Flysurer Speed 2 19 "The low wind machine..."

[FredBGG]

Flysurfer Speed 2 19 First Impressions.

Well I got to try out my new Speed 2 19 this Saturday.
I rode the kite 5 hours strait with just a couple of 5 minute breaks on the
beach.

When I got to the beach the wind was low 7 to 12 averaging 9mph with
less wind further out. There were visible glassy patches. The tide was low
and the surf was up with 3 to 6 foot faces.


I set the kite up for a downwind launch, set it to full soft steering and pre-
inflated it holding up the center valves to the wind. Took a fair bit of time
to inflate due to the low wind, but my impression is that it takes a bit
more time to inflate than a Speed1. The air intake valves appear to be
smaller and have tighter socks inside them. Anyway I preinflated to 30%
and went to launch it.
When I launched it the tips curled up more than with a Speed 1, but that
didn’t cause any problems. One tug on the center lines and up it went.
In the air it took more time to inflate than a Speed 1, but it stayed very
nice and stable as it fully inflated.

Once in the air I kept it fully depowered and flew it around a bit. I kept it
depowered that way because I did not want it to backstall. It felt like it
didn’t have much power at all… sort of disappointing. Then I got a
pleasant surprise. I set the power adjuster strap to full power and the kite
showed no sign of backstall at all even when pulling the bar in all the way
even in the lulls. Fully powered up it just stayed up there even in 7mph wind.

Another thing I noticed right away was how stable the kite was especially
at the edge of the wind window. I could just park it low and forward while
standing on the beach an it looked like it was nailed to the sky.

Time to go out on the water..

I felt uneasy about going out in such low wind with 4 to 6 foot wave faces
to get past.
Just to play it safe for the first water starts on the new kite I body
dragged out past the break line. Much easier low wind body dragging than with a Speed1.
I dive of the kite and I’m up sinning the kite. Sheet in on the downstroke
and sheet out on the upstroke. The upstroke seemed to have less power
than I hoped for., but the problem was that I was flying it like a Speed 1
17 at the bottom of it’s range. When I stopped sheeting out on the
upstroke things really changed. Two power stokes and then I parked the
kite. The kite also felt more responsive than the Speed 1 17. At the low
low end the Speed 2 19 is just so easier to fly than the Speed 1 17. The
Speed 17 would stall easily I over sheeted. With the Speed 2 19 if I
wanted all the power I would just sheet in all the way and no backstall at
all even on the upstroke.

At first I was having trouble going upwind, but that again was because I
was sheeting out.
In low wind even when going upwind this kite likes to be sheeted in.

Soon a guy on a Naish Shockwave 16 and a guy on a Speed 17 hit the
water, but I was the only guy who could stay upwind and ride with a
parked kite.

The wind then picked up a bit and while the other two guys started to hold
their ground a bit more I was cutting upwind at a steep angle and
jumping. The Speed 2 19 goes upwind like there no tomorrow. Better
upwind than the Speed 17. I rode upwind about 1 mile while the other
kiters were walking the beach.

The wind picked up a bit and we got some gusts up to 17/18 mph for
about 20 minutes.
I did not have to adjust the power adjuster strap that was still set to fully
powered up and I did not feel in the slightest overpowered and I don’t
remember ever sheeting out completely.

I had to relauch twice. First in the waves. I hit a wave face badly and
dropped the kite pretty far forward on its leading edge. As I waited to it
to drift back in the wind window instead of just drifting back it rolled over
into a taco position and slowly opened itself up and relauched pretty
much by itself. Probably a fluke situation but pretty promising.

The second time I dropped the kite deliberately to test the relaunch. Yes I
know it… it was a tough decision putting a brand new kite in the water but
hey you have to test this stuff.
Anyway I did a down loop and pointing the board downwind I let the tip
catch the water and the kite went down leading edge first. The wind was
10 mph or there about. Very easy relaunch. I just pulled in the rear line
quite a lot and the kite backed up off the water and best of all just sat up
there. I then slowly released on rear line and the kite gently turned
around and up it went. Easier than a Speed 1 17. In the same wind I
would have do everything faster as the kite would tend to fall down faster
after backing off the water.

Anyway to sum it up I rode 5 hours straight and just kept going even
when the wind dropped off twice and all the other kiters hit the beach. My
friends who fly other types of kites (bows and Arcs) were very impressed with how the kite handled the light wind.
They joked around and gave “full authorizationâ€Â

[Mane]

Hi Fred,

thanks for the detailed test, it sounds more than fine. Did you have any comparison to the Speed-2 19 silverarrow so far? I am wondering if one can push the limits even more with this superlight material...
I had my hands on a SPEED-2-10 on snow and was very impressed as there is no backstall at all, also in light wind conditions.

Cheers, Otti

[Toby]

thx for it Fred.

In order not to get this review lost, why don't you add it to http://www.kitecommunity.com and the review section?
Simple copy and paste! Then it gets posted in here again and all comments will be saved for the future...

Which board did you use with it?

Greets
Toby

[FredBGG]

I was riding a Spleene Flydoor.

Yup..I'll post/copy the review as you suggested

Cheers

Fred

[FredBGG]

Hi Fred,

thanks for the detailed test, it sounds more than fine. Did you have any comparison to the Speed-2 19 silverarrow so far? I am wondering if one can push the limits even more with this superlight material...
I had my hands on a SPEED-2-10 on snow and was very impressed as there is no backstall at all, also in light wind conditions.

Cheers, Otti

Sorry I have not been able to compare the Speed 2 19 with a Speed 2 19 Silver Arrow.... actually I've never flown a Silver Arrow.
Anyway from what Armin of Flysurfer has said water riders won't really gain anything from getting a Speed 2 19 SA compared to a Speed 2 19 standard edition. He only recommends the SA to snow kiters.
However I think that a very skilled surfer on a big floating surfboard may be able to push the limit a little bit more.

I would love to try a smaller Speed 2, but I'm one of very few flysurfer kiters around here. So far it's been buy to try for me

Cheers

Fred

[DrLightWind]

Hi Fred,

thanks for the detailed test, it sounds more than fine. Did you have any comparison to the Speed-2 19 silverarrow so far? I am wondering if one can push the limits even more with this superlight material...
I had my hands on a SPEED-2-10 on snow and was very impressed as there is no backstall at all, also in light wind conditions.

Cheers, Otti

Sorry I have not been able to compare the Speed 2 19 with a Speed 2 19 Silver Arrow.... actually I've never flown a Silver Arrow.
Anyway from what Armin of Flysurfer has said water riders won't really gain anything from getting a Speed 2 19 SA compared to a Speed 2 19 standard edition. He only recommends the SA to snow kiters.
However I think that a very skilled surfer on a big floating surfboard may be able to push the limit a little bit more.

I would love to try a smaller Speed 2, but I'm one of very few flysurfer kiters around here. So far it's been buy to try for me

Cheers

Fred

I'm glad you're pleased with your new Speed 2 19,
just the way I'm pleased with the Speed2 12m SilverArrow.
I think for people on the heavier side it's a must of that size for light winds,
but light weight riders can get away with a 12m size stock
or the special order of he SilverArrow IMO.
With the following reasons I wanted the SilverArrow mentioned at Foilzone:
“There is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to kiting
with a Bow Type in light winds.
Because it doesn't mean that they develop enough power to allow holding ground
and jumping sooner without overworking and without tiring out a light weight rider,
because not much jumping is involved with a heavy kite in light wind.
However, if you have an efficient Speed2, you can jump, park and ride.
And yes so far this is where the Speed2 kicks in and shines.
Also to me it was important for a kite to stay in the air even in lulls.
I still like Bow kites and continue to fly them when powered up"
I fly what works for me if the choice is there so why not
The Speed2 SA is a winner for me because it delivered the promises, no hype.

DrLightWind

[jasondoucet]

Hey Fred how much do you weight, I'm looking at getting a big kite, I'm in the 250 to 260 range and have a flydoor also.

Jason

[chemosavi]

Well gosh ba dern hezoose, I'll be a zit on the bottom of an elephant's ass, there's somebody left who don know how big Fred is.

Do a search.

Most of his posts list his specifications. Wonders never cease.

[SBBeachbum]

Hey Fred how much do you weight, I'm looking at getting a big kite, I'm in the 250 to 260 range and have a flydoor also.

Jason

Fred = 2 x Dr.LW

weightwise that is

[FredBGG]

Hey Fred how much do you weight, I'm looking at getting a big kite, I'm in the 250 to 260 range and have a flydoor also.

Jason

I'm 225 lbs and I was riding with a heavy 5mm wetsuit, impact vest, impact harness and Helmet. I was riding the Spleene Flydoor 164