Power Kite Forum

Big news at HQ

nate76 - 15-10-2017 at 05:47 AM

HQ is going to be shaking things up a bit this winter, with some exiting announcements in the next few days. HQ Powerkites is now going to be known as HQ4. They officially debuted their new HQ4 Kites logo today from their facebook page. From what I understand, there has been a great amount of work going into this, including some new kite models and plans to migrate to a brand new website.

You can check out the new logo and (and hopefully very shortly!) the new website at hq4.com

Should be a great winter,

Nate

nate76 - 18-10-2017 at 06:07 AM

The new website is finally up and running. The German side of the site appears a bit more finished than the english side, but lots of cool pictures of their new look to enjoy.

Some of the kites just received a facelift and are not new models. Some of the kites that are completely new are the Montana X and FreeRacer, which I'm really looking forward to testing. The FreeRacer is going to be kind of like a closed cell version of the Zeekai.

Other known changes are that all the depower kites are going to be sold in a kite-only option, with the One Bar being used across the spectrum. I know last winter I upgraded my Apex kite to the One Bar and was really happy with that combo and am personally glad to see it become the standard bar.

If you have any questions on particular models, just let me know and I'll do my best to hunt down some answers.

Cheers, Nate

nate76 - 23-10-2017 at 05:05 AM

Check out HQ4 Kites latest online Magazine: lots of great pics of a recent trip to Sardinia as well info on all their kites from Beamers to the FreeRACER:

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/59485782/hq4-products...

As far as the main HQ4 webpage, it looks like it is still under construction... :sniff:

gemini6kl - 23-10-2017 at 08:40 AM

Wow the new kites look exciting especialky the color schemes. The hq4 link takes u to a blank page that saids coming soon. Do u knw if they will have a 8m cloced cell foil in their lineup.

nate76 - 23-10-2017 at 09:05 AM

Ya, I'm looking forward to seeing some of these in person.

The smallest size closed cells currently are the 9m Matrixx and 10m FreeRacer. I can vouch for the 9m Matrixx being a great kite: super sporty with great hangtime for its size.

I would love to see them make at least one size smaller - like a 6 or 7m Matrixx or even a 5 or 6m Montana. Hopefully in the future.

gemini6kl - 23-10-2017 at 06:37 PM

Yea I don't understand why they stopped at 9m. Foils are like 1 or 2 sizes up on water. so a 9 is like a 10m which will top out at proablly 25knts max I need something for 20 to 30knts my speed 8m was the go to kite for tht range and the 9 would definitely too much.I Cant seem to find an 8m anywhere.

nate76 - 23-10-2017 at 07:00 PM

The 9m Matrixx3 is rated into the mid-high 20's. I think it might have a little less power per sqm than the Speed5, but be a little quicker. At ~200 lbs, I've had my 9m water kiting in mid 20's, in winds that were mildly unstable. Gusts weren't sharp, but it definitely wasn't smooth - regardless I felt comfortable on the wing. In your nice coastal winds, I think it would be a lot of fun at those levels. Would need to respect the power though for sure.

FWIW, I have a customer in Maui who weighs 125lbs - he feels the upper limit for him on the 9m is about 20kts.

gemini6kl - 24-10-2017 at 12:28 PM

They really need to get a 7m or 8 in there i wont feel confident with the 9 in 25knts at all.

Quote: Originally posted by nate76  
The 9m Matrixx3 is rated into the mid-high 20's. I think it might have a little less power per sqm than the Speed5, but be a little quicker. At ~200 lbs, I've had my 9m water kiting in mid 20's, in winds that were mildly unstable. Gusts weren't sharp, but it definitely wasn't smooth - regardless I felt comfortable on the wing. In your nice coastal winds, I think it would be a lot of fun at those levels. Would need to respect the power though for sure.

FWIW, I have a customer in Maui who weighs 125lbs - he feels the upper limit for him on the 9m is about 20kts.

indigo_wolf - 25-10-2017 at 02:48 AM

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl  
Yea I don't understand why they stopped at 9m. Foils are like 1 or 2 sizes up on water. so a 9 is like a 10m which will top out at proablly 25knts max I need something for 20 to 30knts my speed 8m was the go to kite for tht range and the 9 would definitely too much.I Cant seem to find an 8m anywhere.


Even if it is not part of HQ's current lineup. have you considered checking around to see if any of the retailer have any remaining stock on an HQ NEO 3 (which was available in a 6M, 8M, and 11M)?

ATB,
Sam

gemini6kl - 25-10-2017 at 09:17 AM

Neo 3 . Hahah i dont ride 10year old kites. But thnks for the tip.


Quote: Originally posted by indigo_wolf  
Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl  
Yea I don't understand why they stopped at 9m. Foils are like 1 or 2 sizes up on water. so a 9 is like a 10m which will top out at proablly 25knts max I need something for 20 to 30knts my speed 8m was the go to kite for tht range and the 9 would definitely too much.I Cant seem to find an 8m anywhere.


Even if it is not part of HQ's current lineup. have you considered checking around to see if any of the retailer have any remaining stock on an HQ NEO 3 (which was available in a 6M, 8M, and 11M)?

ATB,
Sam

riffclown - 25-10-2017 at 02:02 PM

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl  
Neo 3 . Hahah i dont ride 10year old kites. But thnks for the tip.


Quote: Originally posted by indigo_wolf  
Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl  
Yea I don't understand why they stopped at 9m. Foils are like 1 or 2 sizes up on water. so a 9 is like a 10m which will top out at proablly 25knts max I need something for 20 to 30knts my speed 8m was the go to kite for tht range and the 9 would definitely too much.I Cant seem to find an 8m anywhere.


Even if it is not part of HQ's current lineup. have you considered checking around to see if any of the retailer have any remaining stock on an HQ NEO 3 (which was available in a 6M, 8M, and 11M)?

ATB,
Sam


Funny,, I still prefer my Crossfire II's to anything else for the buggy.

nate76 - 25-10-2017 at 06:19 PM

To be fair to Indigo, the Neo3 is only about 5 years old. And it would definitely be a stable platform for higher winds. HQ also made a 7m Matrixx2 - although they can be hard to find in the US. The Matrixx2's were somewhat of an attempt to combine the Neo and Matrixx, and also make it lightweight. It was a very stable, good natured kite - almost too benign for some, especially in the larger sizes, even though it had a terrific amount of lift and hangtime. They sped everything back up in the Matrixx3 (which is the same kite as the HQ4 Matrixx), but still kept it very stable.

I never flew the 7m Matrixx2 (had the 9m), but imagine it would have been pretty sweet in the 25+kt range. Its interesting to see how foil-boarding is changing people's ideas of what big and small kites are, and you even see it filtering into other sectors of the sport. I think the days of the 21m kite are done, and you're going to see more smaller kites in the future.

abkayak - 25-10-2017 at 07:41 PM

10 yrs old...is just getting broken in around here

gemini6kl - 25-10-2017 at 10:45 PM

A 5 year old kite just wont do it for me. . :D Unless it was top of its game back then. I like cutting edge stuff. Neo's never gave me tht impression.I do however have an eye out for an old phantom 9m just for the cool graphics. I dont get why HQ left out 6 and 8 m kites in their closed cell lineup . Also i see they left out 3m in open cell .

nate76 - 26-10-2017 at 02:37 PM

Hey guys, received some tentative availability dates for here in the US:

Montana, Matrixx and Topaz should be available mid-November.

Apex will be here in December. Its coming in at a great pricepoint, especially for folks who already have a bar they like. It has not been modified significantly from the Apex V, other than being sold as kite only.

Alpha and Beamer should be here in the January timeframe.

For anyone interested, I've got most prices listed here. There are also some sales going on to purge the old inventory - feel free to ping me if you've got any questions.

Last but not least - it appears the hq4.com website is finally up and running - woohoo!