K91 - Lazer #5
The Lazer is a small, fast, loud kite made for heavy winds and is based on designs that Scott Davis brought back from France. This is made with an Icarex sail, and is framed with 6mm pultruded carbon and 3mm solid carbon standoffs.
Sail
I finally got some red Icarex in the mail, so I was able to begin on this kite, which has been on my to-do list since August. This sail has added mylar along the outer trailing edges. When flying previous Lazers, all the vibration on the trailing edge ended up wearing through the icarex completely. I repaired those by adding new mylar to them, but I haven’t flown them since then. Hopefully the mylar solves that wear problem without reducing the noise that the kite makes.
Fittings
As with previous Lazers, this sports 3d printed fittings, including a 3d printed nose. I changed the cross fitting from a simple donut to a swivel. I also added small holes to the swivel so I could inject super glue into them, so I don’t need extra clips above and below it. I think the swivel will be strong enough for this kite, but I’ve not tried using a 3d printed swivel on an outdoor dual line, so I’m eager to see how it fares.
Bridle
This bridle includes leaders that are separate from the rest of the bridle. This extra bit of line is so that other Lazers don’t come by and cut through your lines, as happened multiple times when flying these as a group back in August. The extended bit of bridle is 170lb line, so it should hold up well, but they are also completely separate from the bridle, so if they do get cut, it’s easy enough to just tie new ones.
Sleeve
I’d been contemplating about changing my sleeve design for a bit. Instead of sewing around the sleeve inside-out, I used a black double-fold edge binding instead. I like that this keeps the sleeve flat when there is no kite in it, so it packs away a bit more tidy, and is more foldable. It turns out that it looks pretty nice to. The black outline complements the black leading and trailing edges of the kite, so it feels like it fits right in.
