New F-One closed cell foil....

[jhn.holgate]

I spied a few closed cell foils in the recent Kite Foil Gold Cup video that I didn't recognize giving the Ozone and Flysurfer high aspect closed cell depowers a run for their money.  Turns out F-One in conjunction with Gin is manufacturing them.

Full info here: http://www.f-onekites.com/News/Products/Post/kitefoil

A little bit of info from the site which talks about the light wind advantages of the closed cell foils v LEI's...

- But why should customers need a foil kite? 

Of course foiling competitors won’t be the only ones to enjoy the benefits of foil kites. When we looked at the "ultra light" wind conditions, so below 10 knots, the foil kites became clearly interesting. In those light condition the foil kites are lighter than big inflatable sizes and they also have better performances. They deliver more power but have also more speed so on a hydrofoil you can make the most of the speed they provide to create apparent wind.

You can therefore use a kite of smaller area with great power, light-weight and high performances.
Moreover hydrofoils are actually going so fast that you need a fast kite to keep everything on the same balance. It’s quite a different thing from riding a twintip which is much slower.

Edited August 3, 2015 by jhn.holgate

[nigel]

Gin have been dabbling in the kite scene for 10 odd years now.

Well known for a quality product, much like Ozone, they are a paragliding manufacturer.

Interesting to see they have formed a partnership with F-One.

Now the big question, price and sizes??

[Spartan]

 Not another one..

Of all the foil kites now on the market  has anyone done a test on which one is the best kite  on the market at the moment

 Taking into account light wind flying, durability and  ease-of-use ?

Edited August 3, 2015 by Spartan

[nigel]

Seems to be which one is the fastest, gets more qudos, George.

 

I know the HQ one on the way is designed for ease of use, just as the Chrono II is.

Again just like all kites, what do you want?

The faster they go the more twitchy they will be, and the more effort your going to need to fly them.

And new bridles as well, if you want to be super fast.

Price is also a big consideration at this end of the market.

[KiteStyle]

From the latest foil gold cup reporting:

The kites, now primarily the high aspect RAM foil type, added yet another twist recently, with F-One kites introducing a third bridal that allows the riders to induce camber into the kite on downwind legs, effectively creating a more spinnaker-like configuration. It did not take riders on other kites long to quickly improvise the third bridal on their own rigs and stay in the ever changing game.

[.Joel]

Talk about tweaking out your gear.... things have become even more interesting.  Riders whom understand their gear and how to tweak it can now start to change their gear to get a competitive edge depending on the courses etc.

[andy666]

Umm, libre did this a few years ago with the radical II

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com.au&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.libre.de/RadicalII.html&usg=ALkJrhhO1Gt9d6VpKzZwfdc7nB6Rk7PcKg

 

[.Joel]

Photo Credit: Mark Van den Berg

[andy666]

If I was looking for a closed cell race kite I would still go with one of the manufactures that has previous experience making high performance closed cell depowers (Flysurfer, elf, ozone) rather than a companies first attempt. Not saying that a first attempt won't be any good, or that previous experience is a guarantee, just that it's a safer bet. 

[KiteStyle]

I would have thought it's essentially a rebranded Gin, no?  They should bring plenty of experience to the table..

 

[nigel]

I agree.

If it's had some Gin input, I too would rate it quite well.

Their construction should be equal to Ozone.

And if they were selling it a bit cheaper than the other brands, I don't see why it would not  be safe bet.

 

But like all these high end kites, there's no way I'm tempted to part with 2K+ without a test fly. 

[.Joel]

The F-One foil kite is called the "Diablo" and so far has been noted to come in sizes 6.4m, 8m, 10m, 11m, 12m, 15m and 18m.

[andy666]

The F-One foil kite is called the "Diablo" and so far has been noted to come in sizes 6.4m, 8m, 10m, 11m, 12m, 15m and 18m.

seriously, 10m 11m 12m??? Either they are so focused on racing that they want you to get the most exactly perfect kite size or they have bugger all wind range. Or maybe it's just a carry over from lei sizing, where they make every possible size with huge over laps. 

[gum-nuts]

Start saving your $$$'s if you want a Diablo, the 6.4 starts at $2249 (kite only) and up to $3149 for the 15m, this is an early bird discount, then the 6.4m will be $3000 approx (kite only).

[jhn.holgate]

$3000.00??  Nooooooooooooo......!!!!

[gum-nuts]

$3000.00??  Nooooooooooooo......!!!!

And I thought Ozones and Flysurfers were expensive! 

Apparently (I was told) they are winning everything and are in very high demand.

[rtz]

Video shows the kite.  Looks like it has "plastic string trimmer cord" in the leading edge for shaping.  Also look how unreal the aspect ratio is.  That 6.4m kite is huge.  Can't imagine the bigger ones.

 

 

http://www.f-onekites.com/Products/Kites/Produit/Diablo