how many squaremeters between the first 2 kites for a beginner?

[grigorib]

thank you grigorib but where I kite is always windy, so I should not need a LW kite like the 15... and for this I started with the 12, my instructor taught me with a 14 just because was a strange case of light wind, that rapidly became too big

That's nice to have. So at what wind speed you start feeling that your 12m is too much of size and you won't ride?

[iriejohn]

9m, 12m is nice because later on a 7m will slot in perfectly without having to replace anything.

[Archer77]

thank you grigorib but where I kite is always windy, so I should not need a LW kite like the 15... and for this I started with the 12, my instructor taught me with a 14 just because was a strange case of light wind, that rapidly became too big

That's nice to have. So at what wind speed you start feeling that your 12m is too much of size and you won't ride?

I still doesn't have many reference on wind (also because I have now started measuring it:) ... I will take up this thread in future ...

[t3rse]

http://windalert.com/spot/34494

[shawn13]

I also do 3m gap... 6m, 9m, 12m, 15m. The gap is perfect.

No it's not the perfect set up 6 to 9 is too big. There's times when a 6 is underdone and a 9 is too powered. I've seen many times when 7 or 8 is ideal.

Works for me. But I like to be really jacked before i switch because its better for boosting.

[Flyboy]

12/9/6 has been a classic quiver since the dawn of kiteboarding.

12m is likely the most sold kite size the world over.

9m is the size that traditionally gets the most R&D as companies do most of that work in windy locations. Usually the money size in any model's range.

And 6m is about as small as most reasonable riders need.

I always thought 12/9/7 was the "classic" - that 6m was not a very common kite size. I guess it all depends on what kite brand. It has to be said that not all kite are the same - some kite types have more low end & some kites have more high end. It also depends on the kind of board you're using (& obviously body weight). In the "old days" I used a 16/12/9 combo, since switching to a surfboard about 7 years ago, I haven't used anything bigger than a 12. Conversely, I find I use my 7m a lot more than I used to; I don't like to ride "overpowered" anymore & will switch to the 7m once the wind is in the mid 20's.

For the OP, I would suggest 12/9 & then add a 7m at some point in the future.

[Peert]

I also do 3m gap... 6m, 9m, 12m, 15m. The gap is perfect.

No it's not the perfect set up 6 to 9 is too big. There's times when a 6 is underdone and a 9 is too powered. I've seen many times when 7 or 8 is ideal.

Works for me. But I like to be really jacked before i switch because its better for boosting.

This of course depends on:
1. Single board or multi board quiver?
2. Type of board used (my mako king has a far bigger range than the mako 135)
3. Type of kite (genetrix hydra has a huge range compared to for example a traditional c-kite)
4. Same or different brand/type kite. Marketing determines partially if a 9 meter is 8.7 or 9.3.
If they want to market a kite as good low end one they build a 9 meter one slightly bigger..
If they want to market it as one having a good high end they make it slightly smaller.

[Peter_Frank]

You got a 12m2 now, and you should definitely get a 9 to complete, NOT an 8m2.

In the future, when you get better and ride in the winds you got there, you will need a 7m2 also, and if you get into waveriding, a 5m2.

Then you got the smallest simple quiver that covers just fine, if average weight

The 9-6 gap has been tried by many, but they have ALL been so dissapointed, and had to sell one or two kites later and buy new ones, to get the sizes to fit - simply too big a gap

When above 10m2 the gap size almost dont matter at all - bigger gap is just fine

Peter

[edt]

I guess it goes to show everyone has an opinion. But the best advice I think you can take away is to plan ahead because if you get into kiteboarding trust me you'll soon have a dozen kites. It's hard for a kiter to quit buying kites.

" 12-9 and then maybe a 7"

that's a real good plan because you are planning now for the future when you buy that third kite! Then the 4th kite will be a light wind kite then 5th kite and so on and so on.

[Starsky]

Yeah I agree, 7 is a better step down from 9.

Makes no difference for the OP. We seem to have decent consensus that 9 is a logical step down from the 12 he already has.