Hier noch ein Testbericht vom Falcon, verfasst in einem anderen Forum von einem Kiter aus der Schweiz.
Short review of the Kauper Falcon 11m with Kauper Bar
(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Kauper and paid full price for the gear. I kitesurf since 2001, until recently 95% strapless wave, 5% big air when conditions are right. Started foiling in 2020. Weight: 75kg wet).
Background why I got the Falcon 11m:
I started out foiling in Soma Bay last March (read: perfect learning conditions) with my Blade Trigger tube kites. Progressed fast on my 'good' stance (am surfing regular), doing flying jibes after 5 days, but struggled on my goofy side. Due to Covid situation, was not able to go to Sri Lanka, so decided to go to Lake Monteynard in the French Alps for some more foiling in July. The much gustier and weaker wind there (7-14 knts) made it much harder to progress with my foiling, and I got a bit frustrated
At this moment (and after having seen the performance of the double skin kites in these conditions), I decided to overcome my 20 year old reluctance and get a foil kite as well.
The question was: which one?
I talked to a lot of folks on the beach, and did my online research. This narrowed the selection down to the Gin Spirit and the Kauper Falcon. To decide, I called up Rainer directly, who took over an hour to explain to me the details and characteristics of the Falcon, as well as his design philosophy that he applied during the development.
After that call, I was sold on the Falcon: For me (who had never flown a foil kite since the early days of the Peter Lynn Arcs), the tipping point in favor of the Falcon was Rainer's claim of the very direct, tube-like handling.
Obviously, I was really curious to see if this claim would hold up. Fortunately, I was able to go back to Monteynard for another long weekend in August.
Characteristics and performance
++ pros
To cut it short: I was blown out of the water by the amazing performance of the Falcon (pun intended).
- The kite is VERY intuitive to fly, you know always exactly where it is in the window (so my worry to have to fly a 'spongy' foil kite was totally unfounded).At the same time, power development is gradual, which is great for foiling. When I had struggled with the goofy side before, I was all of a sudden able to get flying now, essentially due to the fact that I never had to worry about the kite, and could fully focus on the board and foil.
- Low end during that weekend was about 8 knts, and I was able to go with my 1000cm Gong Curve foil (note that I'm still a beginner at foiling).
- It's crazy how the kite hangs in the air in very little / gusty wind. I was able to keep the Falcon flying even when other foil kites were dropping (not to speak of tube kites).
- I dropped the kite 2 times into the water during mistimed jibes, and restart was easy, even for me who was the first day ever on such a kite.
- - On the final day, the wind reached about 15 - 16 knts. Up to that wind speed, I did not have to touch the adjuster of the Kauper bar, as the throw is really long (and I'm using a shorts harness). The speed of the Falcon is good at higher wind, and it remains totally predictable
- The bar is really clean and light, I like it a lot
-- Things to be aware of
- The material of the Falcon is really light. This is intended, otherwise it would not fly as great. But be aware that you should not be careless in handling it on the ground. I actually messed up not properly instructing my daughter how to land a foil kite beforehand, and when I came back the last day when it was blowing 16 knts, she let the kite slither over the ground. This caused a small tear of about 3 cm in the fabric, which was easily fixed with spinnaker tape. Again, this was a mistake on my part, not a fault of the kite. But if you are the 'carefree' type with your stuff, the falcon might not be for you.
- The teflon tube of the kauper bar shows some wear already. This is likely due to the fact that the hole of the bar is too small. It is my understanding that this has been improved in the newest iteration of the bar.
Final thoughts
Contrary to what certain other users apparently experienced (see the post above), my experience with Rainer and Yasmin (who is the responsible of sales) were really good. They were helpful and fast, and the Falcon is an amazing piece of gear. I plan to by a 7m as well.
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Ciao
Rainer Kauper
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https://www.kauper-xt.com