geokite - 12-3-2007 at 05:00 PM
I've been flying kites for 18 years now, power kites for 17 or so. Started on Flexi's (original ones, not bridled foils), have made my own foils, use
a buggy, land board, and kite board. When got my first Peter Lynn arc (or twinskin), I was just amazed at how much more enjoyable it was than a foil.
I won't say why, so as to not taint this poll.
I'm curious, if you don’t fly arcs currently, why not?
Pablo - 12-3-2007 at 06:58 PM
I've flown them and love them, sort of got out of them when I got into the quest for speed. They're awesome kites for freestyle, and do a good job at
crossing over from land to surf to snow. Now that I'm getting back into freestyle I've considered picking up another one, When I had my V13, I flew it
in 5mph gusting to 25mph and still got a ride out of it. Super stable, very easy to learn.
The only real drawback to the Arcs is that they don't do super hot in under 10mph winds.
lunchbox - 13-3-2007 at 08:49 AM
I think Pablo nailed it...they don't do good in light wind. I love them in winds over 10mph. Another factor for me not using them on a daily basis
(lunch hour at my local park), I don't have time to wait while they fill up with air...using my fixed bridal or depowerable foil, I'm ready to go in 5
mins. I'm still a newbie, but wanted to put in my 2cents. They're really great kites...I'm still curious why I don't see more of them...Marketing
would be my guess. Kinda reminds me of the Mac versus Windows scenario early on...
Bladerunner - 13-3-2007 at 04:11 PM
Yup,
I would agree that the biggest drawbacks are the lack of low wind + slow inflation for land lubbers. My old F-arc doesn't relaunch well at all in
the water ( high aspect ) . I think they improved on that greatly though. Also people who like water 1st probably like inflatables for self rescue.
Beginners on water are usually shy of them. Arcs also fly a bit different so switching to them takes some adjustment time. No one seems to know how to
catch an arc properly around here ( accept the land crew ) so coming in off the water can be a challenge.
Oh ya, and that bow tie thing with my F-arc really gets too me !!!!!
That said, I think they are great kites and think Peter Lynn is a visionary. In fairness someone should start a poll, What DO you like about Arcs over
other kites.
Pablo - 13-3-2007 at 11:20 PM
People are fooling themselves if they think they're safe with a LEI for self rescue, We've seen more than a couple burst a bladder when hitting the
water hard, put that together with the one pump type of kites and you could easily get stuck with a deflated kite. The truth of the matter is you
should be wearing some sort of flotation device if you're going into deep waters.
Can you say "Electric Leaf Blower" 18m Phantom in under 2 min.
deanaoxo - 24-3-2007 at 12:45 PM
Love my phantoms, love 'em.
drawbacks: self-launch, doable but tricky.
self-landing, especially on playa, tuff.
For land, i think the wind threshold is lower, cause i can go pretty good with my big one(don't know size, not on it, i keep forgetting, big, around
14?)in fact, i've buggied out of real wind and run along on apparent, and stopped to adjust something on my buggy and found out there was no wind.
Had to walk back almost 2 miles! Found this spot where there was just enough wind to go, and was able to go in and out of the no wind zone and keep
buggying...
Plus: Fun to fly, stable, fast, quick turning. wide wind range, de-power.
Overall love these kites.
aoxo~!