What lightwind kite should I choose for a small rider?

[tkachuk]

The 15m Sonic 2 is a great kite but tough to launch in under 8 knots of wind.

[Ice101]

You are already milking the best out of what you have. If transport is an issue go with the soul. I had the 15m soul and have now sold it and switched to 12m soul. These have me fractionally more low end than my spleens door with an 11m bandit. Why only a fraction more? This is because whenyou go to a bigger kite it is slower through the air it gets you going but you can’t work it quicker due to size to get it much faster. A fast kite like a bandit will allow you to work it quickly through the air to generate apparent wind on a big door type board. The only thing I really get extra for having forked our a fortune on a soul is better hangtime I would say better jumping ability but I can still jump on the bandit to its speed in pretty much the same wind on the bandit. It’s just the hangtime which is far superior on the soul and that becomes even more of a positive when the wind picks up and on the soul.
Like people have said the only real way to get more reliable low end is switching to a foil. A shinn directional will make little difference over a good efficient light wind twin tip like a spleens door. Your most economical purchase to a hive what you want it to get a foil. Your largest kite you have now when then power you in those lower conditions you seek and you won’t wadte money on a directional and disappointed. If you have convinced yourself you have to have a new large kite however the soul is awesome and very tiny which will assist your lack of transportation room but don’t expect to be wowed by oodles of extra low end ability.

[jadog]

So it sounds like the Cloud may not be a good choice (based on poor upwind ability) unless I decide to foil board. Any others out there using the Cloud with a twin tip who disagree? I have read mixed reviews of people riding this with twin tips and some love them and others don’t. It seems the strong opinion here is the Soul. The ConceptAir Pulsion is about the same price and appears that it will fly in lighter winds than the Soul. There is just so little info out on the Pulsiom. Would love to hear from anyone who has flown the ConceptAir Pulsion. Enjoying everyone’s feedback. Keep it coming.

[Strekke]

@Peter, yes it is where most of us end in our light wind journey, and we almost all go through it. I too went TT, bigger TT, surfboard, 17m Fat Lady, nugget, foil. And now multiple foils . Now my biggest kite is a 12 (but mostly out on 9) and the 17 and bigger TTs have been sold. Nugget is collecting dust in the basement. Surfboard comes out when there is some wind and waves, and TT when it's 25+ for boosting n looping. Everything else is foil territory. So I also completed the long and expensive LW quest, and am sharing this with the OP to avoid the same mistake. And yes, lighter riders will get going earlier in LW, but in terms of absolute LW efficiency and upwind, foil is unbeatable and surpasses all other options by a mile. Since OP lives far from the beach and wants a LW option as a "guaranteed session" solution when he drives to the spot, I still think foil is his best option. But it seems that OP has his mind set on big foil kite, and foil only at a later stage, so good luck and have fun!

[alford]

You light weight guys are never happy even though you are already out in super light conditions. So you want more? Stay away from BRM 17m, not a good choice for twintip. It also has heavy bar pressure, tireing for little arms as well as big.
Consider a single strut like the Ultra or Boxer. Even at your bantam weight your low wind goals are kinda unrealistic.

[alford]

You light weight guys are never happy even though you are already out in super light conditions. So you want more? Stay away from BRM 17m, not a good choice for twintip. It also has heavy bar pressure, tiring for little arms as well as big.
Consider a single strut like the Ultra or Boxer. Even at your bantam weight your low wind goals are kinda unrealistic.

[Regis-de-giens]

Hello
With my 60kg and before swaping to hydrofoil i was in a similar case as you trying to increase my ride frequence (even if less fun in light wind indeed) and low end challenge;
My prefered and more efficient combo was finally huge foilkite (22m2) with a very large TT spleen door L board. It may appear too much (and I was at that time advised to keep my speed3 15m as my bigger kite), but in the end it was far better with 22m2 (even with 60 kg) up to 10 knots (then a 12-15m was better); my sweet spot was 8 knots, comfort low end was 7 knots with still an easy upwind , 6 knots struggling, 5-6 just enough to keep planning without waterstart nor keep upwind).

[Peter_Frank]

A few more comments here, at least how I see it:

The Soul is an awesome foil kite for both TT and hydrofoil.
BUT, as you are lightweight, it, and many similar kites, will be too heavy for your winds when 54 kg and 15 m2 IMO.

An average say 80 kg rider who can ride in just close to 7 knots, will correspond to you riding in 5.5 knots same power.

So extremely important with a less tough and UltraLight LEI or foilkite for you, as it will simply not be possible to handle nor hang in this low wind you will be able to ride.

Next thing is, IF you get a 15 m2 foilkite, superlight, it will work just dandy for you and a TT.
But if you later want to hydrofoil, you can not use this 15 m2 very well, it will simply be TOO big and everything goes out of control way to fast (unless you race, but I assume that is not the goal) and turns like a pig in the low winds you will be able to ride, no fun and difficult and extremely limited windrange.

So here you need to go down to a 10 or 12 m2 still UltraLight foil kite, if you want to hydrofoil in the lowest wind but with a reasonable range also.

A 15 m2 for you, corresponds to a 22.2 m2 kite for an 80 kg rider, and only a few racers, not many, use 20 or 21 m2 for racing or practice, not when they go out for fun where they choose a 15 max 18 m2 kite.

Would just mention this, if you have ANY intention of ever going foiling, but dont want to change kite "again" - they are really expensive.

So Chris and others who recommended a 12 m2 UL foil kite might be right, as then if you later want to hydrofoil you can use your kite for this too in super marginal winds.
Also, the power from a 12 when flown faster, is huge, so compensates some for the lack of size.

I think you will barely move the low end, at least not much, on a TT going from a 15 to a 12 m2 high AR UL foilkite, when only 54 kg.

Longer lines makes a big difference too, more power and higher jumps, another aspect that can be used when not racing.

If you are sure you will ride TT now and not aiming for hydrofoil, the 15 m2 UL foilkite is IMO what gets you going the earliest and long jumps possible too

Peter

[bragnouff]

To put things in perspective, at 95kg, I can foil on my 12m single strut LEI a little bit earlier than my son can ride that same 12m on his TT.
He's 12 and half my weight. Such is the magic of the hydrofoil...

[andylc]

At 66kg I use 12m Soul from maybe 8-9 knots up to 20 knots on a TT. 15m Soul would have a very narrow wind range for my weight and not much advantage at light winds I wouldn’t think.