guess top wind range for 18m and 15m pansh a15

[opie]

I am deciding between these two sizes for my first foil kite. I know it is not an exact science but hearing where you guys feel like you start to get overpowered will help me know what to expect. I ride a Ketos Fr2 wing strapless and weigh 85 Kg. At 10 knots and up I'll use my clouds, but it would be nice to have some overlap.

Thanks

[Peter_Frank]

I am deciding between these two sizes for my first foil kite. I know it is not an exact science but hearing where you guys feel like you start to get overpowered will help me know what to expect. I ride a Ketos Fr2 wing strapless and weigh 85 Kg. At 10 knots and up I'll use my clouds, but it would be nice to have some overlap.

Thanks

Riding a similar Ketos wing, a bit smaller than yours, strapless, being 77 kg, I can ride my 11 m2 ELF up to 10 knots I think, but here I get lifted off the board very often, and a PITA to ride, only survival.
When strapped I can hold on much longer and easier - but hardly never doing this
In reality I stop when it is 8 knots, as in 9 knots it is not fun being so powered anymore, and I use LEI's instead 9 to 12 m2 in 8 to 10 knots.

Sorry, have no idea about the pansh a15 but very similar to you regarding weight/wing size so maybe you can use my experiences for "something"

PF

[davesails7]

If you aren't racing, I don't think there's a reason for bigger than a 15m foil kite for hydrofoil riding. I don't have experience with pansh specifically, but I would go 15m.

[opie]

What would be the top wind speed a racer would use an 18 m kite in?

[davesails7]

Depends on how good the racer is. I saw last year in the hydrofoil pro tour videos some guys were riding 15m's up to low 20s kts, but I switch to 11m by 15 knots. I'm typically around 15th out of a fleet of 35-40.

I didn't have an 18m last season, but seemed like the guys with 18m kites would switch down to their 15m around 12-13 kts. The guys that did have 18m were the guys in the top of the fleet though, so could handle more power.

[opie]

Thanks,
I think I would be happier with a 15m at first, but since I will probably end up buying a 12m later, maybe I should get the 18m.
I honestly think I might as well flip a coin.

[Peter_Frank]

Thanks,
I think I would be happier with a 15m at first, but since I will probably end up buying a 12m later, maybe I should get the 18m.
I honestly think I might as well flip a coin.

Ha haa, indeed not easy no...

What is your cloud sizes now ?

They are extremely powerful, so the big one probably somewhat below 10 m2 if you are thinking about a 12 m2 foil kite later ?

Always tricky to find ones personal quiver that match bullseye

Still, would really consider NOT having too big a kite, if you like to ride strapless and with the medium-big wing you got, even for marginal winds, but just my personal liking I know

PF

[opie]

I have clouds 3.5, 5.5, 8.5 and 17. The 17 is perfect at 9 knots. At 10 knots its ridable but I feel overpowered. At 8 knots I blow some jibes but I usually keep the kite in the air so I can restart. Eventually I drop the kite to many times and can't get it back up and swim in. At 7 knots if I miss a jibe I always drop the kite and have to swim. The only people who stay flying longer than me are on foils, from 11m and up. There is something beautiful about the way the foilers on foil kites move that makes me want to join in. To my untrained eye they look like they fly very differently, efficient and elegant.
Anyway, I think I've decided. I am going to get the 18m, buy some foot hooks, and pretend I am a racer. It will be fun to ride a different style occasionally.

[evan]

The Pansh a15 12m I tried had a very limited windrange, sits too deep in the wind window and needed more bar travel any standard bar could provide to even feel it having any effect so the top-end and depower was not that good. Not better as my 17m R1 i was flying on 5m shorter lines.

What foilkites are the others flying you are referring to? I ask this because the a15 is a totally different kite than the race foilkites.

[Regis-de-giens]

Don't take your decision too rapidly dear future foilkite lover : -).
You are not so heavy and have a decent big foil wing. 15m should be enough and far more fun (wind range, waterstarts, transitions, gusts). A15 is not as powerful as Aurora 15m, however the low end (speaking of foiling planning and go back to starting point) should be similar.

You seem to look for very low end, so definitelly choose the Pansh light weight cloth (which is similar to the FS Lotus weight), to save kite drop and hope to relaunch.

Last point : a15 (not tested unfortunatelly but i know both Pansh and limited AR kites) has a limited L/D ratio (worse than FS speed4 which is already not so high) compared to a race dedicated kite like sonic, diablo, r1,ect... this unfortunatelly induces that it goes less far in wind window and therefore delivers more (too much) side traction, unconfortable. So their high end becomes actually lower than a similar size race kite that your friends racers experimented with their race kite.

So be careful of such comparisons and objectives. And I would stick to a15m light cloth in your case which agility will largely compensate for the mssing 3m2 for the waterstart. Otherwise if you WANT a 18m you would need to chose a more oriented race kite to limit side traction, but race kite will be more (too ? ) tricky to handle as a first foil kite, less stable, and preventing you dangerous 90 degrees rides vs wind direction as soon as winds goes a little higher ...

My educated guess is that the a18 will cruelly miss wind range. A15 is already quite big...