Video: Foil Lofting

[Whitey]

No worries Rick. Yes I do find it curious that there are not more foils on the water. It's just my opinion but I think that there are three factors that play into the low numbers.

First is cost. The few models of foils that are super stable, with lots of depower, cost more than most LEI kites.

Second is that they are not marketed here in the US. When is the last time you saw a Flysurfer demo day at any beach in Florida? Or a school that teaches people how to ride on foil kites.

Third is that in the natural progression of this sport folks think it started on foils then progressed to LEI C kites, then to LEI bow kites, and the foils got left behind as an obsolete class.

To answer your question. It is absolutely possible to be lofted on a foil kite. I own both type of kites, and from my experience I think that if you put yourself in a situation that provides the conditions for a lofting, and the condition happens, you are going to be lofted weather you have a C kite, bow kite, or foil kite.

I think your point is that Riders need to be aware of their surroundings and understand that wind follows the contours of the solid objects it flows over. Walking up to the edge of a sand dune, treeline, Jetty, building, ridgeline with any power kite over your head is like playing with a loaded gun.

What riders think or have been told is total depower is not really total depower. You may walk up to that group of friends in front of the same sand dune, treeline, or building 100 times and have a talk, then on the 101st time, up you go.

Your 80% depower applied to the horizontal wind leaves you with 20% pulling you up, added to that lift factor is the fact that the depower designed into the kite has 0% effect at reducing the lift provided by the vertical wind caused by flow over the dune or object, and up you go.

There are things you can do to reduce your chances of lofting.

Don't stand on the beach with our kites overhead.

Avoid approaching the area upwind of bumps in the land, large or small.

In gusty conditions keep your kite out of the 12 o'clock position.

If you get caught out riding and the wind increases to the point you are over powered and you have to come in to land your kite, get off your board early (at least two line lengths before you hit the beach) as you are being pulled to the shoreline signal for a landing, keep your kite low at the edge of the window (not over head) and depowered into the hands of the person landing it.