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Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

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stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Sun Nov 11, 2018 9:23 pm

Hi Tony,

The wave should work also with a more slash /turn style but then a wave LEI would also do the trick (escape including) but you will need to ride it powered.

When we start discussing with Benoît, I was in West Oz and at that time I very much shared (and still) the view of Kevin (Top hat): "I have a belief that if you do choose to ride a surfboard it should be adequately sized so you can actually use it as a surfboard, not just a board for kiting." (for instance, my volume for instance is around 28-32 liters with not too much rocker when I paddle surf depending on the waves + I am more about the flow + I am not a great surfer also I have been in the water for decades now). The first watersmart were designed along these lines but without dehooking -- the idea was that design of the kite would still allow you to be hooked. I see surfing and surfing with a kite as complements for the same aim.

Here is an interview of Kevin Top Hat I made some years ago: Interview de Top Hat on LesFoilz. Have a look at the video of the KSP in Hawaï in the interview, you will see him surfing with the kite at 1 min 45 (he is riding a fish and the waves are not on the small side).

Stef

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omg
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby omg » Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:45 am

nice article but the setup top-hat has works so much better for sideshore conditions like in the video. Try to do that in onshore and better yet, a bit gusty onshore winds... That's a game changer as they say :)

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Mon Nov 12, 2018 1:09 pm

omg wrote:
Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:45 am
nice article but the setup top-hat has works so much better for sideshore conditions like in the video. Try to do that in onshore and better yet, a bit gusty onshore winds... That's a game changer as they say :)
This is exactly why the kite was designed so as to stay hooked and regulate the power but to have low pressure in the harness to not block the hips while surfing. We are not all living in Maui or Mauritius (+ I am not Top hat with regards to skills). Where I leave, conditions are most of the time on to side-on and with the correct surfboard, the CA Waves are shining (I can get my wave 4.5 going backwards while I am surfing frontside towards the kite in on-side-on conditions). When Benoît Tremblay sent me the first protos 5 years ago, I was in Perth and the wind is also side-on there most of the time, at least where was my favorite beach -- they were not developed in Hawaï, unfortunately for me :-) (by the way, I find that pure side conditions are more difficult than side-on or side-off conditions).

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby Tony » Tue Nov 13, 2018 3:27 pm

Hi Stef,

I understand and appreciate your perspective. I love riding in the surf but am a bit of a hack out there. Comfortable but still lots to learn and lots of room for improvement.
My motivation to get the CA Wave was to make my foil riding experience better.
My 3 strut wave kites worked fine but as the wind got gustier I was getting yanked more. Keeping the kite in the air in light winds was tougher.
I read many foil kite reviews, watched lots of videos, read lots of posts and had multiple email exchanges with Benoit and you.
I decided to take a chance and purchase the CA Wave in hopes of a smoother foil riding experience and possibly more lower end than my tubes.
I probably need to think about a larger surf-style foil wing to extend the low end a bit more.
I think that good wave kites are good choices for foil riding and think (and hope) I made the right decision with the CA Waves.
Weather this fall has been strange and my timing has not been great so have only managed a couple rides in the 8.5 in not so great conditions.
We're coming up on some really cold weather so my days this year are numbered but hoping to get out a few more times.
Should have a 4.5 late this week or early next week so my range with these kites should not be limited.
All your feedback is very helpful.

Tony

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby stefFZ » Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:58 pm

Some testing of the wave 4.5 in wild conditions (Uruguay):

Image

It worked very well .. to tell thd truth, i didn't think about the kite at all .. it just worked! Who said that foils do not work in strong winds? Not me ... :-) 8) This CA wave 4.5 is pure magic :-)

I was using this board made by an Argentinean shaper (Mariano Vigliola):

Image

That was a good combo with the CA wave 4.5 in these confitions.

The story about this board http://lesfoilz.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4238

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby jannik » Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:50 am

I tried something different yesterday and went out on twintip with the wave 6.5. Wind was average 16m/s but quite gusty to the point were water was being blown away. It didn't really work very well. The kite is too sensitive to lulls and is not very enjoyable riding powered up. But as soon as you go down a wave and sheet out - you know why you bought this kite ;-) I was in no way overpowered since the kite depowers so well even on my trimless bar setup.
I then pulled out my HQ Matrixx2 7m. to make a comparison and on that kite I was maxed out! To be fair the wind did increase but I was really powered up. It is a nicer kite in those conditions since it has a smoother pull, if only it had been a few m2 smaller...
Then I noticed something. Isn't that a quite healthy 0.5 m2 difference between those two kites??

Image

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby Adventure Logs » Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:16 am

stefFZ wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:58 pm
Some testing of the wave 4.5 in wild conditions (Uruguay):

Image

It worked very well .. to tell thd truth, i didn't think about the kite at all .. it just worked! Who said that foils do not work in strong winds? Not me ... :-) 8) This CA wave 4.5 is pure magic :-)

I was using this board made by an Argentinean shaper (Mariano Vigliola):

Image

That was a good combo with the CA wave 4.5 in these confitions.

The story about this board http://lesfoilz.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4238
That looks right out side of Punta del Diablo. Am I right?

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby slowboat » Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:46 pm

jannik wrote:
Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:50 am
I tried something different yesterday and went out on twintip with the wave 6.5. Wind was average 16m/s but quite gusty to the point were water was being blown away. It didn't really work very well. The kite is too sensitive to lulls and is not very enjoyable riding powered up. But as soon as you go down a wave and sheet out - you know why you bought this kite ;-) I was in no way overpowered since the kite depowers so well even on my trimless bar setup.
I then pulled out my HQ Matrixx2 7m. to make a comparison and on that kite I was maxed out! To be fair the wind did increase but I was really powered up. It is a nicer kite in those conditions since it has a smoother pull, if only it had been a few m2 smaller...
Then I noticed something. Isn't that a quite healthy 0.5 m2 difference between those two kites??

Sounds like challenging conditions. How hard is it to self land these kites?

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby jannik » Wed Dec 05, 2018 1:18 pm

slowboat wrote:
Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:46 pm
Sounds like challenging conditions. How hard is it to self land these kites?
The Matrixx is super easy to self land. Never had an easier kite to land.
The CA Wave is a little trickier because it doesn't backstall well and also it turns easily. My best bet is to bring it low to the side and grap both backlines and quickly walk/run toward the side where the kite is. That should put the kite trailing edge down and drifting towards the middle of the window. The walk/run is to move the window center towards the kite as to use minimum space and time.

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3 and now 8.5

Postby Regis-de-giens » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:35 pm

Benoit is now developping a 12.5m wave.
Image


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