Say hello to the foiler’s foil kite. Not that kind of foil, but a serious LEI (Leading Edge Inflatable) foil kite that won’t hold you back. The all-new XLITE from our Specialized division is a one strut foil kite that performs exceptionally well with your favorite hydrofoil. Why? Because or development team fused the power of our fantastic Nexus allrounder and the drifting of our unbeatable Section wave kite into a package that's an honest 20% lighter.
How do we do it?
Mass reduction isn't easy. So, we experimented with new leading edge materials, new bridles, and one strut designs. After exhaustive R&D, our designers zeroed in on CoreTex for the canopy and new ExoTex Light for the leading edge. CoreTex adds support and power to the one strut canopy. ExoTex Light brings similar strength as our current ExoTex leading edge dacron yet is more than 10% lighter. We developed thinner, anti-snag bridles that further reduce weight and improve water relaunching. No detail was too small to lightweight. In the end, we hit our 20% mass reduction target. Select the new Sensor 2S Pro Foil bar for the best performance. Trust us on this one :)
Delivery: The XLITE comes with an amazing backpack, manual and a repair kit.
Features: ▪ EXOTEX® LIGHT ULTRA RIGID DACRON: Super light, zero stretch airframes. ▪ CORETEX® TRIPLE RIPSTOP CANOPY: Powerful. Durable. And UV protected. ▪ ONE STRUT LIGHT FRAME: Lightweight driftability. Easy water relaunching. ▪ LW PROFILE: Drift tuned camber for light wind magic. ▪ FUTURE-C SHAPE: For fast, tight turns when jibing. ▪ CIT MODES: Customizable “power steering” and turning speed. ▪ ULTRASHORT BRIDLE SYSTEM: For improved kite feedback. ▪ INSTANT RELAUNCH: Easy, strut supported waterstarts. ▪ SPEED VALVE 2: Fast, reduced effort inflation. ▪ SPEED PUMP SYSTEM: High capacity, all strut inflation. ▪ SENSOR BAR READY: Calibrated for all Sensor bar systems. ▪ SIX YEAR REPLACEMENT PARTS AVAILABILITY: Long term protection.
From the designer:
"Besides weight, it tracks much better upwind has really nice balance and good power with soft power development.
I highly recommend using small kites as it is the most fun and of course one-strut flutters…so it is easier to fly around the fluttering under-powered, and it makes much more fun.
I´m on the 7 or 8 most of the time even in marginal winds… it, of course, depends on the wind….but I think I managed to cover a broad variety of winds with the Xlite from fast to slow, and it makes riding easy.
The drift is better on the Section, but you can position the Xlite differently (higher) and nearly get the same drift.
Most other one-struts are positioned very deep in the window to prevent flutter, at the cost of performance…I accepted a little more flutter to gain more performance. A good rider can fly it without any noticeable flutter ;)
