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Line length advice needed for 15m R1V1 on foilboard

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Dave_H
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Line length advice needed for 15m R1V1 on foilboard

Postby Dave_H » Fri Nov 17, 2017 3:55 am

I have been riding a 'new to me' Ozone 15m R1V1 for a couple of weeks on 20m lines. I am looking to get a little quicker kite response coming out of foiling tacks. I would like to get some shorter lines, and am looking for some advice on what works best on this kite based on the experience of others or what they have seen local riders have success with.
Thanks in advance.
David

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Horst Sergio
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Re: Line length advice needed for 15m R1V1 on foilboard

Postby Horst Sergio » Sat Nov 18, 2017 1:55 pm

Hi David,

line length is a very personal / style / conditions question. 2 Years ago I was very big friend to go with very small race kites in no wind, but on up to 27 m lines. All on Foil-Raceboards. Last year I tried my 15 m² Chrono down to 12 m lines by 1 m steps. Actually I landed inbetween 15-16 m for me and this kite. But as I said this is very personal compromise to find. Around 15 m line every single meter changes behavior noticeable.
If you feel your kite could change wind window faster, I think it is worth to try first 18 m and if it is still to slow than 16 m or directly to 16 m, but be aware this is a very big step. 15 m and beneath work, but will be very radical and you will get problems in the very lowend winds as the loops for the start you will have to partially stall the kite to be able to turn the kite. And around this you also start to change trimm of the kite noticeable as line V is smaller and the kite may tend to more tip collapse if not corrected. On the other hand it is awesome when a 15 m² kite in 6 knts can feel like a 10 m² kite in 20 knts if lines are just short enough. :D

Good luck, testing and best learn splicing yourself if you want to try and change a lot.

and sorry don't know the R1v1 but would expect it is better to not go to short with this one, Chrono v1 is for sure easier here. Tried also I think 13 m² and 15 m² Sonic Race on about 15 m but for me partially good partially also to short.

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davesails7
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Re: Line length advice needed for 15m R1V1 on foilboard

Postby davesails7 » Sun Nov 19, 2017 1:42 am

Yeah, I had the same experience. Took a while to get used to the shorter lines. First time I tried 17m lines, it felt way too short, but now used to 15m lines and planning to go shorter on my next bar.

I think a 15m set of lines with extensions to get whatever length you want should work well.

Not sure how short you can go with R1V1. I think they came out before people started going to short lines for racing, so might not be designed for it.

If you don't know how to splice, Q-power line can be used to make any size set of extensions for cheap because you just tie a knot in it.

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Re: Line length advice needed for 15m R1V1 on foilboard

Postby Dave_H » Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:51 am

Gents, thanks for the good advice, I ended up trying 18m lines and noticed very little difference from the 20m lines. I then dropped down to 15m lines and that seemed to make a noticeable difference and gave the desired results of moving the kite across to the other side quicker during foiling tacks. I may try some even shorter lines in the weeks to come to see if things keep improving without compromising the bottom end much. One thing that I noticed is there are not a lot of shorter line sets on the market. So as mentioned you either need to get good at sleeving sewing, splicing or get Q Power line. I was looking for a way to get the ability to change lengths quickly without the commitment of cutting down a set of lines. I ended up getting sets of 10m , 5m Cabrinha extensions and 4m, 3m Naish race extensions from Kiteboarding.com for a very reasonable price. Using combinations of these extensions gives the follow useful line length options 22m, 19m, 18m, 17m, 15m, 14m, 13m, 12m and 10m.


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