Got a short ride on the 2009 Fluid Torque 15m today when one of the guys from Fluid Kiteboarding was down at the beach. Its one of the ultra-flat concept kites that Bruno designed where the struts are away from the canopy and the kite is much flatter than a normal kite. The ultraflats apparently have much more low end than conventional bows so I've been meaning to try one out for a while to see what they are like.

The 15m is actually a little scary, even in the light wind I tried it in, the amount of power it generates is insane. I haven't tested a 16m bow kite since the first bow Contras but this thing is a truck in comparison to anything I've tested before. I was able to go upwind and do decent jumps in conditions that my 12m would normally have battled to even get me planing and my kiteboard is a pig (heavy rocker) so the fact that I could even go upwind is a mystery in those conditions.

Timing jumps is a mission, partially because I had just come off a 9m before the wind died and because of the pure size of it, but the lift and float is amazing given the conditions, I forgot how much fun big kites can be, especially with a whole section of flat water all to yourself. Turning speed on the big kite is obviously slow, but given the fact I could just lock and load the kite in conditions I'd normally would not even be able to ride, it was a small price to pay.

I'm still keen to test a smaller kite so I'll give the 11m a run the next time and provide more feedback in a kite size which is closer to my current size.

This is why I prefer a 17m² Sonic or Vsonic.

Light in your hand (if you wan tthis setup), turning speed is not slowly like a truck and jumping is very easy !

With a directionnal like 160cm by 40cm of wide you can go upwind and play some double bakloop very easily when your RSC Joker2 in 129X38 go down...



note that ultraflat could be very interresting in small size between 6 and 9m²...

i wish i had a ultra flat kite to test it so i can compare back to back with my speed²... those r the only LEI kites that can compete the low end of the speed²... they share abouth the same things... park and ride, massive low end and i m sure 90% of the kites sold r the 15/19 m² kites....the good part is using a 130/37 at 9 knots and still go upwind easely.....i keep my 140/42 juste for the 7/9 part or for the low end of my other kites.

once the winds reach 15knots, any other kites r just as good, turn faster....

too bad that i don t see many UF kites in europe or even any feedbacks...

Where I prefer these is not having to move the kite. Sure you could have a bow kite which turns slightly faster in the same size, but it doesn't generate nearly the same amount of power so you constantly have to move the kite to keep going. You can load an pop for tricks in conditions you would have to send the kite just to get off the water.

more ultra flat
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