Rider: Weight - 78 kgs
Level: Still learning how to Hydrofoil Properly!
Style: Foiling
Weather: 5-8 knots
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
Disclosure: Kitepower/Ozone Team. Have had foil kite experience with a spleen X19. Ride in light wind on a 2013 17 Edge most of the time I go kiting.
I used the 12m Chrono with a Lister Foil Magic Carpet Hydrofoil/Cabrinha Transport last week in some seriously light wind. Wind graphs are at the bottom of the page, and I was off the water before 3pm. Where I was kiting (President Ave Botany Bay) was more of a local northerly that dropped out and turned easterly as I left as per the graphs.
Setting up was quite easy as it had previously been packed up methodically. Everything looks like it has been designed to be very efficient. I especially like the light flexible frames that hold the leading edge in aerofoil shape. They work well. Unrolled the kite, made sure the zipper is closed, laid out the lines and all done properly there was no untangling to be done. Care definitely needs to be taken in this step though.
As soon as the slightest breeze came through (I suspect around 3 knots) I hot launched and I was able to fly it around on the beach and get used to it. It was a little scary at first having the kite not fully inflated before launching but it was surprisingly controllable even with the wingtips not fully inflated on launch. After a little bit of time I found it?s movement very predictable. I didn't drop it in the water, but reverse relaunching on the beach was easy enough.
I then went kiting after the wind increased a little bit . The kite is very fast through the sky. Turns can be wide arcs that generate a lot of power, but you also can pivot turn the kite as well. It has a wider range of turning speed than a LEI. If you want it to turn quickly with little power it can, otherwise it turns more slowly with lots of power. I was able to start foiling by looping and pumping the foil, and once foiling the kite generated plenty of power to continue and I didn't really want to stop. Even in this light wind, upwind and downwind angles were fantastic as well as speed, especially downwind. Dead flat water helped to reach higher speeds on the foil with hardly any ripples on the water. Gybing was easy with a downloop, for me riding the board in lowriding mode.
A long way from shore the wind dropped to a point where any LEI would have fallen out of the sky, but keeping the chrono in powered loops and low riding the foil, I can't believe I made it back with a dry kite.
Obviously I was underpowered, and I had to loop to start foiling. The kite was only a 12m, so who knows how much lighter wind you could kite in on a 18m.
I am used to riding around on my 17 Edge and Raceboard/foil in hardly any wind and this was even very surprising for me. I would love to see the hangtime on this kite in 25 knots!
The Chrono is an epic kite. Not for everyone, but for seriously high performance in the light stuff nothing I've ever tried is as good.
husa
> 9 months ago, 5 Feb 2014
