So a few months back I bought a 13m Bomba, which I grabbed 'spur of the moment' and now am wondering if I should switch over to something in a foil equivalent.

I did not know 13m arc has about the same area as an 8m and when I find that I want a bit more power than my 4m trainer, I find myself struggling with taking the 13m out. I love the flop and fly of my 4m vs the pain in the ass of getting my 13m out, inflated and up in the air(typically 2min for the 4 vs 15 for the arc).

I am most likely going to keep the arc, but as it is not likely I will be getting into water until next year(and will be aiming for a LEI) should I spend a bit of money and get one of the ~8m foils for sale to fill the need in my quiver?

Also, is depower that important when running on and ATB (and hopefully a buggy at some point?)

thanks,

L

Try leaving your spars in the kite and lines attached. You just unroll the kite, unzip the inflate zipper, unroll the lines, top off the inflation and you should be flying in 3-5 minutes. Depower is probably more helpful and important on a board than in the buggy. I fly both in the buggy depending on conditions.

I am not sure if my kite is set up properly. I leave it all together and it still takes that long to get up and going. I find it never inflates at all and when I try to launch, I need to leave the bar all the way out and let it float in the wind for 2 minutes to inflate. It usually takes me 3 or 4 attempts before it finally fills with air and rises up.

I really would love help with it, but no one local seems to care about arcs or even give lessons. I may take a pic or two to show you what I see and maybe I just have to adjust my lines a bit more?

Are you laying the kite out with an end weighted down with the inflate zipper open so the wind can inflate the kite while you lay your lines out and get your bar ready????

If you prep correctly by the time you have your lines set up you just walk back to the kite....zip up the inflate zipper and launch....all set to rock.....

Watching a Peter Lynn Twinskin "how to" video would not hurt.

PL ARC set-up (older arcs)

btw. Bomba 13m is still a great kite to learn on, great autozenith, fast enough but still gentle, and drifts nice, so it is harder to bow tie than newer arcs.

Yeah, I watched it a few times, but without having zippers on either end of the kite, it is very tough to inflate. I basically have to hot launch with the bar all the way out, walking backwards and steering it back and fourth until it fills with air to get it going. I have never had it fill with air like they do in the video.

Where did you get a Bomba with no zippers???? Not even a center zipper like is on the Phantom in the video???

Is there a velcro'd inlet in the center of the trailing edge of the kite???

What I do with my Bomba's is get the one wing inflated from the the center zipper......close the zipper.....give the inflated wing tip a quick roll that moves the air to the other tip....open the zip and finish inflating.....it works quick and is much better than launching an uninflated arc........

What I do with my Phanny is fill it. Close the zipper and roll the air up to the top . Then I refill the bottom. Works pretty good!

I do here your pain with set up / tear down. I bought an open cell for those days I don't want to waist time with inflation.

I would suggest that if you do buy an open cell ( Flysurfers fill fast as well ) you look at a 10m to cover you from lower winds than you Bomba will fly in. Then you can go to the Bomba if it's too strong for the 10m?

Fixed bridle can be used for ATB and is the kite of choice for many in the buggy but I find depower much more rewarding.

Blade has it.....that is why I have a Flysurfer in my quiver and also a rechargeable leaf blower......

Yeah, I have the center zipper.... Never thought about doing it half then doing the other half, I will try that next time.

Yeah, I really want a 10m, but there seems to be A LOT of 8's for sale right now. I know I would love that $400 flysurfer, but I really need to save cash for the water stuff going on sale in the next month or so.

I will watch out for a 10..

Leaf blower, fantastic...

Just out of curiosity - are you perhaps flying in winds that are maybe a little light for the Bomba? I'd think that it really wouldn't come to life anyway in winds under 18km/h or so (steady) but really shining from there on up to whatever you can hold.....it certainly would inflate in a blink in the proper winds.

I think the 13's and 15's are the sweetest of the Arc sizes. Hang onto it - I think you'll find it a trusty companion when the winds are up.

It sounds like you are trying to fly in very light wind to me? My 13m Venom is a little easier to fill than a Bomba but its still a pain in light winds. It only takes seconds in a good breeze though - 15mph or so. I think its effective wind range on an ATB is 15 - 25mph for me anyway so i'm not getting it out until then.

Below 15 i'm using my Access and I mostly use that all the way up to 20mph when I switch to small fixed bridles (because I don't have a small depower)

if its ten mph or below I use my 6.6m Blade.

I would never use an Arc in the water. LEI does everything better these days. They were a good alternative when LEIs were all C shaped but itmes change...


Having bought the Bomba I would stick with it for a while if I were you. Depower is generally better on a board - you can just let the bar out in gusts instead of having to let the board go downwind to avoid falling off. also big surface area for floaty landings when you jump. I prefer FB in light wind though because they are faster and have more power for their size. ie its easier to "create" more apparent wind because you can use kite speed and low drag to your advantage.

A big flysurfer may change my mind on that.

My Arc doesn't really have a proper job in my quiver. I just like flying an Arc sometimes

Bladerunner and others!

THanks for the suggestion of filling half, closing the zipper and pushing the air to the other side of the kite. It takes a bit longer to fill, but it went almost straight up.

HOwever, I am not sure my kite is working right. In order to launch and fly the kite I have to have the trim all the way out. I read in the manual that if the kite sways in zenith the back lines are probably to loose and to let the trim out?? Do i just tighten the back lines?

If I pull the tension in I loose all control of the kite (which I would expect given the very long back lines.). But even with the trim all the way out, there is very little pressure on the bar.

Thoughts?

Sounds like back lines are long for sure.....arcs aren't "high" bar pressure, but there is at least a somewhat direct feel!

If you are truly losing tension in your back lines you should see a big slack arc in them ?

A tiny bit of arc when trimmed in is normal.

I agree with lives2fly, it sounds to me that you may be trying to fly your bomba in too light of wind. I wouldn't even bring that out unless the winds were at least 15-20mph winds. I was flying my 15mPhantom last weekend on the water in 20+ winds.

As for using a depower with a ATB, it will eventually probably seem easier with the depower kites. I have just taken to the board myself (have been buggying for 5 years). Two very good landboarders told me that landboarding is so much easier when you can sit back in your harness and let the kite work while you just sit back and guide the board!

Although the 13m Bomba may have the same projected area as an 8m foil, if flying a 8m foil on handles, you will be getting one heck of a work out in 15mph winds. While I was flying my 15m Phantom in 20mph winds, If I were on land in the buggy in 20mph winds I would only be using a 5m or 6m kite. This is just my experience. some others may differ.