Re: [TEST] Sky Country Hysper-2 4m²
Publié : lun. 25 juil. 2022 21:34
First off, huge apologies to Bozzo. He very kindly sold me his Hysper 4 in December, and a condition was that I write a review for Lesfoilz. I imagine he had given up on me.....but the truth is I lost my sense of balance for several months.....it has not been possible to surf, ride a bike etc. Luckily things are getting back to normal and I have now had some fantastic sessions on this, my new favourite kite. Second...apologies for writing so very much english,,,,,,its all i know
By strange circumstance i had also ordered a Hysper 8 direct from Dymytro at Skycountry in Ukraine ….I ordered in Nov, and as the terrible events of february unfolded I assumed that I would never see that kite....but to my great surprise and with huge conflicting emotions it arrived in mid February......just as Kharkhiv was undergoing the devastating assault from Putin. Unbelievable.... huge thanks to Dymytro and Skycountry ….and as you can imagine I frequently wonder about the destinies of those who so skilfully produced my kites. Suffice to say that the comments here will also be about the 8......which is my second favourite kite of the moment (small kites are always the best.....i`m only 65kg)
A little history about my reference points. I have been kitefoiling for about 4 years. Began with BRM C2 Clouds strutless, then a quiver of Storm Voyager 2`s, then a quiver of self made strutless kites (thanks so much to Karsten at Wingworks for the plans), then after discovering the wonderful experimenters on this forum I have loved a Concept Wave 4.5, Peak 4 3 and 5, and a Firefly 6. I ride a home-made 105 pocket board on 93cm Moses Fluente mast, 633 wing, 483 stab......i enjoy wiggling around on small waves and swell...probably riding pretty slowly most of the time. I thought you might appreciate a comparison of the aspect ratio of my quiver which is interesting …...l to r ….Hysper 8, FF6, Peak4 5, CA Wave 4.5, Hysper 4, Peak 4 3.
The hyspers are built very light indeed. The spinnaker material is very `matt`….does not bead water as one might expect with a new kite....i don’t know if this matters....i read that regis-de-giens applied a water repellent coat...is this a good thing to do...it would be interesting to hear what Skycountry say (Eric?). The bridle lines are very thin indeed....do not let them come anywhere near dried seaweed on the strandline as they act like a magnet to tangle with the weed. Generally very well put together.....time will tell how durable they are.
So far I have only flown the Hyspers on a 50cm bar on 23m lines. I have only hot launched them dead downwind...they fill and power up very quickly indeed. They are very very responsive , the 4 in particular is like a crazy little insect that you can put all over the sky. The feel on the bar is very direct. They seem very accepting of clumsy input and the the sheeting range is quite short....so once you have a feel for it you can fly with gentle variable inputs or use a more on/off style. Their feel is more akin to the Peaks than the Wave/FF......i would say the Hysper 4 is quite similar to the 3m Peak, whilst the Hysper 8 performs with a suprising agility close to that of the Peak 5m. The 4 is very easy to backstall and spin on the spot.....it is a crazy throwaround toy that just inspires confidence. I generally enjoy usng kites from their low to mid range.....so the 4 works for best me from 12 to maybe 18kts, the 8 amazes in being a lot of fun from 5 to maybe 12 knts. I cannot imagine that a bigger Hysper would bring much benefit for me. They do crossover in wind range…...just....I think I will have to investigate the possibility of a 6! At my local spot there are a couple of wind directions which are very gusty and I had adopted wingboarding as a more satisfying alternative in these conditions....the Hysper 4 makes gusty conditions enjoyable …..you can work it through the lulls and it copes with gusts very well. Both kites can turn on their own axis with no power, or to get up and going you can describe a big wide arc which develops a decent amount of pull.
Did I mention the phenomenal drift of these kites?.....all the kites in my little quiver have great drift compared to more conventional kites but I think the Hyspers are the best yet.....today I was in 4 foot swell in dead onshore winds and I could park the kite at 12 and truly ride the rollers in to the beach with no pull from the kite....so much fun!
A complaint levelled at single skin and strutless kites is canopy flutter....this is only ever a problem for me if you sheet out too much and don’t keep the requisite amount of back line tension, or if the kite is pushed above its happy operating window. The Hyspers behave very well with minimum flutter.
So in conclusion....and I know there will always a bit of new kite bias.....I am absolutely thrilled with my Hyspers....they are adding a whole new element of fun to my foiling.....thanks to Bozzo and thanks so much to the folk at Skycountry. Brilliant.
By strange circumstance i had also ordered a Hysper 8 direct from Dymytro at Skycountry in Ukraine ….I ordered in Nov, and as the terrible events of february unfolded I assumed that I would never see that kite....but to my great surprise and with huge conflicting emotions it arrived in mid February......just as Kharkhiv was undergoing the devastating assault from Putin. Unbelievable.... huge thanks to Dymytro and Skycountry ….and as you can imagine I frequently wonder about the destinies of those who so skilfully produced my kites. Suffice to say that the comments here will also be about the 8......which is my second favourite kite of the moment (small kites are always the best.....i`m only 65kg)
A little history about my reference points. I have been kitefoiling for about 4 years. Began with BRM C2 Clouds strutless, then a quiver of Storm Voyager 2`s, then a quiver of self made strutless kites (thanks so much to Karsten at Wingworks for the plans), then after discovering the wonderful experimenters on this forum I have loved a Concept Wave 4.5, Peak 4 3 and 5, and a Firefly 6. I ride a home-made 105 pocket board on 93cm Moses Fluente mast, 633 wing, 483 stab......i enjoy wiggling around on small waves and swell...probably riding pretty slowly most of the time. I thought you might appreciate a comparison of the aspect ratio of my quiver which is interesting …...l to r ….Hysper 8, FF6, Peak4 5, CA Wave 4.5, Hysper 4, Peak 4 3.
The hyspers are built very light indeed. The spinnaker material is very `matt`….does not bead water as one might expect with a new kite....i don’t know if this matters....i read that regis-de-giens applied a water repellent coat...is this a good thing to do...it would be interesting to hear what Skycountry say (Eric?). The bridle lines are very thin indeed....do not let them come anywhere near dried seaweed on the strandline as they act like a magnet to tangle with the weed. Generally very well put together.....time will tell how durable they are.
So far I have only flown the Hyspers on a 50cm bar on 23m lines. I have only hot launched them dead downwind...they fill and power up very quickly indeed. They are very very responsive , the 4 in particular is like a crazy little insect that you can put all over the sky. The feel on the bar is very direct. They seem very accepting of clumsy input and the the sheeting range is quite short....so once you have a feel for it you can fly with gentle variable inputs or use a more on/off style. Their feel is more akin to the Peaks than the Wave/FF......i would say the Hysper 4 is quite similar to the 3m Peak, whilst the Hysper 8 performs with a suprising agility close to that of the Peak 5m. The 4 is very easy to backstall and spin on the spot.....it is a crazy throwaround toy that just inspires confidence. I generally enjoy usng kites from their low to mid range.....so the 4 works for best me from 12 to maybe 18kts, the 8 amazes in being a lot of fun from 5 to maybe 12 knts. I cannot imagine that a bigger Hysper would bring much benefit for me. They do crossover in wind range…...just....I think I will have to investigate the possibility of a 6! At my local spot there are a couple of wind directions which are very gusty and I had adopted wingboarding as a more satisfying alternative in these conditions....the Hysper 4 makes gusty conditions enjoyable …..you can work it through the lulls and it copes with gusts very well. Both kites can turn on their own axis with no power, or to get up and going you can describe a big wide arc which develops a decent amount of pull.
Did I mention the phenomenal drift of these kites?.....all the kites in my little quiver have great drift compared to more conventional kites but I think the Hyspers are the best yet.....today I was in 4 foot swell in dead onshore winds and I could park the kite at 12 and truly ride the rollers in to the beach with no pull from the kite....so much fun!
A complaint levelled at single skin and strutless kites is canopy flutter....this is only ever a problem for me if you sheet out too much and don’t keep the requisite amount of back line tension, or if the kite is pushed above its happy operating window. The Hyspers behave very well with minimum flutter.
So in conclusion....and I know there will always a bit of new kite bias.....I am absolutely thrilled with my Hyspers....they are adding a whole new element of fun to my foiling.....thanks to Bozzo and thanks so much to the folk at Skycountry. Brilliant.