€1550
F-ONE WTF!? The WTF!? is F-ONE’s flagship competition freestyle kite, a pure, uncompromised, unbridled C shape kite with a fifth line, five struts and a rad attitude. For such an aggressive kite, with big power potential, the team were impressed with the smooth power delivery the WTF!? produces during general riding, and in its wind range where it builds speed very quickly to go into popped unhooked tricks. Of course, this style of kite isn’t sheet and go, you’ve got to work the kite a little to build some board speed before it fires into life. Speed is essential. Once trucking, the upwind ability is notably excellent, perfect for getting back to the competition area. Build wise, the kite is pretty beefy, and the large SUP style inflate valve allows for a nice high inflate pressure to be easily achieved. Stability unhooked is excellent with a minimum of trimming required, and very little flaring. It provides mind blowing pop and slack, and long downwind travel. It’s absolutely unflappable, particularly if you come out of a trick with a lot of downwind board speed. Looping produces a big wide arc with an enormous amount of pull. The overall riding experience is very engaging, and if you’ve come off a more mainstream freeride kite onto the WTF!?, you need to be on your game kite control wise, but once you have adjusted there’s so much more performance potential for freestyle. The kite turns on its tips in a big radius, there’s no power steering here, and you need some guns to get it to move, but the bar feedback is as perfect as it gets for this style of kite. This makes the WTF!? confidence inspiring. Although there’s a lot of power on tap, it lets you build trust with the kite quite quickly. For the seasoned rider, who has owned five line kites in years gone by, the kite is a fantastic nostalgia trip, reminding you how simple more mainstream kites have become to use and just how much performance a pure C shape has. For such an extreme design on the modern market place, it’s well behaved to handle. It’s not too grunty, and the stability really shines through. The front hang point settings work a charm, allowing a little more sheet change. It’s a very refined and honed product with a very specific audience in mind. If you’re very focused on freestyle, this kite is an excellent choice, and for competition style riding there are few rivals.
Dynamic Handling Attributes (subjective 0-10) PARTICIPANT
sheet Upwind ability Usable range LiftDownwind on sheeting drift / leeward ability Hangtime Pop / slack test Ease of relaunch Kiteloop power test
9 2.91 0.323333333 No Y bridle for 5th and 3 hangpoints on front trim 3 5 14
8
Yes No Yes Knots on front and steering 8 No 3
Construction D2 D2 and Polyant Dacron Y bridle 500kg Dyneema D2 Single seam with double stitch Polyant Dacron 13 8 SUP
TheKiteMag.com
6 7 7 8 6
Forward board speed Upwind ability Overall stability
Downwind drift Low / leeward ability end ability Popdepowered / slack test Bar feedback when Kiteloop power test Top end ability
Downloop catch from sent jump test Linear power development on sheet ForwardUsable board range speed
Bar feedback Ease whenofdepowered relaunch Top end ability
Linear power development on sheet Poor
Good
Excellent
Usable range LiftAttributes on sheeting Static Handling
Practicality Hangtime (subjective 0-10)
PARTICIPANT
Ease of relaunch
UNITS SOLD
Pumping / deflation and valve Turning speed system Bar pressure Rigging simplicity Loop radius Self land Practicality (subjective 0-10) Bag size Bar feedback Repair kit quality PARTICIPANT UNITS SOLD Lateral stability - 12 o’clock test Travel friendly Stability at/ deflation Zenith - front stallvalve Pumping and system Oversheet to stall test (10 hard to stall) Rigging simplicity Pumping / deflation and valve system Self land Rigging simplicity Bag size Repair kit quality Self land Travel friendly Practicality Bag size
7 6 8 9 9 8 7 6 8 9 9 8
Repair kit quality Pumping / deflation and valve system Travel friendly Rigging simplicity Self land Bag size
AOA Force Test (12m) Wind speed (knots) Static ground pull value (N) Full sheet value max (N) Difference
8 10 8 9 7 6 9 8 10 9 8 6 10 7 9 7 6 8 8 6 9
Overall stability Lift on sheeting Low end ability Hangtime
Physical Attributes
Canopy material TE material Bridle material Canopy seaming LE closing seam Strut / LE Material LE segment bump stops Overall build score (0-10) Inflate valve type
8 7 9 10
Downloop catch from sent jump test
T E C H N I C A L D ATA :
Size tested Kite weight (kg) Kg per m2 # Pulleys # LE hangpoints # Steering hangpoints # Struts LE diameter at widest point (cm) Recommended pressure (PSI) Line deflectors Battens Self-rescue handles Line attachments Ease of maintenance (0-10) Valve protection Tuning points
UNITS SOLD
Upwind ability Downwind drift/leeward ability Pop / slack test KiteloopDynamic power testHandling Attributes (subjective 0-10) Downloop catch from sent jump test PARTICIPANT UNITS SOLD Forward board speed Upwind ability Overall stability Downwind drift/leeward ability Low end ability Pop / slack test Bar feedback when depowered Kiteloop power test Top end ability Downloop catch from sent jump Linear power development on test sheet Forward board speed Usable range Overall stability Lift on sheeting Low S U end B J E Cability TIVE TEAM FEEDBACK: Hangtime Bar feedback when depowered Ease of relaunch Top end ability Dynamic Attributes Linear powerHandling development on
20 266 476 210
Repair kit quality Travel friendly Poor
Good
Excellent