I see lots of larger kites (12meter+) but they don't relaunch easily in lighter winds. Seems to defeat the point. Anyway, I'm looking for a decent 15m kite that flies well and will relaunch in around 8-12knots of wind - Oh..and of course is affordable(not the Core XR5 LW) Thanks
I can’t remember any LEI kite that will relaunch easy in conditions like that. Try to practice lw relaunching, watch some videos, there are few ways to do that. I recomemd pulling one of the front lines (if you have low V) while holding the opposite back line to help kite turn on the side. LW relaunching is lot of work if you are in deep water because you need to create resistance and tension in the lines by working with your legs and pushing backwards.
Non-race foil kite or LEI kite with trailing edge bridles. I think Flysurfer Boost2 has 'em in larger sizes - Extra bridles are optional that you can use those or decide not to. Those help reverse flying the kite in the middle of the power zone similar to foil kite relaunch. I don't have personal experience on larger Boosts so just as a tip for you to investigate more..
I can’t remember any LEI kite that will relaunch easy in conditions like that. Try to practice lw relaunching, watch some videos, there are few ways to do that. I recomemd pulling one of the front lines (if you have low V) while holding the opposite back line to help kite turn on the side. LW relaunching is lot of work if you are in deep water because you need to create resistance and tension in the lines by working with your legs and pushing backwards.
Funny, this came up on my YouTube feed right after reading this.
Catalyst is the easiest kite I have ever tried when it comes to relaunching. Almost bounces off the water. But the 14m is hardly a proper lightwind kite.
Never had any issues with Zephyr either, but a bit more tricky than the Catalyst. Still easy though. Even when there isn't wind enough for me to kite I can still relaunch the kite. It has never died on me - and I'm hardly an expert.