windstruck Posted December 16, 2017 Report Posted December 16, 2017 Steffen and his crew at Born-Kites continue to innovate and today made public their newest offering, the RaceStar. Like their other kites this one is SS too. I'm going to be getting one over the winter and plan to bring it to IBX2018. I'm excited and a little nervous to fly such a high (6.0) AR kite, but who knows, maybe I'll be the fastest SS guy on the playa! Steffen sent me some pictures and a series of bullet points describing his new baby. I believe it will be available for purchase early next year. Gotta love that Steffen keeps innovating!!! RaceStar, the first serial single skin high performer AR = 6.0, very good up-wind characteristics Construction without profile ribs, thus barrier-free flow distribution on the bottom of the kite from the center to the tip Reduced bridle design offers low air resistance Start and landing stress-free without additional "staff" possible because super fast, the air flow is applied and can be eliminated Single skin construction, high light wind properties, crash unsusceptibility, very small pack size, minimal weight and unaffected by flying snow or sand Loops can be flown via tip or center rotation Very pleasant bar holding forces for long stress-free kiting Depower function like the LongStar 2 and StreetStar out of the "belly" and not on the tips The RS can be flown with any conventional control bar Considerably cheaper than a double skin high performer SoutherlyBuster, BigTone and nigel 1 2 Quote
SoutherlyBuster Posted December 16, 2017 Report Posted December 16, 2017 Very clean shape in the air, not just a computer generated picture, actual on the field proof. Great work! windstruck 1 Quote
BigTone Posted December 16, 2017 Report Posted December 16, 2017 Im looking forward to this one. Was just about to order a 9 meter longstar, but will hold off now. Looks like less bridles too which is hopefully a good thing. Its the only downside to SS. The LS2’s are great kites, so hopefully these will be too. windstruck 1 Quote
plummet Posted December 17, 2017 Report Posted December 17, 2017 Now that's getting more interesting. A high aspect single skin. SoutherlyBuster and windstruck 2 Quote
Tiger37 Posted December 19, 2017 Report Posted December 19, 2017 Wow that's a good looking kite and after the success of LongStar2 I'm sure it will be a great kite! windstruck 1 Quote
igeighty Posted December 20, 2017 Report Posted December 20, 2017 the speed that you and John where getting at Kingston on the Longster 2 was nothing to be sneezed at. Put one of these in your hands, and id say easy 80kph ? its a great looking kite, even I would like to try one. (and I can't do depower) 3 weeks is too soon to get one here for Kingston ? Quote
windstruck Posted December 20, 2017 Author Report Posted December 20, 2017 Steffen provided me a more detailed explanation of how DP works for his line of DP kites (LS2, SS, and RS). "DP works with variable AOA. The kite blows mainly in the "belly" and only minimally on the tips, this leaves the kite in depowered state with relatively quiet flight." Below are three pictures depicting this function: Tiger37 1 Quote
windstruck Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Posted December 21, 2017 Steffen let me know that the tensile strength of pull is comparable square meter for square meter between the LS2s to the RSs. The LS2s are sized one half meter larger. The AR of the LS2s and RSs are very different so they will move in the air differently of course. Steffen noted that due to the increased air speed of the RSs more flow is built up. Apparent wind... whippee! One more useful picture depicting the axis of rotation during DP for the RS: Quote
windstruck Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Posted December 21, 2017 THIS JUST IN: The RaceStar will also be available as a 5m. It will be red and black. So, sizes will apparently be 5.0, 7.0, 9.0, and 11.0m. Quote
windstruck Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Posted December 21, 2017 Added a pic just now of the 5m. She's a beauty! Quote
windstruck Posted January 15, 2018 Author Report Posted January 15, 2018 Some snowkiting action with the soon to be released 11.0m RS. It looked as if there was some nice pull in low wind. I'm looking forward to these. There is a great shot in the very beginning of the video below with all of Steffen's kites out in the snow. Born-Porn at its finest! SoutherlyBuster and BigTone 2 Quote
Tiger37 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Posted January 16, 2018 @windstruck - any further news on this kite? Having so much fun at our Kingston meet with 3.5 and 7.5 LongStar2 that I am seriously thinking I need to complement them with a Born 9m and this might be better than a 9.5 Longstar. Quote
BigTone Posted January 16, 2018 Report Posted January 16, 2018 Steffen says it will go on sale next month (Feb). Im thinking about a 9 as well - to start with..... :-) Tiger37 1 Quote
windstruck Posted January 16, 2018 Author Report Posted January 16, 2018 18 hours ago, Tiger37 said: @windstruck - any further news on this kite? Having so much fun at our Kingston meet with 3.5 and 7.5 LongStar2 that I am seriously thinking I need to complement them with a Born 9m and this might be better than a 9.5 Longstar. I don't have any news beyond what I've already shared. I'll be getting a 5.0m and 9.0m RaceStar once they become available and hope to use them first in the beginning of April at IBX2018 on the dry lake bed playa of Ivanpah on the border of CA and NV near Las Vegas. I have a complete LS2 quiver so if the wind cooperates I hope to be able to do some back to back comparisons in close size proximity (5.0m RS vs 5.5m LS2 and 9.0m RS vs 9.5m LS2). Quote
Tiger37 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Posted January 16, 2018 16 minutes ago, windstruck said: I don't have any news beyond what I've already shared. I'll be getting a 5.0m and 9.0m RaceStar once they become available and hope to use them first in the beginning of April at IBX2018 on the dry lake bed playa of Ivanpah on the border of CA and NV near Las Vegas. I have a complete LS2 quiver so if the wind cooperates I hope to be able to do some back to back comparisons in close size proximity (5.0m RS vs 5.5m LS2 and 9.0m RS vs 9.5m LS2). That would be very interesting if you were able to do a back to back comparison. I look forward to reading your results. Thanks Jase Shepperd and windstruck 2 Quote
windstruck Posted January 31, 2018 Author Report Posted January 31, 2018 Just got a new video sent to me by Steffen. Features his orange and black ribbon doing some nice work in 7-8 knots of wind. They were in a mountain ski spot in Italy that looks outstanding! I had some pangs of envy seeing all those folks out enjoying the wind with kites. Thought folks would enjoy a gander! Quote
Tiger37 Posted January 31, 2018 Report Posted January 31, 2018 @windstruck many thanks. What a beautiful spot. The kite looks steady and not too heavy on the bar. Can't wait to see one! windstruck 1 Quote
windstruck Posted January 31, 2018 Author Report Posted January 31, 2018 43 minutes ago, Tiger37 said: @windstruck many thanks. What a beautiful spot. The kite looks steady and not too heavy on the bar. Can't wait to see one! I'm right there with ya! I'm getting a 5m and 9m RS and will hopefully have them in hand by the end of February. My first realistic chance to fly them while moving in a buggy will be the first week of April on Ivanpah at IBX2018. Can't wait! Tiger37 and BigTone 2 Quote
windstruck Posted February 22, 2018 Author Report Posted February 22, 2018 Steffen shared a picture with me of the soon-to-be-released RaceStars in all their natural beauty. They have done a lot of testing with them in the snow and as a result have worked with the bridle line manufacturer to make the lines silver grey. In their original white color folks could step on the lines since they blended in with the snow. These should be available by the end of February! SoutherlyBuster and Tiger37 2 Quote
windstruck Posted February 24, 2018 Author Report Posted February 24, 2018 Getting ever closer!!! SoutherlyBuster 1 Quote
Tiger37 Posted February 25, 2018 Report Posted February 25, 2018 7 hours ago, windstruck said: Getting ever closer!! They look great. Got to be the 11m. Pity Steffen is not including a bigger one!! Any idea of price yet? Quote
windstruck Posted February 25, 2018 Author Report Posted February 25, 2018 6 hours ago, Tiger37 said: They look great. Got to be the 11m. Pity Steffen is not including a bigger one!! Any idea of price yet? I'm not sure about how aspect ratio affects "pull" but the projected areas of these four RSs are all about 88% or 89% of their stated sizes (9.7 / 11 x 100) which are higher than, for example, the Peak3s: https://flysurfer.com/project/peak3/ The projected area of the 11m RS is 9.7m while the projected area of the 12m P3 is 10m. In my simplistic way of thinking about this I suppose this means that the RS flies "flatter" than the P3. Then, taking into account that the RS will likely sit farther forward in the wind window, move faster, and turn with more agility than the 12m P3, has me thinking it will be possible to sine the 11m RS pretty aggressively in light wind to create virtual wind and thus power. All this mental gymnastics has me thinking that the 11m RS will outperform the 12m P3 in the buggy if the pilot is willing to work the kite in the air a lot. What else does the pilot have to do? I didn't take the time to search out projected areas of the LS2s, but having flown the 12m Peaks a lot, and the 12.5m LS2 a couple of times has me wanting something with more spunk in the air. Trying to sine these rather, err, "large ladies" is a slow motion dance, sort of like asking a barge to run an obstacle course in a delta. With any good fortune I will have the 5m and 9m RSs in hand for IBX2018 in the first week of April, our annual big power kite event on Ivanpah dry lake on the CA/NV border. Whupp! SoutherlyBuster 1 Quote
Tiger37 Posted February 25, 2018 Report Posted February 25, 2018 Thanks for your mental gymnastics over projected area. Makes sense to me. Very much looking forward to hearing your report after IBX. windstruck 1 Quote
BigTone Posted March 8, 2018 Report Posted March 8, 2018 On 26/02/2018 at 1:19 AM, windstruck said: Trying to sine these rather, err, "large ladies" is a slow motion dance, sort of like asking a barge to run an obstacle course in a delta. Hey @windstruck Did Steffen send you the two extra pig tails for your 12.5 LS2? He sent me a red and blue pigtail about 6 inches long with the kite, but i didn't put them on for ages, but when i did, it was like flying a different kite. It turned a LOT quicker (relatively speaking) that it does without them. So if you don't have those pigtails just make up and add about 4-6 inches to the red and blue lines.... windstruck 1 Quote
windstruck Posted March 8, 2018 Author Report Posted March 8, 2018 (edited) 7 hours ago, BigTone said: Hey @windstruck Did Steffen send you the two extra pig tails for your 12.5 LS2? He sent me a red and blue pigtail about 6 inches long with the kite, but i didn't put them on for ages, but when i did, it was like flying a different kite. It turned a LOT quicker (relatively speaking) that it does without them. So if you don't have those pigtails just make up and add about 4-6 inches to the red and blue lines.... I'm curious if perhaps the pigtails you are talking about are the ones I'm showing in the picture below. These are pigtails from a set of Z-bridles Steffen sold to me a while back (I have 1.5, 2.5, 3.2, and 4.0m NS3s strung with Z-bridles). By your description these look like the ones you are talking about! EDIT - Now that I think about it I don't think these are from Z-bridles, but rather I salvaged them from the rigging of the original LongStars! I was fiddling with them and trying out some different setups as I hadn't been pleased with the way they worked stock with the reverse push / pull bar action. Edited March 8, 2018 by windstruck Came to my senses. Quote
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