Kiteboarding- Changing From Tube Kite To Foil Kite (Why?/Why Not?)

Welcome back to the OK Kiteboarder. This week is exciting for me because I get to learn how to fly a foil kite. Papa, not that kind. No, you're right, that's true, but I did have a unique opportunity this past week to learn from a couple of expert kite foil racers and learn all that I could about hydrofoiling with foil kites. Vadim with Green Hat Kiteboarding and George with Delta Foils were extremely patient with me and very gracious with their time in teaching me all that I could learn about hydrofoil kiting with foil kites. I hope you find this episode beneficial if you have any potential interest in adding foil kites to your repertoire. And by the way, I wouldn't mind giving that a go on a hydrofoil. I would like to begin by saying that the initial thought of transitioning to a foil kite was exciting, but also a little bit intimidating. The two kites that I used in this video were the FlySurfer Soul and the Ozone Hyperlink, both in the 12 meter model. In a future episode, what I will do is also compare these two against each other, both on a hydrofoil and on a twin tip, and give my preferences for a rider of my ability. So let's get right to it. Point number one, throw this in the trash. Oh wait, the Duotone Rebel. Point number one, leave this at home on foil kite days. What I noticed pretty immediately on the foil kite versus the LEI is that it really flew overhead much more than an LEI. And my first few days of kiting, I was strictly on a hydrofoil and my waist harness quickly became a chest harness. So point number two, I'm going to need to invest in a seat harness. I usually wear an impact vest, but not a PFD. That is going to change because now I'm dealing with a foil kite that just does not float like an LEI. I now run into a situation where I'll be kiting in winds of 8 to 12 miles per hour very commonly. And when I'm out kiting in deep water situations, I need to have that security. I need to have that flotation. So whether the winds just completely drop or another mishap occurs, personal flotation becomes a priority. Please search YouTube for self-rescue techniques in deep water with a foil kite. Please. The storage is very compact and very travel friendly. You're able to leave your lines attached to your kite during storage and just make sure that your bridle system does not get twisted within your bar and you're good to go once arriving at your launch site. Do make sure that your bridles are straight and your lines are not twisted before launching your kite. This aspect may be what takes me the longest to get used to. I feel pretty safe and secure with the setup of the kite, the close off of airflow, the opening of airflow and getting air into the kite, and even with the solo launch. However, as long as I have ample space without obstructions, I did notice that as I became less diligent in being concerned with how straight all my lines were pre-launch, that I did run into a few issues. Make sure that you slow down and that your setup is clean before launching your kite. The assisted land is a piece of cake, which you can actually teach to somebody on the beach in 10 seconds in a safe manner. And I would say that would not be the case for an LEI kite. It requires much more education on teaching someone how to land your inflatable kite. What really causes apprehension for me, especially in tight landing quarters, is with the solo land. I will need some more experience to feel more comfortable with it. I do know that the backstall method for self-landing is probably not the best method for me, as I attempted this on a really wide empty beach with little success. And when I say little success, I mean I'm happy there's no video footage of this. I wouldn't even try this again unless it were very, very light winds on a really, really large landing area with little to no obstructions. Right now, I would say that my plan is just to land the kite on the edge of the wind window, on the water side, and flag out for a self-landing technique. I would love to hear what works best for you on the foil kite self-land when you're trying to self-land it in tight quarters with a few obstructions in the area. The water relaunch is actually way more forgiving than I was expecting. The key here is to get the kite over on the trailing edge, which is the opposite method of an LEI. So once it's on its trailing edge, you'll pull on the two center lines with the bar pulled in, and as the kite starts to relaunch in what we would call a hot launch, you then sheet out on the bar. It's very friendly. Now, these newer foil kites also can operate in a way almost like an LEI with a single line relaunch out on the edges of the wind window. There are many other nuances as well on the water relaunch that I'm sure that I will learn in time, but the closed cell technology of these foil kites has changed the game on the water relaunch for the foil kite. To begin, I was regularly hydrofoiling in 8 to 12 mile per hour winds without my line extensions on with no issues whatsoever. This is a game changer with the foil kite. Never did I feel that panic or rush when you fall off of your board and you feel like you've got to keep that kite moving and get going the other direction as quickly as possible or it's going to fall out of the sky. That just wasn't the case because this foil kite has so much stability. I recognized that I was sheeting in and out much less on the foil kite than I do on my LEI, which was also irritating my kiter's elbow. Because of how high overhead that the foil kite flies, I was having a little more difficulty with my foil transition on a hydrofoil. I just wasn't easily getting away with this jibe transition without a down loop. It was very difficult to get the kite lower in the wind window and send it in front of myself in order to transition in the opposite direction. Obviously the solution is the down loop, but I was scared. I practiced in light winds and even though I'm far from proficient at this stage, I did improve. Also in time I did get better with my cheat non-down loop transition. I will probably add line extensions before practicing more on the down loop with this foil kite. Using the foil kite on a twin tip was much better than I was expecting. I know this is a generic statement, but the upwind riding was great, the turning on the transitions was much better than I was expecting, and the boosting in 15 mph winds was actually not that bad. This foil kite was quickly looking like the do-it-all kite. In conclusion, I feel like I have found my all-around kite solution. I was really impressed with the flying stability of the kite. I need to improve on down looping the kite on the hydrofoil, but I can go out on the same day especially in Oklahoma where the winds may be variable from 10 to 25 mph in the same session and I can leave a twin tip on the beach. I can go out on a hydrofoil and as the winds increase I can go trade out and go ride my twin tip and I can switch back and forth in the very same session on the very same kite. The only hesitation I would have with the foil kite is with the solo land and also with the deep water self-rescue, which has not occurred yet, but it will and I'm dreading that day. The other elephant in the room of course is price. I've been given a couple of foil kites to use by Green Hat Kiteboarding and when the time comes to return those kites I have a decision to make and that decision is do I purchase my own foil kite? And I would say that I'm hooked and when a kiter is hooked a lot of times cost becomes secondary and I think that will be the case for me. I would love to hear your experiences with entering the foil kite arena. Subscribe if you get a chance and thanks again to Green Hat Kiteboarding. Reach out to them for all your kiteboarding needs and we'll see you next time on the OK Kiteboarder.