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Duff15 said.

I want to foil in bay swell 25 30knots max. Weight 95kegs. I have a 7m ultra but becomes hard work over 23knots. I'm riding strapless well trying too. Love carving.

I reckon get a 4m ultra, foiling on that in 25 knots bay swell would be a dream

The 5m will have too much overlap with your 7m as it has a ton of low end. Also for strapless carving style 25 knots would be the top end for the 5m. I think the 4m to 7m gap will be perfect.

I have a 9m ultra, 5+7 airush wave kites, 100kg strapless carving style doing most of my foiling in wind chop waves. I had a good go few sessions on a 5m ultra this summer but I ended up getting a 5m wave because it fit into the quiver better and I need something with a lot of top end for the surfboard.

For foiling only the ultra craps all over any other kites I have used and I think if you get a small 3 strut you will be disappointed with the performance compared to your 7m ultra .

The 5m ultra was an absolute dream for foiling, really fast and whippy and the drift of such a small light kite in higher winds was amazing. If i could afford/ justify getting a 4m or 5m ultra just for foiling I would for sure.

My 4m Catalyst. I too think 3 strut is better in the <7m kites. No need for super lightweight when you're flying in +15kn wind and when the wind does pick up the 3 strut will hold it's shape better.

Yeh slack that's what I'm thinking to. Reos are a super light anyway. I have a 7m cloud sitting in my shed (John if you read this man when do you want the bloody thing abck it's been months!!) and I tried it.

Look im sure you'd get used to it and man did that thing drift but the flapping sensitivity on the throw gave me the absolute sh1ts.

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Slack said..
My 4m Catalyst. I too think 3 strut is better in the <7m.

Is that a conclusion you made after trying or just an assumption?

On the smaller sizes, the space between the central strut and the wing is so small that it doesn't really flap when the wind picks up.

I have a 3m and 12m single strut. With the 12 when the wind picks up and you have to trim it, the flapping makes it annoying, on the 3, nothing to say about it.

The only thing that would make me buy a 3 struts kite below 5m is that at this stage it is easier to find a bargain on a superseded model. It really hurts to spend over $1000 on a 3 or 4m one strut kite....

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Livit said..

Slack said..
My 4m Catalyst. I too think 3 strut is better in the <7m.

Is that a conclusion you made after trying or just an assumption?

On the smaller sizes, the space between the central strut and the wing is so small that it doesn't really flap when the wind picks up.

I have a 3m and 12m single strut. With the 12 when the wind picks up and you have to trim it, the flapping makes it annoying, on the 3, nothing to say about it.

The only thing that would make me buy a 3 struts kite below 5m is that at this stage it is easier to find a bargain on a superseded model. It really hurts to spend over $1000 on a 3 or 4m one strut kite....

Yep more an assumption as smallest 1 strut I have demoed was the Ultra 7m which didn't do it for me and weight saving was as Eppo said minimal. But point taken when they get tiny there isn't room for the each struts

I do think in Perth foilers would benefit from having a 4m (or even 3m) kite and not just for upper end wind range either. I have had a ball on that 4m Cat in about 16kn but for me sweet spot starts around 18kn.

I can't fault my Switch Element 4m. It's a one strut. It feels so solid in the air. It's like riding around with a kite on steel rods. It costs just under $684 delivered to Australia.

I just bought an Element 4m to go with the 5m, it is a 20% reduction in area and I have occasionally wished for something smaller. There is a sale on at the moment. Apparently Switch are reverting to a single Hong Kong warehouse to save distribution costs. The 5m is a super rigid kite so I imagine the 4m will be even more so. I pump my kites up to at least 8 psi, floppy distorting kites are a nightmare in strong winds.

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Gorgo said..
Any bar with low-V, single front line flag out, all lines even length, front lines with knots, back lines with loops (ie. not Ozone unless you want to make new pigtails).

I use my 52cm bar because it like the fast steering. You might want to go shorter to slow things down. I added a knot to the top of the 4m pig tails to get a bit more grunt for water starting.

Will the airush bar work?

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Duff15 said..

Will the airush bar work?

Yes. I use an Airush bar with 20m lines for foiling with all of my kites. I use an Airush Wave 9m and then switch down to Elements when it gets genuinely windy.

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simonp said..

Duff15 said..

Will the airush bar work?

Yes. I use an Airush bar with 20m lines for foiling with all of my kites. I use an Airush Wave 9m and then switch down to Elements when it gets genuinely windy.

Perfect thanks mate

I've had 4 or 5 sessions on a LF Solo 4.5. really enjoy it and even the 9m feels so slow when switching back.

My first session was gusty 25kts and my 2nd go unstrapped. It took me a solid 15 mins of failure to get the power right. It's like a 2 stroke 250.. nothing till it hits powerband and then bang you're just trying to hold on.

A few sessions later and it's mostly tamed, I still find water starts a bit gnarly when it's well powered, but once I'm up on the foil it's a pleasure to fly.