2 kites quiver: 8m and 12m?

[dylan*]

get the 12 and 9 and pick up a cheap 7m second hand for the nuking days if you actually get enough days for a 7

i did 12 and 8 for a while and you can make it work, but there will always be those days where you're overpowered on one kite and underpowered on the other and it's not much fun

11/8 could work depending on your spot, im lighter weight than you and would miss out on a ton of days picking an 11 over a 12 though, so it really depends. my next quiver will probably be 14/10/8

[SaltWaterDog]

Hi everyone.
What your toughts about a quiver of 2 kites, 8 and 12m (specifically Core Xr 5), for freeriding using a bidirectional, on flat to lightly chop waters? The standard around here is 9 and 12, however I'm lighter (+-67kg) than the average kiter here (would say 75kg), and on the 9 I think I would be too overpowered on strong days. So what you think?
Thanks

Hey dude.

I’m 88kg, use 19, 15, 12, 9, 6 and if I’m honest, I should sell my 6 because I hardly ever use it. The XR is really great when it’s over powered so unless you want to test out conditions above 30 knots on a regular basis the 9 will do really well for you. I agree with the other people on the thread saying the gap is too big.

[mrradlos]

Hi everyone.
What your toughts about a quiver of 2 kites, 8 and 12m (specifically Core Xr 5), for freeriding using a bidirectional, on flat to lightly chop waters? The standard around here is 9 and 12, however I'm lighter (+-67kg) than the average kiter here (would say 75kg), and on the 9 I think I would be too overpowered on strong days. So what you think?
Thanks

Hello k2thiago

I'm 67kg myself and I fly Core XR 7m2 (18 to 30 knots) and XR4 11m2 (12 to 22 knots) which I find perfect. I use a bigger splitboard twintip with hardly any rocker in light wind and a very light Crazy Fly Raptor LTD 131 whenever possible. I also had a GTS 3 LW 17m2 witch I sold again, I would not recommend that kite for light people (heavier people like it though).
For very light wind (11 knots or bellow) you will probably have to go with foilkites or/and foilboards. I once borrowed a Flysurfer Boost 18m2 which I could fly with a twintip, when only foils where left on the water though.

[k2thiago]

Thanks for all the inputs! Im aware that the 11 would be the correct size for the bigger one, however it was a matter of opportunity to get the 12m, demoed with a good discount. So at the end I did get it. My initial idea was to have 8, 10.5 and maybe a 13.5 for light days, but turns out that this 12m showed up. Let see how it will work. For now I have a conventional surf board (6’0) and a slingshot vision 140 cm, kinda big for my size and height but i will look for a smaller bidirectional too. I dont think i will get a foil board soon, i believe that I need to get more experience with the bi and surf boards... also the FBs are quite expnsive and not so easy to buy overseas and bring to my country (comparing to the kites itself)... again thanks for all the inputs!

[k2thiago]

Hello k2thiago

I'm 67kg myself and I fly Core XR 7m2 (18 to 30 knots) and XR4 11m2 (12 to 22 knots) which I find perfect. I use a bigger splitboard twintip with hardly any rocker in light wind and a very light Crazy Fly Raptor LTD 131 whenever possible. I also had a GTS 3 LW 17m2 witch I sold again, I would not recommend that kite for light people (heavier people like it though).
For very light wind (11 knots or bellow) you will probably have to go with foilkites or/and foilboards. I once borrowed a Flysurfer Boost 18m2 which I could fly with a twintip, when only foils where left on the water though.

Thanks for sharing your experience, so you do use the same “gap”, but one meter smaller in both ends. Is it mean that I will need to eat that extra steak to compensate? Jokes apart, if you can ride 12 kts on you eleven, do you think that 10kts would be ridable with a 12m? Or would be too much hassle?

[k2thiago]

The 8 & 12m will be perfect - the XR5 has a big useable windrange. What I did was use a 58cm custom bar, with a longer throw, this will make them turn slightly quicker on 25m long lines while maintaining the power stroke.

If using the standard core bar - it should have line extensions on it allready. Take the extensions off on high wind days to Decrease ithe 8m power..
Fly it on the fast turn setting and lightest bar pressure !

I'm 75kg, use a 2018 136x41 Crazyfly Raptor LTD board and have demoed the 8.9.10m bought the 9.
I currently use that when others are on 12m kites though I do have good light wind skills and Megaloop it on strong days..

Have Fun

I did think about remove the last line extension on a strong day. I had a lot of fun that day, but towards the end of the day, the wind got quite strong (i dont know exacly how strong, but I would guess around 30kts) and i started to struggle to keep the control... end up finishing my session a little bit before others, but was ok. Definetelly I felt that the xr5 had more power than other kites that ive tried in the same size.
I will try the setting that you have suggested, thanks.

[Windigo1]

I have a friend who uses exactly the quiver you are suggesting 12m and 8m XR she's a really good kiter and it seem to work well for her. Personally I have ac crazy number of kites so I'm not the best person to talk about this but I have seen people do it with 2 or 3 kites. There will be times you might wish for a an extra kite but it can be done if you want to travel light.