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Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

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or6
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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby or6 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:36 am

I like to ride the perfect size on my surfboard....I ride the 5 from 30 - 40 knots. Above 40: my 4. Have only had the 4 out once (it's brand-new). Don't know the upper limit, but 45 steady was no issue, I am guestimating 50 is no problem.

22 meter lines on all my kites. Have but one standard bar.

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby Frank82 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:59 am

9m best gp up to 42kn gusts, 7m best gp up to 50kn gust, above that it's no longer fun. Weight, 75-80kg.

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby early bird2 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 1:47 pm

Thanks everybody for your answers , so far : 3.5 to 7 meters kites and 20-23 m lines , medium aspect are average . I'll keep taking notes .

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby tomtom » Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:19 pm

people should recalibrate they wind meters whenever they talking about kitesurfing in 50knts especialy on 7m kite. All these claim are BS for anybody who ever witness real 50kts. In real 50 knts you have problem to stand or walk.

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby Mossy 757 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:30 pm

tomtom wrote:
Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:19 pm
people should recalibrate they wind meters whenever they talking about kitesurfing in 50knts especialy on 7m kite. All these claim are BS for anybody who ever witness real 50kts. In real 50 knts you have problem to stand or walk.
No way man, I ride a hydrfoil on an 8m in 60 knots with 35m lines.

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby Matteo V » Wed Oct 17, 2018 3:38 pm

iriejohn wrote:
Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:34 pm
81kg. 6m Ozone Enduro V2 with Ozone 23m lines on Lieuwe Shotgun 136 x 40.5

Above 35 knots I don't bother.

In 50 knots? Sorry, that's Storm 10, the OP is having a laugh! :lol:
100kg rider, LF Kitefish quad finned, 23m lines across all tube kite sizes from 3.5m to 13.5m.

Ya, you do not really want to go out in 40+ gusty or 50+ steady, but at some point with the right gear, you may find yourself doing it.

I used my 3.5m Best Kahoona in 35-40 knots a few times and was able to jibe and ride, but not make it upwind. I got a 45+knot wind day with sustained gusts much higher, and I was able to get about 2 hours of riding. This was on a lake in the Midwest US that happened to be perfectly oriented with the prevailing NW cold front winds. I was able to go up wind and back roll, but not jump high (obviously) as the lifts were just not enough to take my 100kg up more than 2meters.

The guy filming me was having a hard time standing on a concrete boat ramp and the vid is pretty shaky. One other windsurfer out with me, but no kiter would go out. I had a good time only in that it was an accomplishment after years of kite experience. I am not enthused about doing it again. Still I am keeping my 3.5m for that exact situation. If you ever kite in this wind speed, be prepared for your kite to pull like heck, then slack, then sound like a shotgun going off when it grabs the next piece of wind that hits it.

Personally, I do not like to change line length from 3.5m to 13.5m. It messes up my window timing. And if you think about it, shorter lines on a smaller kite decreases the time (almost like increasing the speed) the kite takes to cross the window. And shorter lines do this more than just what a smaller kite in high winds does alone. So you wind up compounding your timing issue on a kite size you are likely not used to anyway. I have had 40m lines down to 17m lines and used other kiters shorter lines (on unfamiliar kites). Through that experimentation, I have found that keeping line length consistent is a great way to "cheat" a bit and make things easier. Or at least keep one additional variable from getting out of control.

That said, I am a proponent of longer lines on your biggest light wind kite.

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby tomtom » Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:06 pm

Thanks Matteo for realistic description.

100kg man and 3.5 kite - thats what is take to go in 45+. Thats my experience. Anytime anybody says something about hydrofoil and 50 knots - i just skip page. Mossy i suppose was ironic...
Anyway about line length - i completely agree with keeping it consistent. Short line works with big kite /relative to normal in that condition/ so you are using kite static power and not power spikes from moving. The smaller the kite the sharper are powerspikes and shorter line make them even sharper/shorter. It works as measure if you dont have smaller kite or if you are using on purpose with bigger than normal kite - to make powerspikes more manageable and use kite more static like sail.

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby andylc » Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:42 pm

Not sure I agree about the above. I've only done it once but I have been out in 45-50 knots with gusts, on a 7m kite and I weigh 65kg. I was a short session and quite scary, but worth it if only for the 3 of us who did go out to take the piss out of the 10+ other kiters who turned up and wimped out...

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby tomtom » Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:57 pm

waste of time. If you can walk - rig kite - launch a kite or breath and do all this without extraordinary effort than its not 50 knots. Go with car on highway 100km/h / 60mph - now climb on roof of your car and rig a kite. Because that it is

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Re: Which Kites and lines lenght are most people using for 30 to 50 knots

Postby edt » Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:52 pm

50 knots is too much. I'm not sure how you can even boost in that kind of wind with a 2 or 3 meter. I mean I've seen it happen before but those landings are brutal. 40 knots is ok. You can ride a 5-7 meter kite and not come down like a sack of rocks. Use whatever line lengths you are used to. You don't want to be experimenting with line lengths when it's nuking.


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