Wondering how the 18m Phanonm is on the water?
I'm 175lbs riding a LF Proof 151/ Litewave Wing 153
What size LEI would it compare to? Wind range?

it will lite you up.! fun , fast . very powerful. upwind like mad

13-20mph

like a 16 lei

More like a 14/15 SLE (or a 16m C-kite). A Phantom 18 was my go-to kite for several years in Hawaii. Faster than a Guerilla 18 by loads, and a lot more depower. Just don't let it get into the water. The few times mine went in the water I don't think I ever managed to relaunch it before it bowtied. It was a great kite in its day, and a decent kite by today's standards.

oh yeah ..DON'T DROP THIS KITE, def right there BK. give yourself plenty height on down loops ....then HANG ON! it was depower before depower arrived.

I had my first flight of the 18 yesterday in low wind. I could definitely see it would be difficult to relaunch in water. In particular once the fabric gets a bit heavy from some water. The autozenith and stability of the kite makes it possible not to hit the water. I will give it a try sometime.

Hardwaterkiter is looking to put a bridle on his. There is a thread over at Arcuser.net. i would like to give that a try as well. I really like the way the Phantoms turn as is though. They kind of make an s-shape when yu make a hard turn with the bar. I was using an Ocean Rodeo SLE bar with under the bar trim which helped get to the right tuning. I had to pull in a lot more trim than I expected to have it not stall.

very strong auto zenith indeed. like a venom16 , it really gives you a strong bar to hold on to.

i wish i had recoated mine with sealer. it would have made relaunch doable.

the bridle thing, its redundant to the web straps inside. had one on a venom from KS and hi winds sessions just ripped it out. adds drag, adds weight ..the added feature ...less than PHANTOM can be. that ain't so good. its a simple add on though, but very hard to get an exact "helpful" length thats not TOO slack or too tight.

Different kind of bridal Phree. Similar to a VPC.

Been playing with the 18m bone stock and she does fly really nice. Not as much raw power as the F-Arcs which is unfortunate but it actually has noticeable depow which is a plus.

Turn rate is okay. Pretty much as I remember from the few times I've played with them in the past. I'll play with the bridal more later but for now I want to get more of feel for her stock.

AD is right about turning. There is considerable wing warp. If she goes upwind half as good as an F-Arc she'll be awesome.

check , wing tip bridal, gotcha, thinking bob bridal.

Feyd - I just picked up some Amsteel line. Send me info on what you would like to test out and I will give it a go. I assume some reinforcement will be required.

AD I'll let you know when I get a chance to figure out dimensions. Shouldn't be hard, just need to take the time and do it.

I don't think it will need any reinforcement as the load will be spread only on the original attachment points.

I'll keep you posted.

Here is a link to the original Phantom brochure.

Quote:

Originally posted by AD72 Here is a link to the original Phantom brochure.

Wow, I want to buy one of those now! :duh::duh::wow:

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob Quote: Originally posted by AD72 Here is a link to the original Phantom brochure. Wow, I want to buy one of those now! :duh::duh::wow:

Yeah right...all you need is a 6 and you will have collected em' all.
But the 6 is not for kitesurfing according to the brochure. I think you would need to be on a stand up paddleboard for that to work.

Quote:

Originally posted by AD72 Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob Quote: Originally posted by AD72 Here is a link to the original Phantom brochure. Wow, I want to buy one of those now! :duh::duh::wow: Yeah right...all you need is a 6 and you will have collected em' all. But the 6 is not for kitesurfing according to the brochure. I think you would need to be on a stand up paddleboard for that to work.

I knew I'd get busted on that one. My 9 needs some intensive care to be flight worthy. AJ (who I bought the 9 from) has had quite a few sessions on a 6 in the water. He's not what you'd call a regular guy with a kite though. :o

I got skunked today on a 12tube. It was too gusty for the SA. I wish I would have brought the Phantom 18. Although I think it needs some waterproof coating as mentioned above. Why I like the LEi. Water off a ducS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s back.

To be honest, I don't think an 18m Phantom has much (if any) more bottom end than a 12m bow. On the water at least. My 19m Venom had more bottom end than my 18m Phantom did, and I couldn't use it unless the wind was over 18 mph. My 13m Bularoo has about the same bottom end as my 19m Venom had. I weigh 240 and kite on the ocean, so that may effect things, too.

18m Phantom in Kailua, HI

No Photo editing here,
I saw an Peter Lynn 18m Phantom ARC at the Naish Kailua
Kiteboarding race (Aug'10) and looked like he was having a good time out there.

Totally cool to watch and stoked a fire for me
to use the ARC foil engine again.
Now I own a 15m, 10m CH, and an 8m Syn :wink2:

Ha! That looks like a photoshop

Here's a pic of me on the water with an 18 back in the day. It's possible, but I had much more fun on the Venoms and newer kites on water. For me I needed 15 plus to have fun. Let me know when you've got the bridle figured out Chris. I've got a college kid working on them for the Gs as well.

Aaron, Chris K -
interested in any tip bridle mods u come up with.

Thanks,

krumly