Definitely looks interesting. Good to see some alternatives to the cloud. Let's see how ozone respond with the alpha v2.
..Gotta be right up there in the cringy kite names.
Any ideas why the UFO would be in odd sizes and the Ghost in evens (except the 15)?
For what look like similar kites for similar applications...
The very small pack down an advantage with the UFO, but for about the same price as the Ghost (?).
Select to expand quotenatho6026961 said..
..Gotta be right up there in the cringy kite names.
Any ideas why the UFO would be in odd sizes and the Ghost in evens (except the 15)?
For what look like similar kites for similar applications...
The very small pack down an advantage with the UFO, but for about the same price as the Ghost (?).
From what I understand the UFO is built lighter than the Ghost using light D1 cloth, not the stronger Tejin 4x4 cloth. Looks like it is specifically for foiling where the Ghost is a bit of a crossover. I guess not everyone will want a no strut kite, even the BRM Cloud is offered as a D1 single strut so I guess it gives people choice.
They do need a 4 mtr I the UFO range as it is too much gap between the 3 and 5 mtr.
Has anyone tried them yet down under?
Interested to know typical wind ranges for the 5 & 3m. Pity the 2m gap.
Select to expand quoteAlysum said..
Has anyone tried them yet down under?
Interested to know typical wind ranges for the 5 & 3m. Pity the 2m gap.
A mate was on his 5mtr UFO here at Queens, Brissy. Blowing 14 knots, he had no problems getting going. But it started to drop below that and he came in and changed to his 7mtr at around 12 knots. He is about 70kgs on a 800 wing.
Yes, a 4 mtr would be nice.
Select to expand quoteairsail said..Alysum said..
Has anyone tried them yet down under?
Interested to know typical wind ranges for the 5 & 3m. Pity the 2m gap.
A mate was on his 5mtr UFO here at Queens, Brissy. Blowing 14 knots, he had no problems getting going. But it started to drop below that and he came in and changed to his 7mtr at around 12 knots. He is about 70kgs on a 800 wing.
Yes, a 4 mtr would be nice.
I'm looking to cover the classic seabreeze here in Sydney, 18-24kn. Wondering whether that is too much for the 5m (I'm 79Kg) on a surf foil.
Select to expand quotehorey69 said..
18- 24 knots...go the 5m
you reckon I won't be overpowered using a surf foil ?
Hopefully I can demo it.
In the perfect world you would get two of them.
I rode the 3 yesterday the wind was gusting over 30knots. Was on its limit I think for strapless foiling
In the perfect world you would get two of them.
I rode the 3 yesterday the wind was gusting over 30knots. Was on its limit I think for strapless foiling
Select to expand quoteairsail said..Alysum said..
Has anyone tried them yet down under?
Interested to know typical wind ranges for the 5 & 3m. Pity the 2m gap.
A mate was on his 5mtr UFO here at Queens, Brissy. Blowing 14 knots, he had no problems getting going. But it started to drop below that and he came in and changed to his 7mtr at around 12 knots. He is about 70kgs on a 800 wing.
Yes, a 4 mtr would be nice.
Reading the comments on here on wind range is a lot different to what slingshot says on the specs low range on their kites.and bit surprised on the high price on these kites compared to day mono etc and no struts and way more expensive can't see why
Got the 5m, only tried it once, I like how responsive it is.
My only complaint is you have to secure it on the beach with sand/weight on top or it will lift and blow away.
The bag could be a bit bigger with a larger zipper so it doesn't seize.
Gustavo here in Sydney took the 7m out for a test:
Great vid, I just had 2 days on the 5 mtr UFO and agree with you, not the same as a Cloud, but also not better or worse, just has different feel (I have a quiver of Clouds). You would get used to either but the big advantage of the UFO is that it is available to purchase here in Oz.
Hi all, I purchased my 7m ufo about seven weeks ago, I weigh a little under 70 kg and foil on a slingshot infinity 76 which is about
1530 cm sq. The day after buying the kite there was a strong southerly blowing here south of Sydney and I thought, there's only one way to find out what the top end of this kite is, the wind was 25 to 30kns but mostly around 28, to my surprise I was out for about
2 hours and had no drama's, I kept it high in the sky when the strong gusts hit and never felt like I was about to be lifted.
The next day the southerly was slowly dying off so I went out in the late afternoon when it was about 15kns, it was good fun session and this kite whips around fast, feels a bit like a trainer kite, towards the end of the session it was about 10 to 12kns and I stuffed up one of my turns and dropped it on it's trailing edge and couldn't relaunch it. One thing I noticed about this kite is that it just doesn't fall out of the sky leading edge first, when the wind gets really light it will only fall backwards, at which point I pull hard on one of the steering lines and make it travel across the sky or down loop it. I have owned single strut and ram air kites which were good, but I like this one the best.
Finally got around to using the 5m yesterday in a typical Sydney NE breeze - 18-21kn and it was just perfect ! 
Everyone was on much bigger kites.
Update:
I had only used the UFO 5m twice over the summer as the wing was keeping me busy
But since I changed my foil to the axis black series HPS880 I thought I'd give it a go with the UFO. And... holy **** who thought HA foil wings actually works really well for kite foiling and specifically with a strutless kite?
The axis HPS wings have an insane amount of glide, and actually turns really well and with the drift of the UFO it just follows me when I'm carving and gliding downwind just like I do on the wing. The UFO hardly requires any bar input and is fun to loop. Because the UFO doesn't pull you, you have way more freedom and any extra glide from the foil will be advantageous. I use a rope slider and 20m lines (will probably go shorter lines one day).
I enjoyed the 5m so much that I got a 7m as well. However I was a little surprised it doesn't turn blazing fast like the 5m despite only 2m bigger. It does however turn much quicker than my ozone alpha 8m.
I've crashed the kite a few times and always managed to relaunch it quickly. Thanks to the narrow span, low aspect ratio and rounded shape, it turns around really easy.
Even crashed it trailing edge side down but with a bit of patience I eventually managed to relaunch it.
I highly doubt I'll be tempted by the 9m. For super light winds I'd probably prefer a single strut or foil kite. Keen to hear if anyone has used the 9m?
Looking forward to trying the UFO with the smaller HPS700 foil, it should be insane
Asylum,
I have been using the 9m UFO and comparing it to the Ghost 10m.
One light NE session I wasn't able to relaunch it, in saying that our local has a corner of doom in a NE.
The 9m is quick to turn and loops very nicely, but like any kite in light wind sub 10knots once your in the water some days you will win and others you won't.
Do I prefer it over the 10m, yes as is faster around the sky coupled with less weight it wants to stay in the air.
Where are all the other comments from UFO owners in Australia? We must be a minority.
I think the amount of people using Seabreeze is decreasing, I do know several other owners, however, due to my affiliation with Slingshot I don't want to be seen as pushing them to comment on the UFO.
Grant
Had another good session on my 7m UFO yesterday afternoon on Lake Illawarra, the wind was from the south between 17 and 20kns, I was playing around doing high speed S turns and each time I turned down wind I realised how amazing this kite drifts, so I thought I'd see if it was possible to go straight down wind and ride the small lake swells without any input from the kite, so I did 2 runs to tack up wind about 300 metres, turned and headed straight down wind, the first thing I noticed was how quite everything went due to travelling the same speed as the wind, the kite just parked exactly where I wanted it, the majority of the time I had it high above my head but also was able to bring it down lower by pulling in on the bar, it was like doing a proper downwinder with just the occasional input from the kite when the wind blew a bit stronger, I was stoked and couldn't stop smiling. Like I said in a previous post this kite has never hindenburg once in the time I've flown it since October last year, it's such a lightweight and nimble, fun kite and turns fast which helps me get out of trouble when jibing which I find very challenging. I'm surprised other manufacturers aren't making strut less kites, because for foiling there amazing.
I'm running a 9m UFO on a 2020 Cabrinha overdrive bar. I got it as a light wind foiling kite when my 9m Drifter won't work below about 12 knots.
Kite is fantastic and I'm growing into it as I get better foiling in light winds. I reckon it will be good down to around 8knots (85kg weight) but this needs pretty accurate riding and downloops throughout. No prob relaunching but I'm certainly wary of heading right out the back in case i can't get it up. Minor point but the included bag is bloody hopeless and I'm annoyed to spend so much on a kite for this to happen
Select to expand quoteelk said..
Had another good session on my 7m UFO yesterday afternoon on Lake Illawarra, the wind was from the south between 17 and 20kns, I was playing around doing high speed S turns and each time I turned down wind I realised how amazing this kite drifts, so I thought I'd see if it was possible to go straight down wind and ride the small lake swells without any input from the kite, so I did 2 runs to tack up wind about 300 metres, turned and headed straight down wind, the first thing I noticed was how quite everything went due to travelling the same speed as the wind, the kite just parked exactly where I wanted it, the majority of the time I had it high above my head but also was able to bring it down lower by pulling in on the bar, it was like doing a proper downwinder with just the occasional input from the kite when the wind blew a bit stronger, I was stoked and couldn't stop smiling. Like I said in a previous post this kite has never hindenburg once in the time I've flown it since October last year, it's such a lightweight and nimble, fun kite and turns fast which helps me get out of trouble when jibing which I find very challenging. I'm surprised other manufacturers aren't making strut less kites, because for foiling there amazing.
Elk,
I'm hearing you the down wind drift is amazing on the UFO, I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where I work on the side for Slingshot Australia so I have ridden all sizes, I cant choose a favourite they are all so good at what they do.
We are not the only brand, Gong has a no strut, so does Hyde KItes (the void) and of course BRM (cloud).
We are however, the only major brand that has produced a strut less, we are constantly researching and developing strut less kites for the international market.
Stoked you like the UFO.
Grant
Select to expand quoteAlysum said..
Where are all the other comments from UFO owners in Australia? We must be a minority.
Gday crew,I have a 5-7-9m UFO combo.Well honestly am still in my apprenticeship using them.
I also fly Peak 4s which are pretty hard to beat.
So the UFOs take a little more care launching especially the way they sit with the leading edge slightly lifting off even before your ready.Sand seems to bounce off in the time taken to run the lines out,more sand needed no problem.They are super light kites.Have flown the 7-9m a few times.
Responsive as,best drift yet,probably slightly better than clouds but not as much as Peak 4s.As they reach the bottom end they take care to keep them up.I just found that I need less care flying the Peak 4s
in the 5-10kts area because they just don't back stall.
I am still on the fence about the UFOs in super light wind but thankfully haven't been to far out when I have dropped the P4 13m in bigger all wind.
Only foiling in apparent wind so when I went to return tack just fell and couldn't restart without a good power stroke and just gave up and drifted in and walked back about 3 Klms P4 13m still up.
But definitely haven't given up on the UFO above 8kts and up.Still reckon they a one of the best strutless foil kites available.
