump" logo bumper stickers,
now after this thread, I'm thinking, what would that accomplish?

As others mentioned before, not everyone can upgrade their gear every 6 months. When you get some spare dough and go out and buy the latest and greatest, you're king of the hill.
Does that mean you go around telling everyone with last years gear that they are inferior and they suck?

I learned something from this thread, thanks.
Applogies for being a wise ass on some posts.
I'm done, lots of other good discussions going on.

KG

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Postby Guest » Fri Jan 24, 2003 9:55 pm

KG- You make a valid point. People going around saying "your gear sucks" aren't doing themselves, their victims, or the sport of kitesurfing any favours.

Nevertheless, we do have a responsibility to inform newcomers to the sport that choosing ram airs will handicap them. People outlay big $ to setup in this sport.

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Postby Guest » Fri Jan 24, 2003 10:18 pm

"there is not one (1) ram air rider in the top 96."
Is anyone on the list in the top 96 or aspiring to be? All seems kind of irrelevant if not. Tubes have the top 50 because they jump higher. Until a year ago there really were not any foils designed to even address this performance difference. Time will tell. Still irrelevant to me because jumping is only one aspect of the sport for me as opposed to the primary aspect for pros.
To anno, Nothing about an inflated leading edge, struts or general C shape of the canopy makes the kite more stable or fly further to the edge of the window. Both of these factors hinder flying further to the edge and the weight distribution makes them less stable. Your comments making sweeping generalizations about all foils or all tubes are pretty ridiculous. Other than jumping ability you seem to be way off.
I think tube kites are best for those who somehow gain satisfaction emulating the pros and those who jumping is the only concern. As far as jumping, the designers have just begun with the foils.

MARK (Kite quiver made up of 4 tubes and 4 foils)

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Postby Guest » Fri Jan 24, 2003 10:33 pm

Tubes have the top 50, not only becausethey jump higher, but for the following reasons as well:

-Better stability, control, turning speed, height in jumps, and hangtime. These are aspects the average weekend kiter wants to optimise, hence the superiority of LEIs.

It is wrong to suggest that the RIGID shape imparted by an inflatable does nothing for aerodynamic performance. The rigidity of the structure helps flying characteristics and stops collapses in rotors. It also means LEIs are safer in wind dropouts or on long cruises.

Because the kites are essentially rigid, they can handle the wind shears and turbulence which increase exponentially the closer you get to the edge of the wind window. This is one of the reasons ram airs need to sit further back in the window (apart from the fact that their increased wind-resistance causes them to sit further back).

Inflatable kite designers like Don Montague and Ken Winner use some of the characteristiics of inflats (like the battens and the leading edge) to actually increase the STABILITY of the kite. eg the slight weight of the battens in the Rhino helps the kite sit correctly in the air.

Anyway, not that it matters, inflats weigh about the same as a ram that pulls comparably.

Tube kites are best for those who like ease of setup, reliability, performance, jumping height, hangtime, control, turning speed, safety in the surf and offshore, and aerodynamic performance. Rams are suitable for everyone else.

MARK (Kite quiver made up of 4 tubes and 4 foils)

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Postby Guest » Fri Jan 24, 2003 10:52 pm

TOO FARKEN RIGHT DUDE!!
F1 saw the light, Flexifoil saw the light..
Its the old farts and losers that hang on to their old memories of foils.
I love this forum.. shows how shiite ram foils are!! as for top 100 forget it lol


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