So,

for those of you that own a v13 and ride on the water, what is the reasonable upper end of that kite (ie, the upper end before the whole skipping over the water and barely holding on stage).
I'm 170lbs.

Also, bought the v13 used a couple months back and it was set to flag off the back line, but it wasn't flagging far enough (don't ask, too complicated). The original trimmer with front line flagging was included too. The easiest solution I could see was to just use that so I set that up. BUT, at the end, I noticed that the rings on the trimmer that my depower rope attaches to are different. The 1st trimmer had 2 rings, one thinner d ring and another thicker triangular shaped ring. This 2nd trimmer that supports front line flagging has only the thinner d ring to hook my depower rope up to. Honestly, looks pretty darn thin to be supporting my weight plus extra forces during jumps. Is this this stock or is this 2nd trimmer missing a ring? I'll include a pic soon. It's the original 04 bar by the way.

thanks

At your weight on a flat fast board in smooth water I think you should be getting upwind in about 12-14 mph, be in the sweet spot from about 16-24 and be overpowered but able to hang in there up to about 28-32 mph. That would be riding real slowly, trimmer pulled in all the way, bar all the way out, kite up at 11:00 or 1:00, slowly cruising upwind and having lots of lift available when you pull the bar in. You should have those rear lines loose. Sometimes a bit of stretch on the front lines makes those rears relatively tight in heavy wind, which really hurts your top end as well as upwind performance. If you suspect this is happening when you already have your trimmer pulled in all the way, the easy solutions are to add 6 inches of rear line extensions or attach the front lines 6 inches closer to thhe kite.

Not sure about the flagging issue so I won't try to comment.

Good luck, that is a great kite.

John

been into the 40s at 200 ibs.

30 for sure, trim to favor the bottom end(loose) you'll have better upwind and plenty of highwind range.

if you trim to favor MORE POWER(tight ) it will tend to stall and not do low wind so good and in high wind you'll be super lit with ton of bar pressure and very sensitive and this setting in high wind can be brutal if you NEED depower to ride.

flag on the front more predictable
keep the rings simple , one on the trimmer, one on a front line. your leash goes to the front line.

excellent unit ,

check kite pigtail length. best to go the measurement on the reference below

http://www.kite-fantastic.co.uk/articles/mx5alan/peter-lynn-...

most used gear i have gotten have too short leaders on the front and blunts the range and power of the unit.

all lines rigid, NO STRETCH. kite will not perform on soft lines

I am pretty sure we have the flag happening now .

I think the 2 things I had trouble answering are :

My 07 bar has a much stronger looking triangle shaped ring where the CL rope attaches to the trim strap. The one that Kitedelight is attached to on his 04 bar is round and not near as strong looking. Can somebody look at their 04 bar and see if the round light ring is stock?

I have no Venom background but keep hearing they like extensions . I think Phree has answered that above ?

Didn't know about the stretchy lines ? Not sure I understand? Does one brand stretch more than another? Is this why Qline is recommended?

The 04 my Phantom came with has a bent looking rectangular ring for the front line safety. The leash has an orange plastic ball that fits into it nicely. I think it is a triangle that connects to the chicken loop line but I would have to check.

I'm 200 and was getting jacked by ~35mph wind on my VII 13. I'm sure once I was moving it'd work but would be overpowered, still not sure I'll take it out in 35+ again anytime soon.

ya, okay. I have been snowkiting and landboarding only. I got myself some water gear last year and did some basic water drills but never actually had enough wind at my closer local spot on my days off. But, decided to make a better effort this year, drove a bit further to the 'go to' spot for my first board day. It was blowing 30-45kph and spiking to 50kph (18-30mph I guess). I erred on the side of caution and decided not to take the v13 out. Sounds like with experience, it should be a do-able range, but, maybe not until I get up and running comfortably. My friend has a pretty well used 8m inflatable and he let me learn on it. We switched on and off throughout the day. I was actually able to get up and get going quite a bit. That start up on the water is sure different though! had my fair share of supermans.

About the trimmer, my question isn't really about the flag rings. I have those under control and it works well. The rings are thick enough for my comfort. It's the ring that attaches to my depower rope. I only have on option on this trimmer, and it is a thinner d-ring. See the pic. I am wondering if this is right because on the other trimmer, I could attach the depower rope to a thicker triangular ring.

this is my depower rope attached to the trimmer, this is the ring I am concerned is too thin.

need to show buclkle and loop some have a smaller metal stop on the underneath side of the buckle. but usually stays at that point.

the triangle should be on there somewhere

Quote:

Originally posted by Bladerunner I am pretty sure we have the flag happening now . I think the 2 things I had trouble answering are : My 07 bar has a much stronger looking triangle shaped ring where the CL rope attaches to the trim strap. The one that Kitedelight is attached to on his 04 bar is round and not near as strong looking. Can somebody look at their 04 bar and see if the round light ring is stock? I have no Venom background but keep hearing they like extensions . I think Phree has answered that above ? Didn't know about the stretchy lines ? Not sure I understand? Does one brand stretch more than another? Is this why Qline is recommended?

I have had the triangle fail where I have never had a problem with stainless rings!Line -stretch happens to main lines more due to different loads differences to steering lines. Thats when pig-tails come into play or adjustment knots in bar leaders.........aj

"need to show buclkle and loop some have a smaller metal stop on the underneath side of the buckle. but usually stays at that point.
the triangle should be on there somewhere"
Phree,
you would think so, I'll take a look again, but there was no triangular ring to be seen. I took a good look cause I was very surprised to find no triangular ring.


"I have had the triangle fail where I have never had a problem with stainless rings"
Jackson,
Do you mean you have used this particular ring (the ring in my picture) attached to your depower rope and have been fine?

Yes, used and abused it! no failures on d-rings only on triangler one! Of course failure of triangler one could not of happen in worst case! Third set out and it goes and put full pressure on steering lines. Had to struggle to get in thru the rip currents!Now on big wave days I were a kayak vest!............

so, this is the pic, no other ring to be seen.

Jackson,
wow, okay. Don't feel so bad if this is all I got. Still though, it's pretty darn thin! It's amazing it can take those forces during jumps!

this is it (the server complained it was too big on the last post)

thin yes it is. BUT its been in service since 04/05 . i would think the rating is fine. but visually its questionable to you. any distortion in the D SHAPE? voids at the joint? rust?

find one you're comfortable with, and add something like this

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductD...

turn it side ways add lock tight(red)

the strap is sewn closed then this is the simplest way. u could run them together.

A POINT OF CAUTION. you'll be swapping a closed ring for a pin screw shackle. DO NOT take apart the strap.

i have never had this issue but use YOUR best judgment . your gonna be the one swimming.

the zero4 bar came with a D-ring that you were supposed to run the kite leash through. That idea was later recalled because the leash could get hung up on the ring.

So they recommended not using it that way at all. There should be a triangular ring for the depower line. It likely has failed if it's not there.

ya, I looked a few 04 bar pictures online, and they all had the triangular ring. So, I wasn't sure if this trimmer with the thinner D ring was stock or had been moded in some way. Sounds like the triangular ring broke I guess.

lol, that amazing that little ring works. Jackson has been using it with no issues. That little thing is impressive!

i'll probably use it for the time being for landboarding and it's low end on water.

The d-ring was originally intended only as a GUIDE for the leash and not to take the load of the depower rope. Use it with caution.

I'll be switching it out in the near future for something thicker. It's interesting to know that it still works though.

thanks for the input all!