oz43 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2018 10:40 pm
Seems like I might get blown off the 10m fairly quickly. I was kinda hoping that by the time I was blown off the foil, I could remove the mast and ride board only...
It sounds like you're an accomplished rider already, what conditions did you learn in, and what kite did you use?
Thanks
Hi oz43,
A lot depends on what foil / board that you are planning on getting.
I started foiling Spring of 2016, on a Zeeko Black and White foil mounted to an old Liquid Force Skim Skate that is 20” wide x 5’-0” long, heavy and low volume. And strapless from the first day.
The kites I used were wave kites (Mutiny S – 8m and 12m from 2012), and a freeride / freestyle kite (Best Nemesis HP 14m from 2014ish).
I would get blown off my kites quite early because I was a heavy person on a foil / board combination that needed about 10 knots of board speed to take off, and quickly accelerated to above 15 knots. This effectively gave me about 10 more knots of wind speed. Also, my kites didn’t depower all that well. I would only use my 14m kite in less than 12 knots of wind. It fell in the water quite often, and there were many swims in.
This past summer, there was a person learning with a large slow foil, and a 17m Ozone Zephyr kite that had a huge amount of depower. Because his foil was slow, he did not generate much apparent wind, and because he could depower his kite so much, even if he did get going a little quicker, the kite did not overpower him. He was riding this combination in over 15 knots of wind.
In the same conditions that he was riding his 17m kite, I would have been on my 12m or 8m, because I would get overpowered so quickly. I got a relatively slower foil this year ( Stringfellow ), and I find that I like a bit more kite power with this foil since it doesn’t ride as fast as the Zeeko did.
You need to look at the whole board / foil / kite combination.
Your 10m Drifter should work fine ( I am assuming that it is a wave kite ). The razor will work as well, as long as it can steer well when depowered, and will fly in lighter winds.
I hope this helps.