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15m Elf Joker 7

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foilholio
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Re: 15m Elf Joker 7

Postby foilholio » Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:16 pm

I think you are right. Just when the two are side by side I don't see a massive difference getting to the downwind destination. The race style moves much much faster through the water that is sure. I think kites are unique from yachts that they can be flown and do things at certain angles of sail a yacht can not.

Mossy 757
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Re: 15m Elf Joker 7

Postby Mossy 757 » Wed Sep 14, 2016 11:07 pm

I measured my bridle offsets last night for a friend who also has a J7 15m, posting here to keep a record of what works well...at these settings the kite behaves in a way that I think requires somewhere between "advanced amateur" or "early intermediate" level of kite skills. Some slight tip tuck at times, but that's a good thing for responsiveness and turning speed...very manageable, fast, and stable.

Measurement method: attached flying line connectors to a fixed point, laid out kite, bridle, and speed system, pulled everything mostly snug and used light tension to make measurements between bridle rows. I measured from the bottom of the knot where the knot attaches to the connector on the canopy (on a Flysurfer this is where the LCL would attach, but Elf doesn't have LCLs :-( )

First power rib (N1), measuring relative to the A row: B -48, C +8, Z +381
11th power rib (N11): B -51, C -52, Z +267

Those offsets seem nutty to me, and to be honest they don't match the numbers I was given by a friend who got the numbers from Elf, but my kite flies fine, no real complaints, so I won't mess with what works!

Upper pulley line looks like it's about 70cm, lower pulley line looks like it's about 134cm, did not measure the Diablo line...

Mossy 757
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Re: 15m Elf Joker 7

Postby Mossy 757 » Mon Apr 09, 2018 5:02 pm

Just restarting this thread for documentation purposes, I haven't flown this kite since late winter 2017 due to an injury. I took it out last Thursday for a beach-only session and it flies like absolute garbage right now. My suspicion is a very shrunken Z from sitting in the bag for 15 months, but not sure yet. Felt draggy, no power, very unstable at the tips with tons of tuck, hard to keep flying in 8-12 knots.

I messaged Elf on Facebook to make sure I have the right offset numbers, but again for documentation this is the latest set I have from Elf from back in mid 2017 when I first bought the kite.

N1: -35, +45, +440

Mossy 757
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Re: 15m Elf Joker 7

Postby Mossy 757 » Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:30 pm

Just measured the kite, -50 +23 +377

Need to let C out 20, should move B as well about the right distance. Need to add a lot to Z, that much was clear flying it the other day.

Mossy 757
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Posts: 1860
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 5:10 pm
Local Beach: First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach Oceanfront
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Gear: Delta Hydrofoil and board. Cabrinha Velocity 9m, Flysurfer Sonic2 11m, Ozone R1V2 15m
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Re: 15m Elf Joker 7

Postby Mossy 757 » Fri Apr 20, 2018 12:25 am

I put B, C, and Z on one knot looser and flew it in 12-16 knots last night, it felt great on the beach, didn't go out in the water, but all of the annoying nuances from the previous session were improved. Next step is to do another long mixer test and see what this setup looks like, I suspect it's not all the way as relaxed as the factory numbers would recommend, so there still may be some room to relax Z, need to ride the foil with it as-is first to see how it goes when loaded.


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