BiteMe wrote: ↑Tue Apr 18, 2017 4:37 am
Captain - What are your local conditions? I have a 17m Turbine, 14m&12M Rally's. I am the same weight as you and can't go on the Turbine till it hits 12mph. And that's with a big TT. We have surf and rips. The 12m doesn't come out till the wind is hitting 18mph
A little bit of everything. Depends where I'm riding. Naturally in "surf and rips" I need more power to counteract waves and currents. However, in most cases when the wind is light the ocean is also, and I can still go out on a big surfboard and have fun in 12 mph on my 12M. As stated, I do use the 23"x27M bar. That probably makes it feel like a 13M kite. It'll pull me in 10-12 but I won't hold ground.
Now, I've been stubburn about that because I just don't want a lightwind kite (one more to carry) and around me light wind is usually not steady. Light wind is usually going between 0 and 10... however, when I do find very steady 10-14mph days and I've gotten to fly a friends 15M Turbine, I had more fun.
Foiling has changed all these rules and kite sizes. I don't foil yet, but when a bug farts the guys are out proving all my prior kite arguments wrong.
12mph is reliable on my 12M, though. I don't bother rigging until I see sustained 12 and then I can go out on a big board, wakesurfer or skim in calm water and have a nice time. No jumping until 14 or so, though.