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Decision on buying a contra 15m

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby mbs » Fri Mar 15, 2019 4:06 am

I weigh similar to you and I live in a location with a lot of light wind. I prefer to have 17 as my large kite.

I flew a 17 contra for about 4 years. The kite has a lot of power and is lightweight, but is relatively slow turning, heavy on bar pressure, and has lower aspect ratio which causes it to sit a bit further back in the wind window and makes upwind a little more difficult if you aren’t on a very large board.

This past fall I switched to 17 OR Flite which I like a lot better than the contra. Compared to Contra the Flite is faster turning, lighter on bar pressure, and much easier to ride upwind on a regular twintip. With the contra it seemed like I could only ride well upwind on a light wind specific door style board.

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby meusmeus » Fri Mar 15, 2019 5:45 am

FLandOBX wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:24 am
+1. I agree with Toby. For a 100 kg rider, bigger would be better, especially for lighter wind. Have you considered the Contra 17 m? It's a great kite for lighter wind, and it has lots of range. I like the 15 m Contra, too, but I prefer the 17 m (I'm 80 kg). You won't regret having the extra size in light wind.

The only issue with the Contra 17 for you might be that your other kite is 11 m, so there's quite a gap. You can bridge the gap with a variety of boards. But when the wind is light, I think you'd enjoy the Contra 17.
Thanks for your reply!
You think I will regret the 15?, have my mind set on it now and can get a really good deal. With my current weight from which wind do you expect I can go?
I have a 43cm wide board. Will I gain alot by getting a bigger board together with the 15?

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby RideLow » Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:19 am

after 3 years on Contra 15 I still love it!

I ride it with the Chaos bar and its sweeeet!

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby meusmeus » Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:27 pm

RideLow wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:19 am
after 3 years on Contra 15 I still love it!

I ride it with the Chaos bar and its sweeeet!
Nice! How much do you weigh?

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby Beardytello » Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:02 pm

I weigh a bit more than you, @ 12kts I'm on a 17m Ozone edge and a Spleene Monster door....or at the pub.

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby FLandOBX » Fri Mar 15, 2019 3:36 pm

meusmeus wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 5:45 am
FLandOBX wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:24 am
+1. I agree with Toby. For a 100 kg rider, bigger would be better, especially for lighter wind. Have you considered the Contra 17 m? It's a great kite for lighter wind, and it has lots of range. I like the 15 m Contra, too, but I prefer the 17 m (I'm 80 kg). You won't regret having the extra size in light wind.

The only issue with the Contra 17 for you might be that your other kite is 11 m, so there's quite a gap. You can bridge the gap with a variety of boards. But when the wind is light, I think you'd enjoy the Contra 17.
Thanks for your reply!
You think I will regret the 15?, have my mind set on it now and can get a really good deal. With my current weight from which wind do you expect I can go?
I have a 43cm wide board. Will I gain alot by getting a bigger board together with the 15?

No, I don't think you'll regret the 15. I have a friend (80 kg) who is beginner-intermediate level, and he picked up a Contra 13 to complement his 11 m Switchblade. He is very happy. I think he is still missing out on some light wind days by not having a larger kite. And that's where I think you'll be with the 15. You'll really like the Contra 15, and it will complement your 11 m kite well, but you'll probably still miss out on some of the lighter wind riding. But you definitely won't regret having the 15. It's a great kite.

I'm a big believer in having multiple boards for different conditions. Some light wind boards (or a surfboard) will give you more days on the water, and they are cheaper than buying another kite. You may be able to demo or borrow some different boards once you get your new kite, so you won't have to dive in immediately and buy another board until you know what you want. But you can usually add some extra range to your riding with another board on the beach. :thumb:

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby Cab Driver » Fri Mar 15, 2019 5:10 pm

meusmeus wrote:
Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:10 pm
Hi all,

I'm currently riding with a 11m North Evo. Im a beginner and this kite get me going from around 18 knots.

I currently weigh 100kg without gear on. Im making my weigh back to around 93kg.

I want to kite in winds from around 12 -17 knots. Im thinking of buying a 2017 Cabrinha Contra 15m. I hate the feeling of being overpowered.

Would the 15m be ok for me or is it maybe better to get a 14m Evo for example?

Thanks for your help!
I think the 17m is the size. Going from my 11m Switchblade to a 17 Contra is no problem, thought I prefer the 15m @83kg. You should be able to ride that 17 at your weight up to almost 20kts.

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby grigorib » Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:31 pm

meusmeus wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 5:45 am
FLandOBX wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:24 am
+1. I agree with Toby. For a 100 kg rider, bigger would be better, especially for lighter wind. Have you considered the Contra 17 m? It's a great kite for lighter wind, and it has lots of range. I like the 15 m Contra, too, but I prefer the 17 m (I'm 80 kg). You won't regret having the extra size in light wind.

The only issue with the Contra 17 for you might be that your other kite is 11 m, so there's quite a gap. You can bridge the gap with a variety of boards. But when the wind is light, I think you'd enjoy the Contra 17.
Thanks for your reply!
You think I will regret the 15?, have my mind set on it now and can get a really good deal. With my current weight from which wind do you expect I can go?
I have a 43cm wide board. Will I gain alot by getting a bigger board together with the 15?
Toby is different in several aspects. He rides huge kite and a tiny board.
In my progression I went from 19m thorough 16m to 15m kite size (while riding 159x45cm door) and then bumped to 170x50cm door for lightest of the winds.
Every time I went down in size I had kite responsiveness increased, and less of a feeling of riding a zamboni.

if you at 100kg can ride your 11m under regular conditions and you say you're going to 92kg weight - get a 15m. You will not regret it. 17m will work too but it'll be slower and less fun. Then get a 14m as well to fill in the gap.
14m freeride kite would be fun to ride in pre-whitecap conditions,

Or you can skip over huge wing and learn to foil and 11m kite will be the largest you'd need - as it happened for me. It's about a year since I sold my 15m and I haven't regretted it.

What is your board (or your largest board)?

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby SolarSet » Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:38 pm

meusmeus wrote:
Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:57 pm
SolarSet wrote:
Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:35 pm
You will not ride in 12kts on regular TT with you weight.
I’m 92kg and sb 14m lets me ride from 15kts with regular TT
What do you think the wind range will be for my weight?
On flat water you will probably ride from 14kts, 15m LW kite is for 70-80kg rider.

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Re: Decision on buying a contra 15m

Postby grigorib » Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:44 pm

SolarSet wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:38 pm
meusmeus wrote:
Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:57 pm
SolarSet wrote:
Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:35 pm
You will not ride in 12kts on regular TT with you weight.
I’m 92kg and sb 14m lets me ride from 15kts with regular TT
What do you think the wind range will be for my weight?
On flat water you will probably ride from 14kts, 15m LW kite is for 70-80kg rider.
I’d say on flat water a 70-80kg rider will be near overpowered in 14 knots on 15m kite.

At 91kg I rode 15m in sub-10 knots (on a door)


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