Hey people,

Just picked up a 9m 08' Fuel which happens to be my first C. After some tips on rigging for stable, kite-low unhooked stuff... I'm 99.9% on flat water and in Perth - which does not seem to be suffering a shortage of blow at the mo.

In general the kite feels so different to me coming off bows that I'm not sure where to start... So far I've got it on the 'surf' setting, longest frontline, middle backline?

Do any of the varying pigtail settings actually translate to a difference in flying characteristics? Power? Steering?

Can you easily reverse launch these guys when LE down if you ditch the 5th?

Loving that slack line business after an unhooked jam though!

Thanks in advance.

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Fat Mike said...

Hey people,

Just picked up a 9m 08' Fuel which happens to be my first C. After some tips on rigging for stable, kite-low unhooked stuff... I'm 99.9% on flat water and in Perth - which does not seem to be suffering a shortage of blow at the mo.

In general the kite feels so different to me coming off bows that I'm not sure where to start... So far I've got it on the 'surf' setting, longest frontline, middle backline?

Do any of the varying pigtail settings actually translate to a difference in flying characteristics? Power? Steering?

Can you easily reverse launch these guys when LE down if you ditch the 5th?

Loving that slack line business after an unhooked jam though!

Thanks in advance.

Hi Mike,

I had an '08 9m. Flew it with the 5th line. I flew mostly on the middle setting (freeride). I found the surf setting had no power so only used it when it was really nuking or on a surfboard when I wanted more depower.

If I was going to be a bit underpowered, I used the wake (rear) setting. This has less depower and slower to turn.

So:
Wake: most power, least depower, slower turning, heavier bar
Freeride: medium power, good depower, good turning, good bar pressure
Surf: least power, best depower, faster turning, least bar pressure

If you are unhooking and there is plenty of wind I'd use the freestyle setting. If all your lines are even, use the same knots front and back. If I am going to be overpowered I'll shorten the front lines 1 knot to get more depower, or if I am underpowered I'll sometimes lengthen the front 1 knot but this means you need more trim to unhook so you don't stall the kite.

I only ever reverse launched the '08 9m off the beach and found it not too good - never did it on the water. I have reverse launched the '09 9m on beach and water and it is easier. If I ever ditched the 5th I'd relaunch old school - pull the bar in over my head and then swim towards the kite to get it on its back, then usual relaunch.

Hope this helps,
James

Thanks for your reply James, all good stuff. I'll give the freestyle setting a go today...

Man I'm a C convert. Unhooking is awesome compared to the bow/hybrid's i've owned. Got a little fright the first time i looped it though. Where the hell did all that power come from?!?

Cheers,

Mike.