Disclosure: I sell Flysurfer, Moses, Naish & Konrad products.
After giving the 6m Soul a good workout with the usual 12 knots plus wind here, last Saturday had a a forecast with red arrows all day, less than 10 knots and South Easterly which is usually gutless and no good for wind sports.
I rigged up the 10m Soul, gave it a partial inflate and with a few tugs on the front lines it rose up slowly and fully inflated in about 30 seconds. The wind was very light with little static pull on the bar, but the kite sat easily in the sky with no tendency to overfly or back down.

I had a Moses 590 foil, 91cm mast on a Konrad Versa board which I figured would be a good match for the kite, wind strength and my 65kg weight. The wind was nearly dead onshore with a small shorebreak, but it wasn't hard dragging out as the kite pulled lightly but steadily until I reached deeper water beyond the break. A couple of dives of the kite to get the feel of it and I was up on the board and then onto the foil. I later checked Seabreeze windspeed readings for the day at the nearby measuring point and it averaged 8 knots.

Although the kite didn't feel particularly powerful in such light wind it still got me up and going with ease even without a downloop. Downlooping helped when gybing especially as my foil gybes are a bit crap. I was on the water for over an hour and even in the light patches never lacked the power from the kite to keep foiling. The small SE swell made the tack slightly angled to the shore a lot of fun as the hydrofoil accelerated and the kite just drifted along with minimal pull. The water was relatively smooth compared to the usual bay windchop making for fewer crashes and decent speed when I headed off the wind and felt the Soul take advantage of the apparent wind. Upwind angles were excellent as well considering the wind speed. I didn't get a chance to relaunch the kite as I didn't drop it. I've no reason to believe it wouldn't be just as easy as the 6m Soul but I didn't want to drop it deliberately and tempt fate to shut the wind off completely and give me a soggy swim to shore. When I reached shore I pulled the rear lines to back the kite down by myself, as there was no-one else on the beach, and then just walked along the rear lines until I reached the kite and sanded the tip. Easy enough in light wind but I'd be cautious with this method in stronger wind.

So no surprises really. A good foil kite and foil board extends your time on the water even when the wind is pissweak. Even though there are a few other foilboarders usually at my local beach, I was the only one there and had the beach to myself. They all have inflatable kites however. No doubt with a larger Moses 633 or Nash Large Surf foil I could go a couple of knots lower in wind speed and still have fun. If you can keep your kite in the air you can foil. Being lightweight helps a bit too
Contact me if you'd like to demo any of the gear mentioned above. I'll try and remember to get some pics in future.

Have fun, Dave (Dr Surf)

Although your kite looks and flies amazing, there were other factors why there was no one there. I have been able to get out in less wind on my 10 Reo and Spitfire xlw wings and I weigh 82 kilos. I am down there by myself a lot. Now that you are getting into foiling you will find more solo sessions as well. Technique plays a huge part in extending your time on the water, the kite is but one equation. I was busy that day doing other things.

Had the beach to myself early this week. Weak nor-easter measured at 6-8knots on the beach with my wind meter, put up the 10m Soul with Moses 633 foil and had a couple of excellent sessions. Measured the wind when I came in and it was the same 6-8knots.
For my 65kg I had plenty of power to stay up on the foil. Being a seabreeze, although it was light, it was very consistent. With no holes I wasn't coming off the foil or dropping the kite. The amount of extra time you can get on the water with a foil kite and surf hydrofoil and be having a good session, really eats into the time you should be doing other things

Setting up the Soul has been sped up by pre-inflating the kite by orienting the deflation vents into the wind and propping them open with a couple of sticks off the beach. By the time the lines have been unwound the kite is 80% inflated so just close the vents and launch

Tried out the new Flysurfer Peak4 single skin 3m kite as well on the beach. With 6-8 knots I wasn't going to get foiling with such a small kite but its performance was none the less impressive. the kite itself weighs under 600grams and would launch in virtually no wind if you walked backwards. Still in 6-8knots it was fast & powerful for a 3m kite. Keen to try it in 15 knots plus on the 633 and also to use it with my SUP foil. Considering one doesn't have to get pulled up on the board with the kite on a SUP as you're already standing, it will be interesting to see if I can get up on the foil in light winds even just working the kite. Have a Naish Thrust XL if required. Also keen to try the Peak4 downwind foiling as once you're foiling you can depower the kite to virtually nothing and just surf the windchop/swells. Even depowered and running directly at the Peak4 it doesn't collapse nor do you lose steering, it just drifts like nothing I've seen. Being so light it just hangs in the air waiting 'til you need it.

Having fun, Dave

Hi Dave,
I was at the beach in Freo yesterday with 15 knots of wind. I was using 10m Neo on tt with some big holes in the wind. There was a person foiling on Peak4 4m kite. he said it goes better than LEI kites foiling in 15 knots also that it was super stable and able to fly in very little wind. I don't foil on a kite but just a beginner at sup foiling and was wondering how it would go with larger foil in low winds? If you try out I would be interested to hear from you.

Also I see that Flysurfer has the Viron3 that is water relaunchable. Have you had any experience with this? What is the difference between the 2?

John

the viron is a teaching only kite for schools and kids , from what we read about the peak the new generation seems nicer to fly , I used the peak 3 in my school and it has amazing power and low end but the flapping was annoying and seems to be a resolved issue with the 4

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johndg said..
Hi Dave,
I was at the beach in Freo yesterday with 15 knots of wind. I was using 10m Neo on tt with some big holes in the wind. There was a person foiling on Peak4 4m kite. he said it goes better than LEI kites foiling in 15 knots also that it was super stable and able to fly in very little wind. I don't foil on a kite but just a beginner at sup foiling and was wondering how it would go with larger foil in low winds? If you try out I would be interested to hear from you.

Also I see that Flysurfer has the Viron3 that is water relaunchable. Have you had any experience with this? What is the difference between the 2?

John

Hi John.
I hear what you're saying and I've just got in a 3m Peak4 to try out for SUP foiling as well as kitefoiling. Haven't had enough wind since it arrived to try it on my kitefoil and haven't got around to trying it on my SUP foil yet, but that's coming up next as soon as conditions allow.
However I have flown it on the beach and it certainly is an amazing kite. You only need 2-3knots of wind and it's flying easily. The 3m Peak4 I have weighs less than 600grams! So that's part of the reason it flys in so little wind. However the next great thing about the Peak4 is the drift... so much drift. If you have 6-8 knots of wind you can run hard at the kite and it just drifts back. No collapsing, no falling from the sky, you can still turn and control the kite even with minimal line tension.

When you flog the kite around the sky looping & figure eights with the bar pulled in, it's really powerful for its size, but when you sheet out you can cut the power to virtually nothing, it just goes into drift mode.

I figure that being on a SUP I don't need the kite to drag me up onto the board as I'm already standing. So I'm just using the kite as a lazy mans paddle to get me up on the foil for downwinders or small surf. Then just drift the kite when I don't need it.

As far water relaunching, its original design premise was for land & snow. However if you take a look at this thread on the Peak4 kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2401224 you'll see a lot of early users have been kitefoiling and waterstarting the Peak4 kites quite easily. So I agree with freotilo, forget the Viron, as it's not a patch on the Peak4. You actually have to steer the Peak4 into the water deliberately, unless the wind completely disappears, to get it wet. Even in a worst case scenario and you couldn't get the kite back out of the water, just wind it up, jam it down the back of your harness and paddle back to shore. Being single skin it won't turn into a heavy bag of water and it's really compact when packed up.

As you can see I'm excited about the Peak4 potential, and I'm not the only one judging by other users and the person you met on the beach. I've been selling a few and the feedback has been very good. They are a big improvement on the Peak3. Let me know if I can help you further and I'll certainly post my Peak4 experiences.

Looking forward to more fun, but already missing summer, Dave

Thanks for your quick reply Dave.

The person I met on the beach was certainly very happy with the kite and from the looks was comfortable using it. He also downwind wakeboarded it when I was packing up. He told me it was a much better kite than the previous model

Good to know this is a better kite than the Viron. I was curious about the differences and think that I may only have looked at the info on the Peak3 which may not have included water as a recommended use.

Very interested in your SUP foil experiences with it and will consider for next year. What are the AUD prices?

John

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johndg said..

Good to know this is a better kite than the Viron. I was curious about the differences and think that I may only have looked at the info on the Peak3 which may not have included water as a recommended use.

In no way is the Peak a better kite than the Viron, they are just VERY different. The Peak is quite powerful for it's size where the Viron offers massive de-power for each size. Both kites are slower than you would expect and neither offer outstanding upwind performance.

For ultimate low end power the Peak is the pick but remember there is no guarantee of water re-launch. If you were looking for an amazing kite in knarly conditions the Viron is one of the most forgiving kites you will ever fly.

Yeee Haaaa

www.facebook.com/kiteBoarding.world/videos/347401672553479/

Can some one tell me when the soul is in the air should should the trailing edge be dead smooth. I have a new soul 10m. For it for the first time today and every time I tried to loop it it just wanted to nose bomb into the water. The right hand side trailing edge when in the air had some very small ruffles in it where as the left side appeared smooth. Could this be something to do with it and is there a way to straighten them out with out having to pull the bridle to pieces?
Could it be just that it need to be flown and worn in more?

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Bossstyle said..
Can some one tell me when the soul is in the air should should the trailing edge be dead smooth. I have a new soul 10m. For it for the first time today and every time I tried to loop it it just wanted to nose bomb into the water. The right hand side trailing edge when in the air had some very small ruffles in it where as the left side appeared smooth. Could this be something to do with it and is there a way to straighten them out with out having to pull the bridle to pieces?
Could it be just that it need to be flown and worn in more?

Hi Bossstyle.

Is the Soul brand new or used? What size bar and line length are you using? Are the lines all equal length? What wind strength and quality were you flying in? Did you check that there were absolutely no tangles/crossed lines in the bridle? Also check that there were no twigs or other debris that could have been caught in the bridle. Have you had much experience with foil kites? Did looping the kite in either direction cause the same outcome? Were you on a board of some type or just flying the Soul standing on the beach or body dragging?

As you can see there are a lot of questions. Foil kites are very different to LEI kites if you are not used to them. If the Soul is brand new it will take about 5 hours of solid use before the lines and bridle settle into their working positions. Looping a foil kite is not the same as an LEI. It may have a much larger radius loop depending on how much you pulled the bar, line length, depower settings etc. Looping the Soul may also create a very strong pull, depending on the wind, pulling you strongly towards the kite which may increase the turning radius.
Without being able to see what you were doing, it's hard to see whether this is a kite problem or an operator issue.

If you can provide some more detail on the questions above we can help you more.

Have fun, Dave

The kite is brand new Dave was my first time out on it out of the bag.
Exoerience wise I bought a 15m soul. Found it too big for where I kite too slow. Sold it and bought a 12m. Flew that for few weeks and really liked it.
Sold it though and bought the 10m. No where to demo kites here which is annoying so had to buy and sell at a loss each time just to experience the differences. Was hoping the ten would turn faster and it does a little but I found iCloud back loop the 12m easy for handplant transitions and darkslides slow back loop was such fun on the 12m. Tried it in the 10m and it just wouldn't do the slow back loop into you had already come out of the hand loop then pull hard and found I rolled actually under the water. So I have some experience with the souls. Just expected it toact the same but faster on the 10m. Just didn't feel like the same type kite?
Hopefully it will where in then.
I am flying it on 20m lines at the mo On a 55cm ozone bar. What is the preferred length bar for the 1. I know flysurfer recommend the 50cm for it but what do you advise on bar size and line lengths as being best for the 10m size?
was out on the water flying it. Wasn't great wind 12-13 knots.

Hi Bossstyle.
Your bar and line sizes should be ok assuming the line lengths are equal. Have you had it out only this one time? Check bridle thoroughly as once I had a line catch on another line in the bridle which made the kite fly poorly. A friend of mine had a similar line snag with an Ozone Hyperlink. It does help to have reasonably steady wind to check the flying characteristics. 12-13 knots should be strong enough.
Have you tried the depower settings at the bar through its full range to see if that improves the turning?

Flysurfer has very good warranty on their kites but it would be good to check absolutely everything first before contacting them or your local reseller. Where are you located? Do you have any other foil kite flyers nearby who can check out your kite?

Have fun, Dave

Yeah the distributor said they would sort it if it were faulty. I'm not convinced it is yet but will get to fly it again on the morning. Forecast -5-20 knots so will have a good play with it again. Will give all the lines and all the bridles a good tug to make sure they are all straight and free and see how o get on. I haven't let the depower our all the way yet as was low wind last time and find if I depower it I lose pull. Will try though tomorrow. Just seemed a little strange. Although The 12m soul was very powerful downlooping downwind with lots of pull if you don't pull the bar real hard to loo it. It was absolutely awesome for doing dark slides and slow back loop tricks and actually had less power in the back loop than the front (probably not if mega looping whilst air born) I thought I would immediately get that same feeling from the ten but didn't it didn't seem to loop properly and also the down loop just seemed to want to hit the water instead of going around. Will see how I get on tomorrow. It will get another couple hours wearing in then as well to hopefully settle the lines.

Go over the whole bridal ABCZ and check the line connections are even - where they attach to the kite as in the pic, quite small but its worth setting these right from day one. Any Brand new kite this should be checked - dont believe the factory hype..
Your mixer is the next check point - its very easy the way they have set it up.

Have you adjusted the any back stall out of the kite ? in very light winds - its will kill a foil instantly. The 12 & 15 are very large so you can get away with a bit here n there - the 10m and lower, you cant.

Those ruffles are normal - its part of the drag that turns or stalls the kite, when your flying straight with correct trim, it will be straight again.
Are you trying to find power like the bigger kites, grabbing a handful ?
Remember when you let the bar out slightly - it flys faster and pulls harder,.. if so, strangulation is your problem.

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Bossstyle said..
I haven't let the depower our all the way yet as was low wind last time and find if I depower it I lose pull.

it didn't seem to loop properly and also the down loop just seemed to want to hit the water instead of going around. Will see how I get on tomorrow.

Dude its your bar trim - find someone who knows how to set your bar for a foil kite.. problem solved.

The 10 is a very different kite - no where near the same power and lift as the 12. The 12 is what Flysurfer do most of their Old school airstyle and darkslide tricks on...

It's old school stuff I wanted it for. I thought the boost and hang would be more on the 10m as it would be a little faster, it isn't that much faster and still has a slow turn, I thought loops would be easier too but actually at the mo finding them slow as well and to slow and powerful to use. God knows how they do these wicked helix loops and stuff in the videos. Am hoping as I gain more experience on the kite the loop will become more usable for something at least. Beginning to think i may have made a mistake selling the 12m and getting the 10 to try. I did try and get a demo of a 10m try one out before doing what o did to see which was best. But the distributor had too much going on to let them out at the mo. :-(

re trimming the bar for a foil kite.
Whats how do you mean? I tried a set of race pigtails on the ends of the lines and different knots. The kite becomes twitchy and difficult to use if you play with the line lengths I noticed. I'm using and ozone bar and when you tighten the rear lines up to the third not shortest line setting it made the 12m not handle gusts very well and become a bit of a handful.
Min the end I took them off so all four lines were the same length and the kite was a different beast, very manageable and easy to fly. Is that what you mean by trimming out the back stall? Overtightening the rear lines? I don't know any one else that flies foils at my area. All the other guys and my mates fly lei's And are interested but I can see the benefits and do think foils are the future. Not convinced they are 100 percent there yet but the soil shows it's getting there and picking up pace. No one to trim anything for me though.

What size bar and length lines are you using on the 10m?

Understandably a pain in the butt and Very expensive, not being able to demo - I was lucky enough to demo the 12,10 & 8m.

Get yourself a 60cm bar - it will help a little with the turn speed. I use one on the 8m. Their Foil kites, not inflatables so they turn slower and anything that helps speed them up is a good thing, unless your a grandad armchair kiter..
Whatever bar you get, try to get one that does NOT jam the depower line - when turning hard. Some PU lines do this as the centre hole is not big enough, the result is that you lose some smooth steering ability. Some Pro foil kite racers hate them.

In the mean time, basic bar trimming will fix your problem. You need about 18 knots at least !!!
How I do it - because it doesn't behave like a real race foil.

Stand on the beach with the kite at 12 overhead.
Pull the depower (or) let it out, with bar full down - to see how far behind you, it will fly.

Let the Depower out until you get it to "slowly" backstall to about 1130-12 at bar full down.
It wont choke out the kite completely - it makes it stay in the power zone rather than the edge.

Now before you throw yourself in the drink - forget your board, walk out to some waist deep water in a safe spot.
Practise LOOPING your kite
1. In both directions
2. At different heights around the window
3. Count your timing

Until you are fully competent at your FOIL kite turn speed and looping control.
Grab your board - play with your timing..
Rip it Up
Pics or it didnt happen

The Heli loops will happen in no time when you get the above saughted

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Macster said..
What size bar and length lines are you using on the 10m?

55cm ozone 20m lines currently. What's the best recommended line length and bar length for the 10m to make it loop well and playful?
i notice kite attitude do a 60cm handle with a large centre hole. What are your thoughts on those? May buy one and swap the gubbings over off my ozone.

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Bossstyle said..

Macster said..
What size bar and length lines are you using on the 10m?

55cm ozone 20m lines currently. What's the best recommended line length and bar length for the 10m to make it loop well and playful?
i notice kite attitude do a 60cm handle with a large centre hole. What are your thoughts on those? May buy one and swap the gubbings over off my ozone.

I fly my 12m on 60cm bar 17m lines and my 8m is on a 52cm bar so I reckon a 55cm should be good for a 10m.

Line length: I have experiemented with about 6 different lengths now ranging from 15m to 27m.

Powered looping on short lines is scary, no room for error and a big yank. I reckon for heliloops 20m lines would be ok but it wouldn't hurt to go a bit longer to say 23m lines. This will make the kite feel a little slower again but you need to let go of how responsive an LEI kite is and compare your 10m soul to a 13 or 14m LEI as they will have similar bottom end and turn speed.

Definitely fishpole the bar when looping and definitely sheet out on the way up to get a good tight, consistently powered loop on the Flysurfer.

I've tried some backroll kiteloops on the 8m and a few heliloops and downloops jumps on the 12m. It's not really my thing as Id prefer to use my other kites for looping but definitely possible and pretty scary with the amount of pull the soul generates. I have also tried backroll hand drags too on the 12m. This was really hard to loop the 12m with one hand, dark slides were ok though cause i regrab the bar with two habfs at the end of the slide.

Can't help you more than anyone else has already suggested on the tuning front.

Had the 10m out in more wind last night. Still not great wind only 14/16 knots. But! Wow what a kite. Like my bandit but on steroids. Lots of steroids! I took it out on 25m ozone contact bar and lines. Set it to the middle knot on the ends so all lines even. It was a little slower than my 11m bandit but could still throw it around pretty easily. Every one else was on zephyer 17 kites. They were mowing the grass and doing small jumps and rotations. Meanwhile I was powering past, having a hoot and jumping quite high considering, it was nice to play with it. You can build some great speed on these. It's was still not in it's sweet spot. If must be friggin awesome when it is!!! Was so much fun last night. I learnt a few things. The 10m can be sent across to the other side of the wind window when in the air. This stalled the kite for a mo then gave a little extra lift scary as haven't done that before but felt good and was controlled. Also learnt if in the air and let the bar out fully then yank it hard again you pause where you are like a still frame on a video and then just gently float down, I did this a few times always seemed to have same effect and could see it would be a great thing to do if coming in too hot from a trick. Also tried more loops. Managed to fish pole the bar while jumping. I couldn't say if this resulted in a heli loop but the kite went round ok. I hit the water before it finished looping it but it came out with little power so was happy didn't get pulled in over the front or anything.
Next I tried more dark slides and slow hover tricks. I found if going forward and sat in the harness I could sit in the air with my legs off the water magic carpet style. Ha. Did this a few times without looping the kite over. Great potential!!!
The actual dark slide I still found the kite wasn't fully looping in time to pop me back up and keep me moving. The pop was fine but the kite still to low. Think I then did what you have said above and think you mean when you say sheet out out of the loop?? During the actual loop stage I let the bar out a couple inches. Holy ****!! This supercharged the loop at the end. It popped me about four foot off the water! If I had been ready for it I could of back looped off that pop easily and would of looked mega stylish however it happened so fast and with such power I nearly shat myself but again I landed fine and the kite had come up enough to keep me pulling forwards. :-) I think the key is finesse and to let the bar forward maybe just a cm or two rather than a couple inches in one go. If I can manage that timing automatically the potential is mega! It is the best kite I have flown in the last 11 years of riding!!!
Can't wait to spend more time on it and go out in it's sweet spot. Maybe in it's sweet spot you will get away with out moving the bar during slow loop tricks and it will come out like the 12 does with enough power to keep you going without bar movement? Be interested to hear others experiences or tips. Keep them coming. So much fun!!!
Am tempted to sell my 11m bandit, buy a 12m again and just have a quiver of souls it was that good....
Also making a difference I just sold my radical 5 board and got the new radical 6. The 5 felt a little gravely through the water. A bit too much grip to the board surface to the water. Maybe the flex a tad too soft, I found it hard to get real strong edge though it still released ok and popped alright.
The new one appears a bit stiffer. There is more spring for pop and boost. You can get a better edge driving in hard to get good pop. The channelled bottom give it a much softer feel over the water surface and that results in way better speed. No heavy or sticky feel to it. Just glides so well, was flying past the Lei guys. Definitely well worth the change and very happy with this board it is a sweet ride!

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Macster said..

Bossstyle said..

Macster said..
What size bar and length lines are you using on the 10m?

55cm ozone 20m lines currently. What's the best recommended line length and bar length for the 10m to make it loop well and playful?
i notice kite attitude do a 60cm handle with a large centre hole. What are your thoughts on those? May buy one and swap the gubbings over off my ozone.

I fly my 12m on 60cm bar 17m lines and my 8m is on a 52cm bar so I reckon a 55cm should be good for a 10m.

Line length: I have experiemented with about 6 different lengths now ranging from 15m to 27m.

Powered looping on short lines is scary, no room for error and a big yank. I reckon for heliloops 20m lines would be ok but it wouldn't hurt to go a bit longer to say 23m lines. This will make the kite feel a little slower again but you need to let go of how responsive an LEI kite is and compare your 10m soul to a 13 or 14m LEI as they will have similar bottom end and turn speed.

Definitely fishpole the bar when looping and definitely sheet out on the way up to get a good tight, consistently powered loop on the Flysurfer.

I've tried some backroll kiteloops on the 8m and a few heliloops and downloops jumps on the 12m. It's not really my thing as Id prefer to use my other kites for looping but definitely possible and pretty scary with the amount of pull the soul generates. I have also tried backroll hand drags too on the 12m. This was really hard to loop the 12m with one hand, dark slides were ok though cause i regrab the bar with two habfs at the end of the slide.

Can't help you more than anyone else has already suggested on the tuning front.

I didn't find the loop thing hard on the 12m. Actually was really surprised at how well it did these and how clean the pull was out the other side. Managed some longer slides than on my Lei easily. On 20m lines dark slides and handplant transitions seemed really sweet and easy overall Kite came out fine. Just the 10m feels a bit different.

Curious why the soul is significantly cheaper than the sonic2? Materials and labor would seem similar ...?

How would a 12 soul compare to a 13 edge v8 power wise and low end. Also jumping ability for a 88kg rider?
cheers

I had a zephyer 17m years ago. Over those years i realised with a bigger board you can get the same power out of an 11m kite and ride and do more in the same winds as them!
How ever after the 17m I wentto15m edge then 13m edge, 14m bandit then 11m bandit and was still out there doing everything the zephyer boys were but just on my spleens door which still popped as good and could be thrown around. The soul however is technically way different. The first time you fly it and then jump you will experience power and control with lighter input. No more tennis elbow like the edge and zephyer give you. No more tired arms after two hours. But more importantly the 10m! produces more power and lift than your 13m edge will. My mate is out on his 15m edge when I am on that 10m and the 10m pulls faster and harder and the main difference is in light wind you will pop
on the edge 3 or four foot when with less input and less speed you can pop at any time and the kite will take you up a good couple of meters in the same wind. It really is something different. You can send the soul from a very slow speed and it will still take you up and surprise you and you will still hang in the air fora surprising few seconds where as your edge will have landed you already and you will have had to actually try and travel and have some running speed to do your little edge jump. Seriously the soul i can only describe as technically different and superior. A 12m soul will easily outperform a 17m zephyer and still have the top end of you 10m 11m Lei. The 10 still performs very easily against your 17m and I would still go as far to say it will easily outperform it let alone a poxy 13m edge!
Try one if you can. Don't be put off by what you think you might know about a foil kite. These are truly different, unique and superior in many aspects. A lot of fun and more you use it and dial in the more you will smile, love it and get out of it. That's what I am finding anyway. I am a 6ft 2 rider by the way and 87kgs. 138x42.5 flyradical 6 Board rider. People are also starting to notice and talk about how easily I get it offer the water and well it relaunches when i come off my sessions in my local spot. I am the only one riding a 10m one there at the mo though I have spotted at least 4 riders with 12m ones last few weeks though they are mainly foil riders training for the Olympics on the teams here.

Cheers for that mate. Maybe I could get a review and demo off dm at action sports.

My partner is still learning to kite. She had two days lessons in Italy last year on core kite and has an 8 and 10m bandit for use at home. She has had another couple lessons over here. She was at the stage where she kind of had the board facing down wind on starts but kept choking the kite with her arms when trying to get up. We took her out today to try and get her up and riding. We blew up her 10 bandit and there wasn't enough power even though she is very light. We then blew up my 11m bandit and she had a couple goes but it wouldn't pull her and kept falling out the sky. Was only about 13 knots but we tried as don't get much time together and it was a nice day. She was annoyed she wouldn't get any further with her learning. I clipped her into my old 12m soul once before on a very light wind day about 12knots and every time she just moved the kite past 12 o'clock she shot about 4 ft in the air even with the bar out. I was holding her harness but she was still shocked at the lift but it scared her of foils.
Today when the 11m failed I convinced her to try my 10m soul as we needed more drift in the light winds, more upward pull to keep her out the water and more power to pull her. she was very nervous but could at least fly it past 12 o'clock with the bar out with out taking off. I explained the three ways to relaunch as she was worried about that but we were in shallowish water. She struggled the first couple tries as the kite was very slow through the air due to lack of wind but she very quickly got the feel of the kite with a few instructions and then got her longest runs in and went a good 200 meters and was even starting to come back up Wind though that still needs some practice. But she also felt confident enough to let go of her back hand from the bar while going along and learnt how to use the upward pull to stay up. She dropped the kite quite a few times and with a bit of shouting pull the red line or pull the blue line she quickly mastered the relaunch and re launched every time which was very impressive. There are so many positives with these kites even for beginners. Especially light or small ones. For example when it comes out the sky into the water it balls up usually but unlike an Lei which when it lands is still full of wind and pulling you forward constantly while you try and relaunch the soul doesn't pull you so you don't lose ground and don't have to panic. It just sits there still until it unfolds and you Re launch. She came out the water saying you get much more time to think about things with the soul and she wants one of them now instead of her lei's. :-)

I'm selling my quiver of 7,9 and 13m 2015 Cabrinha drifters as well as. 21 m speed 3 dlx I am mainly on a surfboard but like to take the twin tip out when it's nuking and get big airs. We get a lot of waves where I live and I much prefer to be overpowered than under, generally when everyone else is on 7or 8m leis me and my friend will be on 9or 10s. But my question is I'm planning on getting a 7m soul but am torn whether to get a 10 or 12 m soul I probably use my 9m drifter the most currently, I also have a foil and am not whether the low end between the 10 and the 12 is that much ? I weigh around 80kg I am leaning toward the 10 as I'm guessing il have a better range for the higher end and is a bit faster moving ? I'm not really fussed about not being able to go out in 8 knots and having to wait till 10-11 but is this even possible for me weighing 80kg I noticed the guy at the begging of the post can get foiling in v low winds with the 10m
any input would be greatly appreciated, please excuse my poor grammar and vocabulary

peace

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glazzdarkly said..
I'm selling my quiver of 7,9 and 13m 2015 Cabrinha drifters as well as. 21 m speed 3 dlx I am mainly on a surfboard but like to take the twin tip out when it's nuking and get big airs. We get a lot of waves where I live and I much prefer to be overpowered than under, generally when everyone else is on 7or 8m leis me and my friend will be on 9or 10s. But my question is I'm planning on getting a 7m soul but am torn whether to get a 10 or 12 m soul I probably use my 9m drifter the most currently, I also have a foil and am not whether the low end between the 10 and the 12 is that much ? I weigh around 80kg I am leaning toward the 10 as I'm guessing il have a better range for the higher end and is a bit faster moving ? I'm not really fussed about not being able to go out in 8 knots and having to wait till 10-11 but is this even possible for me weighing 80kg I noticed the guy at the begging of the post can get foiling in v low winds with the 10m
any input would be greatly appreciated, please excuse my poor grammar and vocabulary

peace

If your riding a surf wing, eg greater than 900sqcm, go the 10, get the 12 if you riding a smaller fast wing. I have the 12 and don't particularly like it on the 1100 wing unless super light, too much lift. I can easily use my 12 on a small wing in 15 knots, but would be uncomfortable on the large wing in those conditions.

I won't tell you what to do just what my experience is with the Souls.

Weight 85kgs
Moses 683s wing, t40 board
8m Soul wind range with 23m lines is just under 10 knots through to high teens

12m soul with 26m lines is 5-6 knots to 10-12 knots

These kites would only touch the water maybe 1 in every 10 sessions these days but im still hesitatnt to use them in surf / waves, too risky if i dropped them in surf.

To be honest, the 12m Soul is invaluable and such an awesome lightwind foil kite but even though I have a 6m Nova and 8m Soul I find myself reaching for my Ozone Enduros 8m and 10m in winds from 10 knots and above and when riding in swell and waves. I think I'm trading the awesome drift, ease of setup, launch and land, amazing control and bar feel for the robustness and piece of mind in waves of an LEI.

So be honest on what conditions you want to foil in (Wind, waves, free ride, race, explore etc) and get a kite to match