Thought i would share this here. Since the most common question i get asked when coming in with a peak is "but how often doesn't it relaunce?". Usually answered that i only go as far out as im willing to swim and it's never been a issue (since it relaunches easily if there is tension in the lines.).
Well it had the ultimate relaunch test today, kite was 100% completely submerged.
Was having a great time with the 4m this arvo. When the connection to my harness gave away (safety line doesn't get used with my peaks, they dont go very far in anycase when released.). The kite landed about 100m away, blowing at least 20 knots. A few minutes later when i swam to the kite it was fully submerged. Considered packing up and swimming to shore, but was curious to try resetting it in the water for a relaunch.
So pulled it up, lifted the leading edge above the water and arranged it to catch some wind. Made some mistakes the first 2 tries, but on the third try it relaunches beautifully and was able to continue foiling like normal.
So if everything goes wrong and you miss the oppertunity for the easy relaunce, all is not lost. I would recommend trying this tecnique, swimming to the kite and arranging it for a water relaunch. Might help prevent a long swim. Glad i had some time to test the option today, might come in handy in the future.
Can you give more details about swimming to kite and relaunching. What is going on with your lines while you are doing this?
FWIW my relaunch success rate is about 50%.
I just reconnected the bar to my harness (Carbon bar that floats, so it was easy to find). Then swam around the lines to the kite, approaching it from the side. Sitting on the board, lifted the far end wingtip above the surface. As the wind catches the leading edge, more of the leading edge lifts out and fills with air. Then lift the centre, then the closest wingtip. It just sits there once it has some air in it.
It was easiest to lay the kite out with its top surface on the water, leading edge facing up, with the bottom opening of the leading edge facing upwind (Trailing edge facing upwind).
Then just swim back upwind (around the lines) until the lines start to tension. And there you go it relaunches.
The first 2 attempts only failed because I did not properly lay the whole leading edge above the water. If the wind only catches one half it gets twisted around.
Was very happy with the whole episode. The peak is very easy to handle in the water. An inflatable would have only stopped at the beach if the main lines snapped, which would've left me with long swim, but the peak just sat there in the water, while i took a short swim to get to it.
Went down to the beach this afternoon and could only get 6-9 knots on my wind meter on the shore. No-one else out so I was tossing up whether to even bother rigging up. The wind was supposed to be a bit stronger, though not a lot more, but at least a seabreeze is steady.
Decided to rig the 5m Peak4 rather than the 10m Soul. Turned to be the best decision, even though the wind only occasionally gusted up a knot or two more, I had plenty of power at all times. A friend turned up and rigged his 17m Zephyr and a large TT board and managed just to stay upwind. Meanwhile I could rip upwind, foil some small swell downwind with a drifting kite and repeat. A fair bit of weed was annoying but every time I stopped and removed the weed, just one flick of the kite had me back up on the foil. Really loving this kite in light wind
Checked the wind strength again when I came in and it was 8-10 knots. I would assume there was a bit more wind further out but I had plenty of power even at the shorebreak.
If someone had told me even a year ago that my light wind kite would would only be 5m and my strong wind kite 3m I would have called bullsh!t. But now, the Peak4 Kool Aid has changed that. The rest of the quiver has seen very little use lately...
Had a go on a peak 4 11m in the kite buggy around 5-8 knots.
The Kite was slow to turn and poor upwind. It was a lot slower than my 12 chrono which I think is a slow turning kite.
It it was curiously good down wind and refused to luff and floated very well. Power output was smooth.
But the slow turning and poor upwind is a deal breaker for me. I'll need to see higher performance in those areas before I consider a single skin.
I did see that this type of kite could be good on the foil.
Agree with emmafoils re the best kites are 3,4, & 5m Peak4's. Each size kite has a sweet spot where it performs at its best.
However I used the 5m Peak4 in 8-10 knot winds yesterday and whenever we have a light seabreeze, with out any problems, and for a TT kiter that's light wind. But they are best with a decent sized surf foil to match your weight.
The 11m size is relevant to me as that is a size I would use in s kite buggy. The comparison to the chrono is also relevant as that's my current light wind foil and buggy kite. I'll admit I was a bit disappointed the kite didn't have better low end performance. I could give away some upwind and turning speed. But not that much. That gap as too big.
I will watch this space and see how they improve in the coming years and if I get a chance I'll try the smaller sizes.
When people learn that Peak 4s are extremely light and stay in the air in very low winds, they naturally think great "light wind " kite. Paradoxically, that is a mistake, in my opinion. Because they have no air cells, each Peak 4 size works best in the upper ends of its wind range. This is true even in the smaller sizes. They just struggle too much going upwind when underpowered.
In the buggy event I attended on the weekend there was 4 different types of single skin. Peak 4 11m. Ozone explore 4m, peter Lynn fixed bridle prototypes and born race star kites. I didn't get to fly the pl or ozone but buggied next to them for 10 hours in an epic day through the dunes. I was powered on my old 2012 6m reo. The single skins didn't go upwind as well as my old reo nore did they have the same top speed. But we rode through some pretty heinous turbulent wind as we were riding offshore wind with hills and pine trees exc upwind. The reo and the single skins did really well through the turbulence.
The born kite has closer unwinding performance to the Lei's I fly but it gives away some stability.
After talking to the guys who use the single skins and flying a few myself my general conclusion is that the convenience of them is good and they generally have great stability and drift but you sacrifice upwind and turning performance.
I recon with a few more years development these kites will be really interesting if they can manage to improve performance while retaining stability.
And for those wondering was the relevance is between kite buggy and hydro foiling. They are both very similar it power required, efficiency and upwind ability.
The buggy is faster, can be flown in lighter winds and once hardwired (you harness the kite directly to the buggy) can hold more power.
I'm generally running ove kite size higher in that buggy than I would on the foil in the same wind.
Essentially the kite buggy is the hydrofoil of the land and vise, versa.
I did not want to believe all the hype for this kite but yesterday I got the 8m demo from Actionsports.. ohhh boy...
This thing is Magical, wind was about 10-12 knots in Pinaroo point, it was really hard at first trying to waterstart I was working out the timing and how to fly the kite better to get me out of the water.
yes it does flap a bit.... yes if you drop it chances are you are not going to relaunch again, but the feeling of going fully downwind and the kite just stays up in the air... wow...
Gybes were no issues as well... I would just carve downwind and because the kite stays there... no need to downloop or do sharp carves.. just enjoy.
I will be getting some peaks after this. Just working out what sizes...
Had my 3m Peak4 out in a good nor-easter today and crashed the kite close to shore after breaching the foil on a wave. After checking I hadn't shot the foil through the lines, I noticed I still had line tension to the kite which was leading edge down in the water. I pulled the steering lines and reversed the kite off the water, let go one and the kite spun around, then let go the other line and had it back in the air. Carried on foiling
Although not technically water relaunchable, if you have some of the kite exposed to the wind, use your line control and you can often relaunch. But if you don't steer the kite into the water it generally won't fall there by itself.
BTW Luigikiter, if you think the 8m is fun then you'll love the smaller Peak4's. When you have enough wind the 3m Peak4 is outstanding. One hand control, just a twitch of the wrist and you can fly it all over the window quicker than any other kite I've flown. You do need to adjust your depower to make sure you don't backstall the kite, and then work it hard to get up on the foil. But getting used to the speed can take some adjustment
So today I bought the 5m and was a bit hesitant to go to pinnaroo, but seabreeze reading for ocean reef was around 12 knots.. so I ended up going.
Over there I knew that the 5 would be too small but I still tried to go out I had to loop the **** out of it but I got going came back to the beach and I saw guy with one of those devices that measure wind speed, so I ask him about his readings and he told me 8 knots.
Fark..... so I said well lets go for another one this time I messed up the gybe and for the life of me I could not get going, so fark it I just body drag back to the beach.
I know this is not a light wind kite but it performed quite well...
Im really happy with my purchase.
4 me peak4 8m is sub 10knts on foil. Its easy to pick up the speed to reach top end of wind range ... And at 75 pies on 1200mm board with infinity 76 foil a breeze to get going..
I spoilt myself on first board as even easier 2get going.. Sector 60
Seabreeze locally can easily pickup 4+ knots on light wind days ..
Have spent a number of sessions just testing how to relaunch as most times I am at site where have to drift launch.. Not ideal 4 single skin...but worth it once going..gust handling and tendency to not drift down to edge of Window G8 4 me..
Definitely take a string bag when you have to pack down on water..
Once 8m is wet sub 6knts is next to impossible to relaunch .. A lucky gust when in position..
A bit more wind much easier..
As my skill set improves.. I will get more use from this size...
If you anticipate going out in 12+ knots and up most times u want to use Peak4 stay 5m and under..
I anticipate getting 4-5m LEI.. for offshore till skills improve then likely get 4m Peak4
Cheers
AP
I'm ordering a peak 4 - 5m. This thread piqued my interest and I've demoed the 5m twice now. It's magical. Great bar feel. Nice turning speed and shuts off the power by sheeting out. Very similar feel to a lei IMO - heavier bar pressure, not like a Foil kite at all. Riding an Axis S Foil (680 wing) at 95 kegs. Today was a mix of yellow and green arrows and was totally powered upwind, getting respectable angles. Downwind, the kite just disappeared and I could ride wind swell whichever direction I wanted. I read somewhere that Flysurfer say single skin offers power around 1.6x it's size - so the 5 is like an 8 (that weighs 800 grams). That seems about right, so this should be a good summer kite in Perth. I reckon I'll want a 4 eventually too.
Another thumbs up for the Peak 4. Ordered a 4 mtr from BrisKites here in Brisbane, came in about a week. I'm 80 kg on a 1200 wing, had 3 sessions on it so far, and 2 swims. 44 cm bar on 17 mtr lines. Kite weight 540gms
Brilliant kite for drifting on wind swell, never have to worry about the kite dropping. 13-18 knots is what I have used it in. Turns super fast to the point it's spinning in front of you. Tubes are super easy, you just turn the power off and glide through the turn.
Not the kite you want to use if you travel far from shore, they are hard to crash but relaunch is problematic. Both my swims were the result of a failed roll tack, note to self, don't attempt tacks out the back.
Perfect for playing close to shore in the waves, reasonable upwind, similar to cloud.
A quick note for anybody looking at a bar for a Peak. The Connect control bar now comes complete with bar floats for water use-
I can testify that the Peak 4 works well on a surfboard for a downwinder. I rode my 5m today for its maiden flight. At 95 kg and just going green arrows I was a bit worried initially, but nope. It had heaps of power for water starts and the instant off depower was great on a wave. I could easily hold ground but noticed it was very difficult to gain ground upwind against the swell direction and current which were aligned with the wind direction.
anyway, am pretty stoked that this latest purchase is more versatile than I expected.
I find the upwind is not too bad at all on the peaks. Have used mine a few times at single spot instead of downwinders or foiling.
Even only moderately powered, for example taking the 5m out when most are on 7m or 9m's, still works out fine for upwindability. (Note: usually on a skimboard instead of surfboard in these situations, so less draggy/powerhungry than a sb. Have only taken them out WELL powered at single spots using the sb specifically).
In general I would not say upwind is a issue. Same same as a wave LEI kite really. If upwind is a priority get a closed cell foil kite.