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

For all foil kite riders
stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby stefFZ » Mon Oct 30, 2017 6:12 pm

Very nice to read all these comments!
jannik wrote:
Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:04 pm
Now I need to find the low end of this kite.
I had a very good session 10 days ago in 2/3m waves. Wind was 23-25 knots with lulls at 20 and gusts at 29/30 knots. I was a little under power with my stretch quad 5'11 (was going upwind but I had to think about going upwind). I then switched to my FW Sweet potato 5'2 and was perferctly fine. I am 62 kgs and I think that 22-23 knots steady is my low end with the 4.5 with a board that works in light wind (I also uses the SP 5'2 in 40 knots when waves are not very powerful). With an hydrofoil, Stephane Goffinet is using the 4.5 in 15 knots.
jannik wrote: I'm 78 kg and was strapless without a problem.


That explains why the 4.5 is good in 40 knots for you. I also think that I can go in 40 knots with the 4.5. I am not overpowered at all in 30-35 knots but the idea was to be just fine in 35+ knots strapless hence the 3m.

As for loosing the kite on slack lines, the waves tend to float in the air. They not fall like LEIs tend to do... so pushing it to the limit in order to focus on surfing is interesting in itself. E.g., one thing that I could do with the 4.5 is to put it on the side of the wind windows, accelerate the kite and then get it to fly backwards while I am surfing down the line (in side-on conditions). There are ways to fly the Waves that are still to be explored. I think that one does not need to actively fly the kite all the time. I find it more interesting myself to only use the power of the wave for surfing and pilot the kite to follow without falling, nothing more. That was one of the characteristic that we put into the mix in our exchanges with Benoît -- the less we use the kite for surfing, the better it is.

jannik
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby jannik » Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:09 pm

I too like to just surf the waves but very often around here we are more seeking 1-2 hit wonders. I look forward to learn to fly the kite in different kind of ways, but I'm also happy that it works great for seeking around the break to find waves that popup.

I can explain something I noticed with the 6.5 (but not so much with the 4.5) in those conditions you see in the video. When coming out of a turn if you pull the bar in a little bit you will be rewarded with a nice acceleration which was new to me. That is perfect for getting back to that little wave you saw forming and hitting it with speed. Those waves do not posses the power or form to be properly surfed.

stefFZ
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby stefFZ » Sun Nov 12, 2017 10:41 pm

A new video of the smart 4.5 on hydrofoil with a talented rider:

https://vimeo.com/242228273

His comment:
Je me régale vraiment avec cette aile, le drift est juste magique !
I have been out in good waves with the Wave 4.5 and my low-end with a light wind surfboard seems to be around 23-25 knots (I am 63 kg). High end, I don't know yet. ... 35/40 knots?

Regis-de-giens
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby Regis-de-giens » Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:41 am

ouaou !!!

jannik
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby jannik » Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:54 pm

Regis-de-giens wrote:
Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:41 am
ouaou !!!
What does she have to do with anything? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1195845/ :lol:
Anyway he surely knows what he is doing on that foil (both above and below the water).

I think I found my low-end limit for the 6.5 in waves. I was out in around 8-10 m/s ~= 16-20 kn. - mostly in the lower end. It was doable and everybody else seemed to have 9 m. leis up. I might have been working the kite a little bit more but others said it was a struggle and I had no issues going back upwind. This really doesn't matter because I don't ever usually go out for waves in those kind of winds....because we really don't have waves then.

I also tried my homemade bar with no trim and no chickenloop (BRM style) and I believe it works even better with this kite than my previous. The sheeting range is shorter here. The bar is 50 cm. wide.

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Horst Sergio
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby Horst Sergio » Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:57 pm


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downunder
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby downunder » Wed Jan 31, 2018 6:32 am

God, I've got a vertigo from this :)

Regis-de-giens
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby Regis-de-giens » Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:33 am

Nice ! Thank you for the sharing

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irwe
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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby irwe » Wed Jan 31, 2018 11:01 am

Horst, what line length were you using. What wind range would you predict to foil (73 kg) for the 6.5 m Wave?

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Re: Concept Air Smart Wave 6.5 & 4.5 & 3

Postby slowboat » Wed Jan 31, 2018 5:23 pm

Will these kites drift better than small strutless LEI kites? What's is a reasonable wind range for foiling (70kg) for the 4.5?


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