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I'm 15 years old and i started kiting about a year ago. I'm kiting most of my time in the bahamas and it's really light down there under 10 knots so i'm looking for a lightwind kite to complete my quiver of a liquid force envy 9m ( I can start kiting in about 13 knots ) and a Naish Helix 12m ( i never use this one because it is too heavy and i'm alway's over-power with it).

Do you have any kite size and brand to suggest me I'm also looking for a glide board or a skim board I don't know whats better for me.

Your light!
I have worked with quite a few light riders over the years and what you find is that at your weight it's hard to push a kite forward enough in the window to;
a) go upwind well
c) have the kite sit far enough forward to get positive forward pull out of your manoeuvres (you'll always feel like the kite is pulling at 90 degrees to your board (or a long way downwind)
b) be comfortable using the kite without large amounts of depower as soon as you get planing. I'm guessing that there will be days when it's too light to ride, but as soon as you get going if the wind picks up just a little, you'll find that you are using lots of depower, and hardly ever find yourself with the bar pulled close to your chicken loop?

Using large amounts of depower is annoying because few kites handle well with slack back lines, and if you don't have the weight to engage the power the back lines will always be slack..

The answer is to use a kites that the heavyweights struggle with.. something that is really efficient - and at 55kg you need it to sit as far forward as possible. I have never done a comparative test (certainly not this year) of every super efficient kite, but in 14 years or riding I have not quite ridden anything that sits as far forward as the Airush VX 2013. If you can at least get a go of one of these it will show you the difference between this and the normal style of kite out there.

Kiting can be a lot more fun if you are light, but you have to tool up for the job, because the mainstream equipment it built for the mass market - 78-95 kg

at your weight, do you need to go bigger than 12?

good luck!

Hi,
You can check out Nobile T5-Koinobori 2012/2013 for a bigger kite.
This kite stays in the air when the wind is barely blowing. The kite is very very light.
I was amazed how a 4 line kite does not stall back when the wind was 8-9 knots.
The only thing I did not likes was - the material was too light/thin, but on the other side big sizes do not get so abused as the small sizes kites, so it should not be a problem.
So in the end for light riders T5-Koinobori is a perfect choice. Do not go for bigger size than 12m2

@MikeBirt,

Do your observations apply to light weight kiters in general or just light weight kiters in light winds?

Thanks.

philippe1012 wrote:I'm 15 years old and i started kiting about a year ago. I'm kiting most of my time in the bahamas and it's really light down there under 10 knots so i'm looking for a lightwind kite to complete my quiver of a liquid force envy 9m ( I can start kiting in about 13 knots ) and a Naish Helix 12m ( i never use this one because it is too heavy and i'm alway's over-power with it).

Do you have any kite size and brand to suggest me I'm also looking for a glide board or a skim board I don't know whats better for me.

My wife is 50kg...rides a 17M.... NO problem at all
She is having fun in 8kn and her wind range is easily up to 14 knots
She is in the ocean and rides surfboard all the time
It is her favorite LW kite of all times

We are on east coast central Florida and we ride a lot of hot gutless winds
Make sure your kite is "designed" for LW...made of utralight materials...and stays up EZ in 6kn lulls
Having a lot of depower is also important..so if winds pick's up..you can remain on the water

Her kite : Core Riot XR2LW ....and she rides with 24+3m ext.= 27m lines
And if you ride a standard TT i am sure you could go up the 16kn wind yourself for your upper range
For LW TT look for something wider...like a 46/47or 48cm

Hope this helps....have fun!
BTW i am 75kg and i am on the 19M

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@phillipe1012 , sorry i missed the part with the under 10 knots kiting. You can not do anything but race board. The other option is stay under the coconut tree and drink a coconut . And yes if you go on a race board under 10 knots the size is 17m2 ....

My wife weight exactly the same and use a Core XR2 15m with an F-One Trax LW board and can kite in 10 knots with lulls down to 8 knots. Maybe you should look into a directional board, LW oriented but not necessarily a race board. Something like the North Nugget, the F-One Fish, the Airush Sector, etc... I think theses would be easier for you to optimize your low end and also increase the high end because at your weight a large TT for LW will be harder to control if the wind increase. An other suggestion could be the Flysurfer Speed3 15m deluxe which is really good in LW and have enormous depower and smooth power.

philippe1012 wrote:I'm 15 years old and i started kiting about a year ago. I'm kiting most of my time in the bahamas and it's really light down there under 10 knots so i'm looking for a lightwind kite to complete my quiver of a liquid force envy 9m ( I can start kiting in about 13 knots ) and a Naish Helix 12m ( i never use this one because it is too heavy and i'm alway's over-power with it).

Do you have any kite size and brand to suggest me I'm also looking for a glide board or a skim board I don't know whats better for me.

Hi Philippe,

I would like to advice you, to have a look at the Switchkite range, Nitro v2 and the Element, both 2 great kites, the latest developments from Switch, great quality, great construction.
The prices are very good compared to other brands, so you will have some money left to do some other funstuff.
www.switchkites.com

Cheers switchdude