Good to see the light wind freestyle being included.
All those days when it just too light for freestyle events..... thing of the past!

Well worth chucking one of these in the quiver if you going to spend time, money traveling for event only to sit on the beach because there a few knots missing.
Event organisers surely also benefit from a wider wind range, and less anxiety that their kiters, sponsors and fans rocking up for just beach day if light wind.

INTHELOOP said..

Who would have thought you can unhook on a Chrono?

Any foil rider?

Sandfoot said..

just relaunch I guess is still difficult

Only if you think holding onto a rear line is the only way to relaunch...

Sandfoot said..

Sandfoot said..

just relaunch I guess is still difficult

Only if you think holding onto a rear line is the only way to relaunch...

i think a water relaunch is really not too difficult with these, there are "how to" youtube clips showing you how its all done. the cells on this foil are closed too so will float a little on the water.

Everything you need to know about relaunching, and everything else to do with this foil (and most other closed cell high AR foils) is in this video.

ha Ewan now thats a proper statement. I will quote that in the future!

EJ famous sayings ;)

What sort of upwind angle can a good race kiter get these days? Say with a Chrono or an Edge
i.e. When considering the actual wind direction, how much better than 90 degrees do you reckon is possible?
Boats can get 45 degrees+ I think, if they chug along quite slowly with the right sail setup.
What would a normal kiter get? 10 degrees?

Keel boats like Etchells and Stars have very high angles getting up to 15-20º off the wind. Dinghies tend to tack through 60º in moderate wind so 30º off the wind. The foiling moths on the other hand can go a bit higher like 20º with much faster speed.Kite racers can easily do 30º but foils can definitely do more. Where raceboards and foils make up their true speed is in actual VMG. Twin tips I would imagine can do 60-80º depending on the gear they are using. If you want to get real technical, check this out: http://www.sailingcourse.com/keelboat/true_wind_calculator.htm

Kitepower Australia said..

Everything you need to know about relaunching, and everything else to do with this foil (and most other closed cell high AR foils) is in this video.

this thing just looks like a pain in the ass. Andy Yates makes it look like its worth the hassle tho.

wishy said..

KPSS Used said..

Keel boats like Etchells and Stars have very high angles getting up to 15-20? off the wind. Dinghies tend to tack through 60? in moderate wind so 30? off the wind. The foiling moths on the other hand can go a bit higher like 20? with much faster speed.Kite racers can easily do 30? but foils can definitely do more. Where raceboards and foils make up their true speed is in actual VMG. Twin tips I would imagine can do 60-80? depending on the gear they are using. If you want to get real technical, check this out: http://www.sailingcourse.com/keelboat/true_wind_calculator.htm

Thanks for that, very informative.
I used to love watching the foiling moths thrash expensive race boats in the Sydney harbour. They absolutely destroy anything in light wind.

The Perth foilers have been using the moth as a gauge.... the likes of Dale is now beating them up & downwind

INTHELOOP said..

ha Ewan now thats a proper statement. I will quote that in the future!

EJ famous sayings ;)

Yah Marv, lets see an unhooked port tack start line maneuver in Brisbane

And no points unless your strapless

Kazan said..

I was referring more to the wrapping of the lines around the bar and especially throwing the bar in with the kite. That not only creates a tangled mess, even when shaking the bridle lines, but it risks damaging the canopy with other parts of the bar.

I don't get why so far no one has mentioned that the Chrono actually comes with a ground stake. The ground stake makes it way easy to self launch as it can be used to hold the lines taught and give you time to inspect the bridles before self launching. Parking the kite with the leading edge down, and the lines stretched out to the ground stake, allows you to quickly untangle any situation. All that is left is to hook up, flip the kite over, and then self launch. Ozone have been doing this with most of their foils (if not all) and for the fixed bridle foils, the ground-stake has been an essential part of the kite.

If you have to unhook the lines and re-hook them again once you've untangled the lines, then you're treating the kite as a LEI kite, which defeats the purpose of the foil line-setup and self launching abilities. Foils are way easier to self launch than a LEI kite and have been designed with this in mind. In fact learning to kite surf on a foil is like progressing on a LEI kite 10 times faster because the kite "forces" you to learn proper kite control and proper launching and landing techniques that a LEI does not easily show until disaster strikes (winds, power zone, accidents, etc). With LEI kites, you really need an assisted launch unless of course you're confident to self land and launch.

Nah, it doesn't tangle. Honest

I don't like tucking the bar in there either - possibility of damage yes (paranoia paranoia la la-lah-lah lah) but mostly my bar is wet and sandy by the time I pack up and I want to rinse it off, so I do it differently. I think the idea of wrapping the bar in there is to give it "thickness" so when you roll up, it doesn't take so long...

Stake is a gimmick, as P said won't hold much down if the wind is good - on a sandy beach. Maybe if you can pound it into hard-packed something but... hot-launching is never fun and should only be done IMO when the wind is super-light and you expect it to pick up shortly. Or you've got miles of room downwind Just something else to screw with and waste time, instead of just side-launching.
Parking the kite LE down I've played with (as a landing option) but the kite tends to skitter left and right and can damage the canopy as there is still quite a bit of load on the lines... and then you're still stuck with a reverse- to hot-launch. Side launch is the best option by a long shot, and a form or other of reverse landing is equally best

And you don't need a lot of weight on a tip (generally) to hold the kite side-ways to the wind...

It's an assumption that the Chrono is only sold "complete"... otherwise, you're saving some money not buying a bar for each kite. But again, taking the lines off is dumb as you're greatly increasing the risk of bridles looping inside themselves and wasting time figuring it all out.

Agreed. Leave the lines on pretty much ensures that (unless you cocked up your pack up completely) all you need to do is walk out the lines, layout the bridles and give them a check over, then launch.

Your issues with tangles sounds like a PMU argument it's just a non-issue - yeah, you get a few loops that "tangle" but by far the majority of them come out with a simple jiggle of the lines as you lay the bridle out.

Learning with a foil... hmmm, you can do it but as soon as you start jumping or stunting, you are in for great fun when you've ridden at the kite and lost line tension or swung under it and front-stalled it. Recipe for frustration and lots of swear words like this at 2:38 how much patience do you have?

You do learn a lot about kite flying though...

Kamikuza said..

What do you expect from the FS Pulse? That kite IS a piece of shyte.

Now I think I see where your problem is. You need to throw the bar across the kite then close the kite without the bar inside it.

wind the lines up on the bar on the way to the kite. Keep winding till you have some bridle wound. stand on the flagged out wing tip and pull the other wing tip up with the bridles. Loosley chuck the bridle in between the 2 wing tips. slap the bar on top and roll up the kite.

The only problem with this method is that your less likely to wash the bar afterward as it makes for a wet kite.