My opinion , on where foils should go :

[Bille]

My sometimes , not-so humble opinion, on where foil kites should
be looking to go in the future , below :

We got a long way to go , with the foil water kites !!
Here's the 101 cell ENZO 2 , from Ozone, with it's 7.55 AR ; need i
say more ?

http://flyozone.com/paragliders/en/prod ... fications/

Bille

[socommk23]

6kg and £4.5k. Bit heavy. But considering the price of an 18m fone diablo is £3200 ot seems like good value.
High cell count will add weight and cost that im not sure will translate very well to kite sports unless material gets lighter and people become uber rich. Upwind angles would become insane with more efficient low drag wings

[grigorib]

Ozone XXLite is beautiful

[socommk23]

Ozone XXLite is beautiful

Nice n light. But no where near the performance youd want. We already have these in the fs peak.

[alexrider]

Looks good, but that's probably it. The Sonic2's AR is 7.25 (Elf is 7.4), and its weight is half of Enzo's, and can be put in the hands of a beginner. For hydrofoiling in marginal conditions, weight is a far more important criterion. Let's dream of an Enzo with light cloth and superb handling.

My sometimes , not-so humble opinion, on where foil kites should
be looking to go in the future , below :

We got a long way to go , with the foil water kites !!
Here's the 101 cell ENZO 2 , from Ozone, with it's 7.55 AR ; need i
say more ?

http://flyozone.com/paragliders/en/prod ... fications/

Bille

[Bille]

...
For hydrofoiling in marginal conditions, weight is a far more important criterion. Let's dream of an Enzo with light cloth and superb handling.

That would be a Good dream , (an Enzo made with lighter materials) ; as far as the light Light
wind stuff goes , (that's when it's time for the OTHER sports) that don't require a bunch of wind.
I have essentially no interest what-so-ever, in slugging around on water, in light wind ; screaming Up-Wind, with a highly efficient kite, in 20+ kt of wind, is more my idea of having a Good time !!!

A water kite does NOT need to be made anywhere near as strong as a PG ; so why make
the comparison with weight , when i already know that most people on the foil forum
are plenty smart enough to realize that and a similar sized foil kite will be much lighter
than a PG.

Water kites don't need the aria that a PG needs to fly safely
but any decent competition PG, would be quite a lot faster than the best water kite
out there of similar size.
An example is like my OLD Omega 8 --- it has 73 cells, and it's 27M of aria, is still good
for near 60km/h , (37mph, or 32 knots). How fast are most 18 to 21M water kites ;
LEI or foil ??
My 13M Ozone Edge, starts to worry, when the wind gets over 30kt ; and it's
1/2 the size of the Omega 8 !! ---

The technology used, in current foil kites, is Awesome ; i'm just saying that it can and will
get better !


Bille

[gwicke]

There are a couple of features of modern race paragliders that haven't made it to water kites yet:

- Recessed, small vents in a depression below & behind the leading edge ("shark nose"), for minimal move of stagnation point & more predictable internal pressure across a large AoA range: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=69444
- Low-drag three-level bridles (A, B, Z), with both A and B splitting to a fixed V near the canopy. In paragliding lingo, these are called "two liners".

The shark nose stuff might be hard to combine with a limited number of valves, but I don't see an obvious reason why the streamlined bridle wouldn't work for water kites.

[plummet]

...
For hydrofoiling in marginal conditions, weight is a far more important criterion. Let's dream of an Enzo with light cloth and superb handling.

I have essentially no interest what-so-ever, in slugging around on water, in light wind ; screaming Up-Wind, with a highly efficient kite, in 20+ kt of wind, is more my idea of having a Good time !!!

Bille

But you can scream more upwind and stupider angles on a hyrdrofoil and foil race kite in 8 knots than you can on any kite on any traditional board in any wind!!!!

[Mossy 757]

as far as the light Light
wind stuff goes , (that's when it's time for the OTHER sports) that don't require a bunch of wind.

Spoken like a true Twin Tipper!

[Bille]

as far as the light Light
wind stuff goes , (that's when it's time for the OTHER sports) that don't require a bunch of wind.

Spoken like a true Twin Tipper!

Ya got me !!

Light wind seams to be all the rage in kiting now-days ; i'd just rather
go flying in the light stuff, is all . I admit that the light wind equipment
has gotten WAY better ; but Lake Mead and Mohave is really undependable
in the light stuff, (usually involves swimming in the lulls). It isn't much
fun even with good equipment ; not even fun on a catamaran when it's light...
Time to break out the Motors and engines , because light desert winds SUCK !!!

Now if i lived in San Diego, (light wind city of the USA)
i would be thinking way different, and i'd be geared-up for it.


Bille