Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Drifter 4 or 5 as smallest kite?

Forum for kitesurfers
maartsurf
Rare Poster
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:48 pm
Local Beach: Scheveningen
Style: Strapless
Gear: drifters, spade 5'6
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Drifter 4 or 5 as smallest kite?

Postby maartsurf » Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:35 pm

Hi,

I hope you can give me some advice on the following:

At the moment I have 2 kites a 6('18) and 8('16) Drifter and my board is a Spade 5'6('18). My weight is about 68-70kg's and my length is 189cm. Normally when it gets over 25knots I take my small windsurfgear because kiting with my 6 isn't much fun anymore, I can't concentrate on the waves anymore because the kite pulls too hard. I would love to be able to kite at serie is maybe easier to sell later. I surf most of the time in the Netherlands (North Sea) but I also go to Cape Town each year (normally for windsurfing but this year maybe only with my kite stuff). Another option could be a smaller board but it would be nicer if I could stay with a one board quiver. Hope you can help me to make the right choice...

Maarten

stayfan
Rare Poster
Posts: 44
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 4:24 pm
Style: freestyle/freeryde
Gear: Thorn 2008
Torch 2008
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Drifter 4 or 5 as smallest kite?

Postby stayfan » Fri Aug 10, 2018 9:23 am

Maarten,

I am 76 kg and I have a Drifter 2018, 5m as my smallest kite.
I also kite in The Netherlands, Maasvlakte, Scheveningen, Wijk, Ouddorp.
5m is good for me. My setup is 5, 7, 9m.
5m is good for you also, but 4m is better cause you already have a 6 and 8m.
I also think 4, 6, 8m is a range I would kite here if I had your weight.

Greets, Steven

Dkite
Rare Poster
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2018 6:59 am
Gear: Kites and boards
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Drifter 4 or 5 as smallest kite?

Postby Dkite » Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:05 pm

Another one from The Netherlands here, I'm 70kg and 175cm using a 5'1 Firewire Vader.
I currently have a 8M Naish Slash & 11M Pivot.

Went kiting today at Wijk aan Zee and it was 27 - 32 knots and ofcourse that was way too much for my 8M and a surfboard.

I'm also considering to add a 5M indeed.
I was thinking 8m for 16-26 knots and 5m for 25-35 knots.

Greetz Dave

Mikkelza
Medium Poster
Posts: 135
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:19 pm
Gear: Wave + foil
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 25 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: Drifter 4 or 5 as smallest kite?

Postby Mikkelza » Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:28 pm

Try to calculate the percentage difference in size. That have worked for me when deciding what sizes. For example 12 9 7,5 6m2 is better than 12 9 7 5 (although often used).
I would prefer 8 6 5 over 8 6 4.the gap between 4 and 6 is too much.

Personally I have 12 9 7 5.5 and 4.5 m2.
I recently bough the 4.5m2. Cabrinha drifter 2017. I am surprised how good it flies. Like the 5.5, just a little faster and with higher topend (of course). I feared that the 4.5m2 would be too flimsy and too much on/off power..

windmaker
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1879
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2003 8:48 am
Local Beach: .
Style: Strapless surf and foil
Gear: F-One & Aeros kites/ HB surf/ Taaroa foil/ Manera
Has thanked: 58 times
Been thanked: 91 times
Contact:

Re: Drifter 4 or 5 as smallest kite?

Postby windmaker » Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:38 pm

Mikkelza wrote:
Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:28 pm
Try to calculate the percentage difference in size. That have worked for me when deciding what sizes. For example 12 9 7,5 6m2 is better than 12 9 7 5 (although often used).
I would prefer 8 6 5 over 8 6 4.the gap between 4 and 6 is too much.

Personally I have 12 9 7 5.5 and 4.5 m2.
I recently bough the 4.5m2. Cabrinha drifter 2017. I am surprised how good it flies. Like the 5.5, just a little faster and with higher topend (of course). I feared that the 4.5m2 would be too flimsy and too much on/off power..
:thumb: Gap from 4 to 6m is too big. I weigh 66 kg own 3/4/5/6 and 8m F-one kites. Gap from 3 to 4m is too big (3,5 would be better), 4 to 5 gap is ok, 5 to 6m is perfect, 6 to 8m perfect.

Onda
Frequent Poster
Posts: 477
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 10:12 am
Kiting since: 2008
Local Beach: Baltic Sea / North Sea (Germany)
Favorite Beaches: Wijk aan Zee (NL)
Ouddorp (NL)
Norre Vorupor (DK)
Heiligenhafen (DE)
Style: strictly unstrapped, mainly foiling
Gear: Slingshot / Infexion / Alpine / F-One / CORE / Firewire / Duotone
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Germany
Has thanked: 51 times
Been thanked: 99 times
Contact:

Re: Drifter 4 or 5 as smallest kite?

Postby Onda » Fri Sep 28, 2018 9:58 am

After testing and trying many different wave kite models & brands, my conclusion is: There is no perfect range of wave kites within one same model.
My current and so-far perfect range is as follows:
RRD Religion MK8 9 m² (very good low-end, perfect transition to the 7 m², agile and nimble, fast for a "large" wave kite)
Ozone Reo V4 7 m² (simply perfect in every aspect for the most typical wind range when the waves are on on the North Sea)
Slingshot Wave SST ´17 5 m² (not too fast for a 5 m² kite, very smooth power delivery, no power peaks during fast turns, very good low end, good high end)


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: alford, Bing [Bot], Brent NKB, decay, droffats, pj sofine, Sun and 124 guests