1st own gear for a pair

[Havre]

Thx a lot Havre! Lots of good comments.

I had very good experience with bigger boards. When I started my trainings one my instructors was 70 kg. Really great guy but I think he undersstimated the role of the size od the board for a guy 93 kg. Then I switched to 155 and it was huge difference for me as a beginner.

This April I was kiting in Mexico - 12-20 knots on 17-12 kites. All sessions on 155 light wind carbon board. The experience was great. So such board makes sense. Im thinking about 152/160 light board for worse days and 143 or so, more aggressive? board for good conditions.

The issue with Hel is that I live during summer quite close and the wind is very often 10-12-15 knots. I just want to practice on one of these days as well. So I was wondering if I should go 17 kite or foil on these occasions.

My pleasure.

I know the feeling - I am a bit taller than you and also a bit heavier - 100kg+- - and had the same experience with instructors not really understanding how much of a difference that makes to board and also kite size.

Good that you know what you are getting in to. If you enjoy those light wind boards then I see no reason not to buy one. I mean a lot more experienced and much better riders than me do enjoy kiting with those kind of boards - so it is definitely a personal preference thing as well (even if I am quite certain there is a tendency as you improve your abilities that people then tend to avoid riding those kind of boards).

Not sure what you mean with aggressive? If that is a board with a lot of rocker then you might find yourself not being able to get upwind going from the lightwind board to the "normal" one. If you are thinking of stiffness then you might find it difficult to really get your "kick" right jumping. Similar to sizing I think a board that is "too flat" and "too soft" is better than the opposite - for a beginner. As soon as you have some specific board in mind you will most likely find someone on here that could give you some comments about how it performs.

The second kite I bought was a 17m LEI kite (Ozone Zephyr). Still got it. I think big LEIs got a worse reputation than they deserve. Especially for people new to the sport they are great for getting you on the water. For years it was the kite I used the most. I couldn't compare them to a foil though as I have never ridden one. It might very well be if you live in a place where you can realtively easily launch a foil that that would make more sense.