17m SPEED FLYSURFER REVIEW

[mark van haze]

Dont nail me down yet simon, i havent tried it in absolute low winds yet. I said:

"I cant judge yet on the absolute low end of the speed but my guess is it wont beat any of the other two. I think it has the same low end, anything below would be a miracle. "

give me another day, ill tell you by riding them side by side. In any case, Im talking of using the door as a board - small board wont do, im sure of that.

[Tom183]

Hmmm... I would have expected a substantial difference between the Speed and the R2 on the low end, although not that much difference from the P2 21m - very surprised to hear you feel that the P2 and R2 are the same there, even more surprised that you feel all 3 of them probably are identical on the low-end...

I've been flying a Contra 23.5m (with 34m lines) and getting similar results to what you're describing (except turning speed and top end), despite being 20kg heavier - my plan was to get the Speed 17m to replace the Contra (and have something suitable for landboarding/snowkiting), so I'll be pretty disappointed if it doesn't measure up (not to mention having even LESS room in the car)...


In any case, let us know how the back-to-back low-end test goes, that's the only way to be sure. Also would be nice to know what kind of results someone in the 90kg/200lb+ range gets from each - after all his talk about the R2, I'd love to hear what Toby has to say after flying the Speed...

[jrobson]

8kts on a ps2 21m?
Mark are these measured figures you putting down or estimates?

[Tom183]

windmeasurement: windmaster2 at the beach 2m height.

These are measured windspeeds - at ground level.

[jrobson]

windmeasurement: windmaster2 at the beach 2m height.

These are measured windspeeds - at ground level.

No I meant the comment about his absolute low end of 8kts.

[mark van haze]

thats my guess. I havent tested the absolute low end yet. But remember one thing:
8 knots here in the summer is not 8 knots here in the winter. I can tell you that a difference in airtemperature of 20 degrees celcius makes a difference of about 3 knots (in the low end spectrum of wind).
We have 30 degrees celcius now, its very hot. The air is super light and doesnt have the same density. So Even if someone here claims you can kite with 6 knots average wind, i sure as hell cant do it until the winter comes where airtemps drop to 10-15 degrees celcius.
Its something that is always neglected in these discussions.
Furthermore, i dont have mirror surfaces to ride on. I have choppy conditions all day long - no flat water. That makes a huge difference too. Cant put it down in knots but its not unimportant.
Well and finally the board - either plywood or door, anything else just doesnt work in these conditions.

[jrobson]

Thanks, that clears it up.

[sq225917]

we've been through the whole dry wind, wet wind, hot wind, cold wind thing before, someone came up with very plausable numbers that equated to about 1/2 knot difference in power between summer and winter.

so i wouldn't hold out much hope for mathematical proof for the great experienced power of winter winds.

we all know summer and winter is good for a couple of knots difference, but science lets us down.

looking forward to hearing what the lowest you can go is though mark, i'll guarantee a bit of time on the kite will help lower it further.

[mark van haze]

yeah no doubt about it. Ill try tomorrow if conditions stay as forcasted. You know simon, i want a working, fun to fly, low wind solution. I really dont care from who it comes from. You got some hf info (25m) you can tell me? pm if you want. I doubt ill get the hf to test.

[Tom183]

Yeah, chop probably makes even more difference than air temp - combined they probably suck 2-3mph off the bottom end.

And we would ALL like to see a head-to-head between the HF 25m and SPEED 17m - looks like we're going to have to pull that together ourselves though...