Because, it wouldn't have the grunt of the bigger kite When I need to use the biggest kite, there's simply no time to wait for the kite to get around on the upstroke so it needs to have made max power and gotten me foiling on the upstroke. This is why I can get away with smaller faster kites when the wind is (almost as) light -- you just have to get onto the board to get foiling and riding, and gybes are still successful because you don't have to wait days for the kite to get around. The 10m gets very close to the bottom end of the 21 and I'm sure if it wasn't a heavy old 7-strut dog, it'd get even closer.plummet wrote:But what if you downsized to a lot smaller sonic that the speed? say 15m? My 12 chrono is way more efficient that my old 15m speed for low end. So you may be able to get a smaller kite with similar low end to the 21m and be a lot faster to turn.
In the midst of summer, the wind can hold steady at 5 or 6 knots and while the 10m won't even fly, the 21 will and it's a piece of cake to ride. Almost any other time of year, the wind is too variable for me to risk the big foil. I've tried the 15 and 12 as very light wind kites, but I simply have all the problems (and more) of the big kite without the grunt. Even the 60kg local who has 15m Chrono as their light wind kites prefer to use their Chrono 9.
I know the S3 is way long in the tooth and the new ones are better, but I simply prefer the LEI for the kind of foil riding I like to do. And I've come to the conclusion that foils smaller than 15 and tubes bigger than 13 are a waste of time for me.