Hey Ian! I am thinking of getting a PL 16 as well.
I have a question.
I was taught that you should refrain from flying your kite at 12 o'clock at all times in case a gust comes suddenly.
How does this apply with the Venoms' auto zenith ability with sudden wind gusts?

Hope you get to crank it soon. Had much wind over your way recently?
Been F... all over here in the West for the past month hence I want a 16m Venom for this light stuff we seem to be getting a lot more of as the years go by.
Lookin forward to a review when you get it up and tested.

ciao

A bit more insight into auto zenith of Venom and Venom 2.
My experience and the general consensous of those who fly them is that they stay where they are put with a slight tendency to go to the zenith.Yes 5 years ago the arc (original design)had a strong tendency to fly to the zenith.Ineresting how many of these are still in use.

quote:

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Originally posted by eightfootplus

Hey I use an 1120.goes fine

arcologist huh, hope that not supposed to be an archeologist

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No nothing to with achaeologist.
Just a word coined to describe Arc flyers as generally people who understand kites, and who have made an informed decision to fly the kite of their choice, for their own reasons. Tend to be people who do not follow the crowd.

The video, while showing off the auto zenith feature, is a pretty stupid thing to be showing on public forums.
Why do some people think it is cool to hook a kite to a rotting post on a beach, and then leave it there with no leash or depower system?

It could lead to other people trying this really dumb idea. Its a perfect example of what makes me cringe!!!!

This may not make me popular with the person who posted that, but I reckon that post should be deleted, and we should all not tolerate people doing dumb stuff on our beaches like hooking kites to posts (especially rotted ones of unknown strength).

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack

PS I sell Peter Lynn kites and power kiting products.

Hi Iain
In the right place at the right time, go for it. That place would be a long way from anything or anyone that the kite could get hooked on and power up.
If the chicken loop slipped off the rotted post, then the kite would drift back at wind speed, until the bar hooked on something, then the sh1t would hit the fan, how badly is anyones guess.

As lach said on the later and latest models of the arcs, like the venom 2, the auto zenith is nowhere near as strong, once the kite drifts below approx 10.30/2.30 it may not rise again, and at that angle the likelihood of the chicken loop coming off the tether is much higher.

Its a feature of the kite that has some use to begginers, after that its just a convenience sometimes and an inconvenience at others, same as auto crash on inflatos.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack

Cya and

quote:

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Originally posted by Iain_B

You are probably right Steve, maybe not a good thing to do.

What would happen it the branch snapped, would it not just collapse on turn into a big flag, still dangerous I suppose wih all the lines flying around

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in big surf (dumped underwater) i'm glad the kite is at the top. can be a great help.

quote:

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Originally posted by GalahOnTheBay

Hmm, autozenith eh?

So you go out with some power, get knocked out, and your kite autozeniths over the top of your head and then proceedes to teabag you into the next welcoming downwind obstacle...

Doesn't that sound like a fun way to write of the next 6 months while you sit in hospital recovering...

Arc have thier uses, but seriously autozenith is hands down the worst kite feature ever!

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Hey Galah I normally try to land on my board and not on my head, it makes all the difference.

I reckon anyone who gets knocked out in the water is in serious trouble. You dont see many kiters wearing life jackets with head support.

Having no experience what so ever ( kite just arrived in the mail today - thanks Cyril ) I also bought an Cabrinha impact harness as well, seems to be the most comfortable harness I've tried - better than a seat harness or a waist harness when dangling off the rope in the shop.


How much pull does the auto zenith actually have? Looking at the video, it seemed like next to bugger all, unless he was wearing lead underpants to weigh him down, I didn't see him bouncing down the beach.

If is has a lot of pull like you suggest, then if you got knocked out by your board, would it keep you afloat (or upside down if you have a seat harness?)

Now to get some more lessons and to practise bodydragging and launching/landing

"Having no experience what so ever ( kite just arrived in the mail today - thanks Cyril ) I also bought an Cabrinha impact harness as well, seems to be the most comfortable harness I've tried - better than a seat harness or a waist harness when dangling off the rope in the shop.


How much pull does the auto zenith actually have? Looking at the video, it seemed like next to bugger all, unless he was wearing lead underpants to weigh him down, I didn't see him bouncing down the beach.

If is has a lot of pull like you suggest, then if you got knocked out by your board, would it keep you afloat (or upside down if you have a seat harness?)

Now to get some more lessons and to practise bodydragging and launching/landing"

This may be of some help.I am not sure what your 'no experience "is (venom or kiting in general?)

To give some perspective on this "auto zenith "stuff with the venom once again I will state that they don't actually "auto zenith "but are extremenly stable and stay where they are put .now if the zenith is where it is "put' and for some reason you are knocked out it is more than likely that you will let go of the bar and the kite will depower .now to give you an idea of how much depower, it is way more than LEI C shape kites and similar to bows, but what those that have not actually flown them cannot fathom is that a kite can have shutloads of depower and yet still be flying .Something that the designer Pete Lynn has a knack of doing by moving the front line attachmnet points a long way forward (bows do this via the bridle system)whilst still maintaining stability at full depower in a C shaped kite.
So in reality this means for example that in the case for me (95 kg)that I can fly a 19 m venom in winds gusting to 30 kts quite comfortably(I would not suggest that you all rush out and do this)
As others will also vouch for having a kite for waveriding that is stable in flight can be really handy when you are being washing machined by a 6 ft wave that you stuffed up on or if you are riding in an area that you would prefer not to upset the other water users with kites and lines being a regular annoyance at your local spot by being down in the wave zone.

Hey.... Galah..... are you there?

4 cents of wisdom:
- On my Venom 1 the auto zenith can be clearly tuned: internal strap out = has some auto zenith; internal strap in = no autozenith at all. I don't have a Venom 2 but with 3 straps to set I imagine you can really modify the flying characteristics as you like.
- Overhead the depower of the Venom is huge, especially if you have a long chicke loop.
- When overpowered the venom does not deform and become unstable like some LEIs, causing them to pick up speed in the window; on the contrary it's rock solid.

Some interesting and fair responses to my question. I get the feeling that Galah has no idea what he's talking about with his comment of:

"Arc have thier uses, but seriously autozenith is hands down the worst kite feature ever!" etc...etc

As a kitesurfer of pretty basic ability my Venom didn't even get wet this season. Personally, I think auto-zenith is brilliant!

I'm still looking forward to Galah's reply which I am sure will be forthcoming if he has, in fact, ever flown one.

cheers

NeilT