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Flysurfer Sonic 3

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Created by ActionSportsWA > 9 months ago, 6 Mar 2020
ActionSportsWA
WA, 950 posts
6 Mar 2020 9:43PM
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Hi peeps,

I've been driving around with the brand new Flysurfer Sonic 3 in the back of my car all week waiting for a decent day to give it a fly. Today was that day!

i bought the 13m Sonic 3 to see how it would go in racing and freeride. The Soul is already an incredibly easy kite to ride and when racing on a reach or downwind it is fast, but upwind, it gives away too much height to be really competitive racing foils around a course.

I normally fly FS VMG race kites which are phenomenal upwind and good downwind, but they are technical to fly, can be a little cantankerous at times and tend to be fragile. The Sonic 3 is based on the VMG so I was very curious as to how it would race.

The Sonic 3 is tauted as a high performance Twin tip freeride, boosting and foiling beast.

Although the DNA of the new Sonic 3 is in its VMG foundation, With a reduced aspect ratio, it shares a lot of its design from the Soul too. The A,B and C, bridle rows are from the Soul as the VMG has only A and B. The materials of construction are same as the Soul which means it's tough. Single bung to deflate same as the VMG but it has 7 air intakes for better pressure and fast inflation.

This really is a mix of both kites. so how does it fly?

From launch, you notice how quick it inflates. From a side wind window launch going directly to 12 o'clock, it had fully inflated before it got to 12, I was so surprised, I normally wrangle most foil kites to 12 and rock them to fill them, this was almost instant. The canopy is very stable, no wobble at all and wing tips that refused to fold. Steering is quite direct and the kite is very responsive but likes to have some concerted input. My VMG's are feather light and responsive so I had to learn to be a bit more forceful. bar pressure is much higher than what I am used to but the Sonic 3 has depower ... lots of it! These are the things I took longest to-get used to, firm bar pressure which increased as you sheet it in giving you very direct feedback. It's pretty hard to oversheet and stall unlike the VMG. Sonic 3 has a good sheeting range and is one grunty beast. So much power on tap, just need to keep the bar in on tacks for the loft and be more aggressive with it. Sonic 3 downloop starts easily with just turning the bar rather than grabbing leaders to turn harder. Down loop gybes were so easy and on the few times I folded a wing tip in the down loop, the tips on stand popped open again immediately with no input from me. Upwind performance wasn't as insane as the VMG as expected, but was comparable to the R1's I was Kiting with. Speed was very good and in the 15 knot guts we easily did 33.9 knots downwind without even really trying which wasn't too shabby.

on the first couple of laps, I felt the Sonic was easily as good as the R1's and possibly even a touch better but hard to be sure in the conditions we were in, so I'll settle for very competitive. One of the two other kites disappeared and came back out later The R1 was a 15m and the F-One an 18, I didn't notice the kite swap and was getting left behind a bit but realized later which made me feel better. In summary, Flysurfer have built a fast kite that is tough and easy to fly, very forgiving and grunty for the boosting community. A hell of a kite, very impressed and available for demo to people who can fly foil kites well. It is still very much an experienced foil kite flyers kite, but has incredibly accessible performance. Bravo Flysurfer, Bravo! DM

BenMaz
WA, 20 posts
7 Mar 2020 8:16AM
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Great review DM. Thanks for the hands on feedback.

daddycool
WA, 337 posts
11 Mar 2020 9:13AM
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Ive had 3 demo sessions now (thank you Action Sports WA) ranging from 10-12 to 15-18 knots on both TT and foiling. Flysurfer has definitely hit a sweet spot here between their robust, user friendly free ride Soul and the more delicate thoroughbred full race VMG. Great low end and incredible depower give this kite a sizeable wind range. It feels very steady in the air and a huge improvement in turning speed over the Speed series and older Sonics. Flysurfer keeps delivering well designed , well made kites and with this one they will satisfy a market out there that likes performance but not necessarily full on racing. Also, the lake and light wind twin - tippers out there will get some awesome airtime with this kite.

SimonTheSailor
10 posts
11 Mar 2020 12:33PM
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very good review and interesting comparison with R1 though looking at the aspect ratios I'd expect R1 to perform better

BillTotal
QLD, 50 posts
11 Mar 2020 7:58PM
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Sonic 3 reviews, most if not all reviews comparing the the new sonic with the soul.
Sonic 3 vs Sonic2 would be great.
Light wind & Airstyle TT performance is what I am looking @, just wondering if it is worth upgrading especially for size 15m.

Thanks ;)

ActionSportsWA
WA, 950 posts
11 Mar 2020 9:07PM
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Hi Bill,

the Sonic 3 has a lot better performance than the Soul and I think is even easier in some respects. If you know how to fly foils, I think the Sonic 3 is a cracker of a performance kite.
ive flown a Sonic 2 Race and find them to be a bit of a handful. Wingtips like folding and internal pressure of the kite seems to be low compared to the S3. The Sonic 3 is responsive and forgiving whilst delivering you impressive lift and performance. The inflation speed is mind blowing. ??

Having flown predominantly race kites, the S3 gave almost race performance without the finicky bad behavior of a race kite where every move needs to be perfectly executed to make the kite behave. The forgiving nature is impressive.

DM

ActionSportsWA
WA, 950 posts
11 Mar 2020 9:12PM
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Select to expand quote
SimonTheSailor said..
very good review and interesting comparison with R1 though looking at the aspect ratios I'd expect R1 to perform better


Hi Simon,

The R1 does perform better, but not by a large margin. The Sonic 3 will allow beginner to intermediate racers to race hard without being perfect, it'll be possible to extract high performance without a really high skill level. You just don't have to "manage" the Sonic 3.
you need to fly one. One of our quickest racers too it out against R1 racers and it held its own. Maybe not quicker, but not disgraced either. Considering it's a freeride kite, that ain't too bad.
DM

BillTotal
QLD, 50 posts
12 Mar 2020 1:11PM
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Select to expand quote
ActionSportsWA said..
Hi Bill,

the Sonic 3 has a lot better performance than the Soul and I think is even easier in some respects. If you know how to fly foils, I think the Sonic 3 is a cracker of a performance kite.
ive flown a Sonic 2 Race and find them to be a bit of a handful. Wingtips like folding and internal pressure of the kite seems to be low compared to the S3. The Sonic 3 is responsive and forgiving whilst delivering you impressive lift and performance. The inflation speed is mind blowing. ??

Having flown predominantly race kites, the S3 gave almost race performance without the finicky bad behavior of a race kite where every move needs to be perfectly executed to make the kite behave. The forgiving nature is impressive.

DM


Thanks DM,

Flying S2 for 3 Years I can say wing tip folding is not an issue @ all once the kite is fully inflated. overseas reviews suggesting the S3 is prone to wing tip folding contrary to what you say....bar pressure is higher too, but apparently jumps are not so technical and bigger in height.
What about the low end compared to the S2.

Looks like I have to demo one. What sizes are available?

Thanks

ActionSportsWA
WA, 950 posts
12 Mar 2020 12:39PM
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Hi Bill,

Like I said, I havent had much experience with S2. Yes, bar pressure is higher on S3. It's just a nice easy kite to fly coming from Race kites.

We only have the 13m in demo here in Perth. Flysurfer have stock available in all sizes I believe.
Strongly recommend demoing.

DM

ArminHarch
2 posts
20 Apr 2020 4:29AM
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Hi Guys.

Some more Details from me about the SONIC 3. I hope, it answers you some questions.
Otherwise let me know and I will answer here.

ArminHarch
2 posts
20 Apr 2020 4:51AM
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The serial Sonic 3 are more stable than the preserial that tester had in there hands. They are solid and unfold itself now..
Lowend is a bit improved as it is more grunty and more easy to use. Here a bit more about the wind range in details

BillTotal
QLD, 50 posts
23 Apr 2020 9:40PM
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Select to expand quote
ArminHarch said..
The serial Sonic 3 are more stable than the preserial that tester had in there hands. They are solid and unfold itself now..
Lowend is a bit improved as it is more grunty and more easy to use. Here a bit more about the wind range in details


Thanks for clarification ;)



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"Flysurfer Sonic 3" started by ActionSportsWA