Different Types of Kites used in Kite Sports Today
As far as we are concerned in power kiting, kitesurfing, snow kiting or land boarding/buggying there are, in essence, 2 different types of kites. Very briefly these are:
- Leading Edge Inflatable (LEI) Kites - LEI simply means that the kite has an inflatable structure, any kite that needs to be pumped up is an LEI. This classification can be broken down into C, Bow, Hybrid and Delta style kites.
- Foil/Power kites - Foil kites look very similar to the wings used by parascender's and can be broken down into open and closed cell kites. Foil kites are not (generally) inflated with a pump but instead take their shape from the air flowing over and through them.
I'm not going to launch into a full discussion of the relative pro's and con's of each of the different types of kites at this point. I will cover this in a later lesson by which time you'll have a bit more experience flying kites and what I am saying will be more relavent. All I want to do here is show you the different types of kites and very briefly give you an idea of some of the characteristics of each.
Before we start - SLE Kites
You are going to hear this term thrown around a lot in Kitesurfing. SLE stands for Supported Leading Edge. This term is used to refer to any kite that has bridles attached to its leading edge. Bow, Hybrid and Delta kites are therefore all SLE kites, C kites are not.
Types of Kites - LEI Kites
C Style - C style types of kites are recognisable by the lack of a bridle and the distinctive rectangular shape these kites are the kites that many of us old schoolers learnt on. Fast and powerful through the turn they do however suffer from a lack of de power which has led to their decline in recent years. Recognisable at the beach by their distintive blocky wing tips and clear corners. These kites have no bridle and the lines attach at each of the 4 corners of the wingtips.
C kites can be either 4 or 5 line, however, if they have 5 lines the fifth line should attach directly to the centre of the kite. If the fifth line splits in any way or attaches to a line which then splits and attaches to the leading edge in 2 or more places the kite is a hybrid kite and not a C kite.
Originally the fifth line was designed to assist with relaunch as it enabled the kite to be pulled up into the relaunch position however it landed/crashed. Recent improvements in kite relaunch design have rendered this system pretty much obselete and these days it is mainly used for safety as a kite flagged onto the fifth line will depower 100% and is the safest kind of safety system there is.
The fifth line on a C kite is not designed to be under tension, the kite does not fly off this line it is solely there for re launch and safety. Conversley the fifth line on a hybrid kite will be under tension as it actually affects the kites flight characteristics.
Bow Style - all bow kites must have a bridle and most will have distinctive swept back wing tips. The bridle on these kites allows for almost 100% de power which means these kites are safer and much more comfortable to ride for people getting into the sport. This alone has led to these kites becoming the dominant kite on the water these days with most schools now teaching on bow kites and around 85% of riders preferring them due to their ease of handling and increased safety.
Introduced back in 2005 and said to have been inspired by a thread on a forum the bow kite has now spawned several variants. All the kites mentioned below are basically different styles of bow kites. Several manufacturers have taken the basic bow kite design and further tweaked thus you can see the Naish Sigma shaped kites (the one with the bent leading edge), and several other funky designs however we only deal with the widespread and widely adopted design trends here.
Hybrid Kites - a trade off between C and Bow style kites. Will always have a bridle of some sort but will also have a concave trailing edge (as opposed to a bow kite which wil have a convex trailing edge).
Hybrid kites can be referred to as either hybrid bow kites or hybrid c kites, which simply refers to which design they are closest to, a hybrid C kite will more closely resemble a C kite with the typical C profile but will have a bridle of some sort. Where as a hybrid bow kite will be more similar to a bow, possibly the only distinguising feature being the concave trailing edge. There now also exist Hybrid Delta kites which again is a Delta kite with a concave trailing edge.
Hybrid kites are designed to capture the best of both kites combining the raw aggression of the C kite design with the precision and flexibility of the Bow design.
Delta Style kites - Delta style types of kites are recognisable by their highly swept back wing tips and these kites are designed to relaunch easier and fly more efficiently in light winds. With some loss of top end performance.
A relatively recent design innovation they were originally introduced in 2009 and have since taken off with most major brands now offering their own design in some shape or form. Due to their easy relaunch, great handling and light wind performance they have become very popular with schools. While not necessarily the kite of choice for the advanced riders they do offer the beginner an even faster route into the world of kitesurfing.
Types of Kites - Foil Kites
The debate about foil kites vs LEI kites has been raging in kitesurfing and many other power kite sports for as long as I can remember. General wisdom states that a foil kite is better off the water (snowkiting, landboarding etc) and an LEI kite is better on the water (kitesurfing). Recently there is a growing band of supporters for foil kites amongst kitesurfers and they are definitely becoming a more common sight on the water. One of the main reasons they haven't been more widely accepted in the kitesurfing world is the price tag, as they can cost up to double what an LEI kite costs. Which you prefer is simply a matter of taste and their are staunch opinions in both the LEI and the foil kite camp. My advise would be to try both types of kites and make up your own mind.
Foil kites possess the obvious advantege of not needing to be inflated, something that all LEI riders can appreciate the value of! They have a wind range comparable to the modern bow kites and are very similar in appearance to a paraglider.
Open Cell - These kites are designed for use on land and have intakes (cells) along the leading edge of the kite designed to allow air to flow inside the kite and over the canopy. They rely on constant airflow to keep the cells inflated and so cannot be used on the water as if they crash in water these cells the material quickly becomes saturated while the open cells allow water inside the kite which makes relauch impossible.
Closed Cell - the same as open cell but designed for use on water. These kites use inlet valves to hold air in the chamber. The pressure inside the cells keeps the valves open so once the kite crashes and the airflow stops the pressure drops and the cell door closes preventing water from entering. Relauch is then a simple matter of tugging on the power lines.
Bit of a long lesson today but I hope you've now got a bit of a better idea of what's what in the world of kites. If you do have any questions please just let me know in the comments below and i'll get back to you ASAP.