Foilzone "Fred" review of Psycho3 13m:
Got to ride my new Psycho3 13 yesterday.
Wind was from 15 to 18mph and dropping to 12mph towards the end of the session a bit up and down, but not gusty except downwind on a small island. (The wind graph showed a bit more, but it reads high).Water conditions: moderate chop and no swell, just the occasional large boat wake stirring up some bigger waves. I was riding my Spleene Door 164, (waiting for a Spleene Rip 128 to arrive).
Launching. I did a downwind launch as the wind was low enough on the beach a hundred feet or so from the water. 30% pre inflation and the kite went up nicely with out much power at all.
The kite fully inflated quickly, but slightly slower than a Speed and I felt the power build up. The kite felt very stable. It would sit pretty still at the zenith and I could keep it still towards the side of the wind window where I prefer to keep my kite when on land. The kite is very stable, but not quite the auto zenith of a Peter Lynn Venom. From the zenith if you leave the bar alone the kite slowly drifts to one side or the other.
The wind was straight onshore so I had to walk out a bit to get safely away from people on the beach. With the kite fully depowered it felt really light so no problem walking out at all, even swam a few strokes to see what that was like.
I dived the kite and off I went. I got comfortable with the kite in no time… about 15 seconds.
The kite turns really well and keeps it’s speed even through very tight turns.
I had the bar pressure set to full soft so I was expecting some back stall, but there was none at all. Bar felt really light, but with enough feedback.
In no time I was flinging the kite around the wind window. The kite is surprisingly responsive even when powered down and with the bar out. The kite flies fast too.
All this makes it easy to put the kite where you want it and when you want it with just the right amount of power.
Depower. The depower is really good. As good as the Pulse 10 I have. Though I was well powered up with the trimmer set to ¾ powered up I felt that the kite had a lot more room to depower just by pushing the bar out. Depowering the trimmer too makes me think that I could handle this kite in over 25mph really easily and flirt with 30mph on a small board.
Best thing about the depower is that even fully depowered the kite is absolutly stable. Also no problem spinning the bar.
Jumping. Within a minute of flying the kite I felt confidant enough to jump.
Big smiles there. Flick the kite back and up I went. Redirecting the kite is very quick and easy. Perfect gentle landing first time. Compared to the Speed 17 jumping with this kite is just sooooo easy. This thing is a jumping machine and with no back stall you can just sheet in hard for great lift and for soft fast landings. I found it easy to jump high or long and upwind chop hops were great too. I often like chop hopping pointing high upwind, but going fast and jumping fast and long but not very high. On one regular jump (not chop hopping) the kite overflew high and to the side of the wind window and the tips collapsed. The kite tumbled back into the wind window sort of in a taco shape. As soon as it was back deeper in the wind window I managed to steer the kite down. With a bit of downward speed the kite opened up and as it did I sheeted out and turned the kite sharply around and back up. It’s great to have such fast turning when sheeted out depowering the kite I had a couple of partial tip collapses, but nothing serious. I’ve heard this goes away after a couple of sessions. The kite needs to bed in. (I have scince flown the kite 4 times and the tip collapse had completly gone away and the kite has gained a little bit more power). Overall I’d say I’ve never jumped so clean before. Hangtime is great, not quite the “Paragliding” of the Speed, but nice soft controllable landings.
Upwind Performance. Upwind performance was very good, though I can do a bit better with a Speed.
Downwind Performance. Downwind performance and control is really nice. Fast and responsive both with the bar in and out. I can see this kite doing very well in the waves with cross or cross onshore winds. Downwind slaloms were a blast.
Gust handling. The wind was pretty stable so to see how the gust handling was I went downwind of an island off the beach where the wind is pretty messed up. The Psycho III felt great in the gusts same sort of feeling as the Pulse. No more trying to “hide” from the gusts. More like yea here comes a gust… grab the gust and then sheet out when you want and turn the power off. I saw a good gust coming so I sent the kite and popped way up. One of the highest jumps I’ve done on flat water.
Low End. The Low end seems to be good. Towards the end of the session the wind went down and most kites left the water way before I did. I could have ridden a bit more, but it was time to get out the trusty Speed 17.
Landing. Landing the Psycho3 was a piece of cake, but the wind was pretty low by then about 12 mph. Back stalled the kite down into the back of the wind window and once it was on the sand I went to the 5th line and the kite folded and laid down immobile on it’s side. A tubie came over and said that was so cool and then joked that it looked like the kite sort of started packing itself up. He told me I should fly the kite down right into it’s bag. I walked up the 5th line and flagged the kite out. Lines and bridle nice and tidy, no twists or tucked tips.
Water relaunch. Sorry didn’t come close to dropping the kite. The super fast turning lets you recover even when the kite is close to the water. Didn’t really want to test the water relaunch because I didn’t want to dunk my new toy into the nasty Belmont Shores water.
Conclusion.
Absolutely the best kite I have ever ridden. Just an amazing combination of performance and ease of use. I can’t wait to take it out in stronger wind and waves.
Note: This post is only about using the P3 for landboarding - hoping to get one last water session this year and will post separately if I get a chance to try it (I would kill for a steady 20kts). More likely to see a snowkiting post next...
Background:
Already had a Speed 13m (soon to be resold) but haven't been happy with it on land due to issues on the low-end (especially), stability, high-end, and gust handling. With the right conditions on land it was fine, but it was a narrow set of conditions, IMO. On the water in 12kts+, awesome, no complaints, but could use more top end and better gust handling when things pick up. The Pulse 13m was not really an option, I love the stability and all that (and they are my go-to kites in the smaller sizes when it's really strong and bumpy), but they just don't have the sizzle of the Speeds, and the reviews of the Pulse 13 haven't been total raves either.
Conditions/settings:
21m lines. First session gusty 10-17mph using stock steering. Second session very light (too light sometimes) 5-7mph using soft+1.
Low-end on land:
The Psycho3 wins hands-down - used it today in avg 6mph gusting 8mph and it was enough to cruise on a hard-packed beach (and make it through the softer spots) - usually I have to switch to a fixed-bridle foil (Razor 6.8m) on handles when the wind is that light. Now, if I can't get going with the Psycho3 13m, it will be time for the Blade 10.5m. Substantially less backstall than the Speeds means it's a lot less hassle in borderline conditions, and it's easier to work/sine. Power from apparent wind is midway between Pulse and Speed.
Stability:
Not fully bedded in yet, but it seems to want to overfly and then luff - but doesn't. A little tip tuck (as expected when new) when it's low on the side of the window, but nothing fatal and it seems to happen in the same situations where the Speed and Pulse might also do it - one difference being on the P3 it can roll up the whole kite. Haven't tried it in really crappy winds, but it's noticably more stable than the Speed even with the tip tuck. Not as stable as the Pulse (more "surge" in gusts/lulls), so that would still be the best option for lousy wind.
Gust handling:
Like the Pulse, lots of depower on the bar, almost the same feel - push the bar out an inch to dump the gusts.
Jumping:
This was a welcome surprise - it seems easy to jump with and feels a lot like the Speed (height, hangtime) once you're up there. I don't think it has quite as much height (very close though), but the hangtime feels the same. Psycho3 starts jumping pretty early if you can build up some board speed. Seems to need to be sent slightly further back than the Speeds, which may be what makes the hangtime closer to the Speed. No problem getting the kite back around thanks to the turning speed. Once the winds firm up, it jumps even better.
Upwind:
Not as good as the Speeds, but what is? Closer to the Pulse, I think, which is not bad overall - like the Pulse, somewhat better higher in the range with the kite depowered.
Relaunch:
In super-light winds, this is a real bear (as expected) - had to RUN backwards holding the OS handles behind my back. In stronger winds I doubt it will be quite as hard, but it's more like the Speed reverse-launch than the Pulse "easy-peezy" relaunch (but nothing I have ever tried relaunches as easy as the Pulse). Next time I will reach above the OS handles for better leverage.
High-end:
The Psycho3 has a lot of the same "comfort factor" I feel from the Pulse when the wind picks up - pull the strap and push the bar out and most of the power is simply gone, poof! Very little chance of accelleration "to infinity and beyond" like the Speed wants to do in a low-friction environment such as hard-packed sand or ice. I wouldn't normally be comfortable in gusty 10-17mph with the Speed 13 on land, but the Psycho3 was a different story.
Landing:
As with the Pulse, there's no perfect way to do this short of a catcher. I'm sure the FDS would work, but I grabbed the handles for a backstall landing like with the Speed, which also works - rest pull is not nearly as strong as the Pulse. PSS doesn't work quite as well as the Speed (P3 wants to corkscrew a bit easier, although not as bad as the Pulse), but it's enough to get to the kite in moderate winds.
Turning/steering:
Using Soft+1, it seems to turn faster than the S13 on full soft - I haven't compared back-to-back, but it seems pretty noticable. Turning radius is better, almost as tight as the Pulse, and as with the Pulse, not much loss of power through the turn. Bar pressure is good, a bit more feedback from the kite than the Pulse or Speed. Easy to steer one-handed - far better than the Speed, close to the Pulse if not better.
Overall:
The Psycho3 comes across as a design with most of the stability of the Pulse and most of the "sizzle" of the Speed, along with the full depower bridle and perhaps the best turning speed of any recent Flysurfer. I expect the Speeds/Speed2's will still dominate smooth winds for guys who want every last drop of performance, and the Pulse is a nice stable kite for beginners and for dirty winds, but the Psycho3 is an outstanding combo of performance and versatility.
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Fred
