I have a Ozone 12m Hyperlink Ultra light version and today had the chance to demo a 12m Flysurfer Soul with a view to making a comparison.
Wind was about 10 knts with nice flat water and I was on a Jshapes freeride foil with a Jshapes 120 cm board. I've had quite a few sessions on the Hyperlink and have become very familiar with its attributes.
The first thing that struck me about the Soul was it seemed more solid or more pressurized than the Hyperlink. It was less prone to allowing air to escape which results in a wing that deforms less during flight which translates to a more even/less broken power delivery. It would also follow that more relauch time is available if the kite ends up in the water. Fortunately I wasn't required to test that aspect. The soul definitely seemed more powerful than the Hyperlink and developed more speed and a higher upwind angle. Water starting was easier with the greater power delivery. It was however slower moving and less agile than the Hyperlink which slightly put my timing out for boosting and backrolls but this would be quickly adjusted. I managed a few lowish 3m boosts and a couple of higher ones (5m maybe) and a few backrolls. The souls responce speed was probably not helped by the bar which at 50cm I thought was a little small. The bar was ok but not my favourite.
What has been said about Soul v Hyperlink is that they are similar kites with the Soul leaning more towards traditional ram kite qualities and the Hyperlink leaning towards more LEI style qualities. This seems pretty spot on to me and both kites are great and I would be happy with either of the two.

Interesting, heard a lot of good things about the Soul... it seems like the Soul would be competing more with the Chrono V3 than the Hyperlink? Fore those qualities mentioned in your last sentence. Aspect ratio seems more similar, would be great to see a comparison between those as well.

Hi Guys,

The Soul is for sure more ram air style feel than the Hyperlink and I agree with Simon's review. The Chrono is much more race inspired than the Soul and would be superior to the Soul on the race course. But for a beginner, the Soul or Hyperlink would be far more suitable.

The Sould would be more versatile in the freeride twin tip than the Chrono with Olly Bridge showing off it's prowess in the mega loop category.

Each kite is a little different and should be purchased on its own merits. For sure the Hyperlink, Chrono and Soul are all excellent kites.

I like all three

DM

Owned both. Agree with OP comments. In addition Hyperlink does more pivotal loops, soul has a wider arch in loops so a bit slower but more power.

Hey Macster

Thanks for your advice on the 8m..
I took the 12m Soul for a demo yesterday on my Twin tip in 20-25 knots - im 75kg and it was quit the handful out of its wind range.. but I was curious to try the plug & play kite. 5 minutes later at 50% depower and a not very well sent jump (trying to figure out fastest turn speed timing) It gave me an insight into very floaty floaty floaty foil kite jumps. Flying the kite way behind me in a Heli loop landing felt just like a normal kite, no worries there. I was soon at no depower left so decided to bring it in and live a bit longer
Definitely another dimension for TT riders.. so many different aspects to our sport.

Good stuff. The 12m is pretty awesome for dark slides too

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Macster said..
Good stuff. The 12m is pretty awesome for dark slides too

Darkslides with a kite loop?

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SaveTheWhales said..
Hey Macster

Thanks for your advice on the 8m..
I took the 12m Soul for a demo yesterday on my Twin tip in 20-25 knots - im 75kg and it was quit the handful out of its wind range.. but I was curious to try the plug & play kite. 5 minutes later at 50% depower and a not very well sent jump (trying to figure out fastest turn speed timing) It gave me an insight into very floaty floaty floaty foil kite jumps. Flying the kite way behind me in a Heli loop landing felt just like a normal kite, no worries there. I was soon at no depower left so decided to bring it in and live a bit longer
Definitely another dimension for TT riders.. so many different aspects to our sport.

Hey Clayton, what length lines were you flying it on?
i have demoed the 10m on 15m lines and found it not bad for looping, and yes the hang time was insane....

Yeah. Kiteloop dark slide. 17m lines 55cm bar is great for foiling and twin tipping on the 12m.

I use 19m lines and an old 52cm bar on my 8m. I'm thinking of shortening the 19m lines down to 15m since they're old and I don't mind throwing them away if 15m is no good.

Hey Peeps,

The 12m Soul Gazuki was using was setup on 20m Lines. Standard bar with 17m + 3m extensions.

DM

Oops, sorry, Not Gazuki, I meant Save the Whales.

My bad

DM

I had a quick demo of the 10m Soul the other day - on 20m lines..
Was only mid range wind but good enough for a few 11m chop hops... Will have another chance in a few weeks in 25 - 30 knots, so will get a better idea of its potential, according to my limited experience.
I'm curious about the shorter lines versus lift, so will be interesting

Thanks for the Demos - Danger Mouse - Oops I meant DM Its raised a few eyebrows at the Local.
Not quite as much as Rob Douglas though - 2018 World Speed Title Champ, on the Soul

Olly bridge from the uk edge watersports has been going huge on the Flysurfer 28+
mtrs, but you'd have to question WOO accuracy

True but Ollie bridge is one of the best kiters on the planet.