Just how much of a difference does a foiling specific kite eg. Cloud Maui, Core Xlite or Mono (though not marketed as a specific foil kite) make compared to a decent drift wave kite?

Better drift, stays up better, slower turning, harder to relaunch.

Wave kites are good in moderate to strong winds. Most kites will work for foiling to some extent in stronger winds. The more marginal the conditions, the more a foiling specific or light weight kite will come into it's own. I use a Ozone Hyperlink 9m from 10 - 15kts then switch to a 6m Reo at 15 - 22. Now I want a 3m Peak4 for anything above that. I'm 80kg and on a 1150cm2 surf foil. If foil kites aren't your thing, look at Alpha, Mono, Ultra, Cloud etc for lighter winds.

Really depends on the foiling you want to do, back and forth, transitions, bit of upwind, almost any kite will do.
if you want ride swell, heading downwind at speed, not worrying about the kite dropping in the water, you need the lightest kite possible, think 1.5 kg maximum, the Peak is 800 grams.
But if you want to go up around marks, really fly up and downwind, foil kites or 5 strut high aspect LEI's are the go.
For most people something like a Ozone Reo, probably the lightest 3 strut, will cover most things, won't shine at any but quite adequate. Love my Peak, don't love the swim ins and aren't great in strong winds, eg, over 27 knots for the 3 mtr, flaps too much and limited depower

Agree that for freeriding you can make basically any kite do. The lighter 3 struts, or 1 (or 0?) struts work better and become essential in the bigger sizes, say 8/9m+.

If doing the bigger wing thing, cruising around and whatever, where you are flying the kite increasingly at its bottom end to the point of it dropping out of the sky, you really start to notice the weight and laggy response even of nice drifty kites.

I've got 6m and 4m Slingshot SSTs, for 13/14 knots+++. They are ok and drift nicely, but I wish I had gone for lighter kites e.g. single strut, but I couldn't find any 2nd hand at the time. They say they are ideal for foiling, but it might depend on what your doing.

The Peak4's are interesting and on the list for my next kite. I also wouldn't mind trying a Cloud.

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natho6026961 said..
Agree that for freeriding you can make basically any kite do. The lighter 3 struts, or 1 (or 0?) struts work better and become essential in the bigger sizes, say 8/9m+.

If doing the bigger wing thing, cruising around and whatever, where you are flying the kite increasingly at its bottom end to the point of it dropping out of the sky, you really start to notice the weight and laggy response even of nice drifty kites.

I've got 6m and 4m Slingshot SSTs, for 13/14 knots+++. They are ok and drift nicely, but I wish I had gone for lighter kites e.g. single strut, but I couldn't find any 2nd hand at the time. They say they are ideal for foiling, but it might depend on what your doing.

The Peak4's are interesting and on the list for my next kite. I also wouldn't mind trying a Cloud.

Demo the latest Cloud and that's covers all requirements other than racing.
The bad news about Cloud kites is it may fly in super light wind and the average guy thinks he will foil - often not so as Clouds fly often in breeze one can not foil but that's good as no swimming with a kite in the water.