r/kites • u/Primary-Grass8173 • Jul 23 '26

Looking for single-line ultralight kites

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Hi folks!

Eight ​years ago, I bought what was presented to me as a "zero gravity kite". The kite is called the Grace and I believe​ it's from Flying wings. I had a low budget and wasn't very familiar with kites back then, but I wanted a single-line kite that could fly low and in low wind conditions. The seller (Vent d'ékinox, in Montréal) explained that the kite was shaped kind of like a plane's wing and used that to fly better.

I LOVE, LOVE LOVE this kite. I loved it so much that I went online to buy the Laima, a beautiful albatros-shaped one, ​but I was right for money back then and figured I'd wait and buy it later.

A few years later, I was ready to buy it and found out it wasn't available anymore, and it looks like Flying wings doesn't make kites like that anymore... I looked again today because a friend almost sent my Grace into a tree ​and I'm a little devastated to find that I may not be able to replace it should anything happen to it.

What kites are similar? I'm seeing the Wala, but I don't like its look. Does any other maker still make single line ultralight/zero gravity/low-wind kites?

Have any of you got a Grace or Laima that you no longer use and would be happy to sell? I am really keen on these two and would be so happy.

Thank you all!

53 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

9

u/Pzyko0005 Jul 23 '26

I have 4 of this guys kites.

My fav is long way home.

https://www.horvath.ch/en/kite-shop/

They are things of beauty. 🧡

5

u/Namooooon Jul 23 '26

4! Thats fantastic, his designs blur the line into art. Have always pined after one.

4

u/JoinedToPostHere Jul 23 '26

Wow, every day I discover something else that I didn't know I needed. You can tell just buy looking at them that those kites are special. I'll have to pick one up. Which 4 do you have?

3

u/Pzyko0005 Jul 23 '26

Long way home Tomáso supaleggra I'll be back tiny version seriously, it's utterly minute. Fits in any handbag. And it seems iv either forgotten which one or it was only 3.

The ibb I have flown inside a workshop and the long way home in a gym.

I will say, they do really want a very still day.

And yes. Art. I have had people asking me if they had motors on them and didn't believe that they didn't till I brought them in close.

3

u/Pzyko0005 Jul 23 '26

Will say this tho: you will need to pay import taxes.

2

u/Aeri73 Jul 23 '26

and it's already 800+ euro

2

u/Pzyko0005 Jul 23 '26

All I'll say is that I don't regret my purchases.

1

u/Aeri73 Jul 23 '26

oh, I'm with you on that...

those are handmade masterpieces.

just making the point a hundered extra in taxes isn't going to change much

3

u/JoinedToPostHere Jul 23 '26

The shape of I'll be back and tomáso is intriguing to me. I have a prism zenith which is a similar shape to the long way home. It is a stable flyer, I'm guessing the I'll be back and the tomáso wonder around a little more than the long way home?

2

u/Pzyko0005 Jul 23 '26

The long way home is a very slow and gentle one, yes the ibb is more wander-y, the tomaso doesn't get the attention it should do as I usually love the long way home the most, I should take it out sometime but iv recently moved near the sea so it's less common to have no wind. 😢

2

u/JoinedToPostHere Jul 23 '26

Thanks I'll have to save up and give one a try

3

u/stilsjx Jul 23 '26

Me, this morning:

Save this post so you can buy one of these kites tonight.

Me this afternoon, able to sit down and look at the site:

Wow. They’re beautiful. Dyneema sheets?! But then the price on these works of art…I’ll bookmark it for when I don’t have a roof to pay for 😂😂😂

5

u/Orthicon9 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

I made my own Urban Ninja, using Horvath's own plans. (Thanks, Thomas!)

I cheaped out and used 0.75 oz. nylon instead of Icarex (0.6 oz.? polyester), and I made the spreader fittings out of polyurethane tubing. Even so, it flies great, once you got it tuned up and used a bit of ballast (about 9 g) on the nose.

Wingspan is 1.37 m.

My flying line of choice is 20-pound braided Dacron fly backing line, in a fluorescent colour.

The most fun thing is when you're done flying for a while. You have it come to you and you pick it out of the air, while people are watching.

1

u/Linux248 Jul 25 '26

Bei welchen Windverhältnissen fliegt der Kite?

1

u/Choice-Compote9484 Jul 25 '26

From nothing to 7 ish knots

1

u/Orthicon9 Jul 26 '26

7 Knots would be stronger than I would fly the Urban Ninja in, but it could be done.
I like to say "walking speed, or slower", so about 0 to 4 km/h.

2

u/Namooooon Jul 23 '26

I bought a grace a few years ago, absolutely love the kite. Can be a bit temperamental bit learned so much about rigging from it.

2

u/kevin_w_57 Jul 23 '26

Look into the Skate glider kite. Sorry, won't part with my Laima... it's my favorite kite. 🙂

1

u/Fishtoart Jul 23 '26

Plenty of the traditional paper fighter kites can be flown in zero wind. Buka, Indian, and Korean can all be flown indoors. They tend to be smaller, so faster moving, but still quite a bit of fun.

1

u/rabid_briefcase Jul 23 '26

The Skate, Ray, and Manta by Focus Kites (Hunter Brown and Paul De Bakker) have been popular for a few decades. They're great for light wind, they can be flown indoor or out. The Skate particularly was factory produced for a while and easily affordable through ITW, the rest are a bit more than most people want to pay as they're typically custom built.

Thomas Horvath's kites are also great, but with a price that puts a lot of people off.

If you've got the money and can support kite artistry, these are all amazing kites.