Core XR7

[nothing2seehere]

30+ kts you want to start moving away from the passive Big Air kites and look at softer pulling kites with good high end (eg, Open C kites). You should only go out in 30+ kts if you have at least an Advanced skill level though. In the Duotone lineup, start moving to the Dice or Evo. The North Orbit will start to shine here as will the Reedin Supermodel.

In terms of depower, the Rebel LOVES to fly heavily depowered on the trim. Makes it super smooth provided you can handle the power. If its dragging you around while fully depowered you need a smaller kite. I used an overpowered Rebel fully depowered to learn board offs (2020 13m Rebel in 27 mph winds). Much easier to take the board on and off with 10+ seconds of hang time and a smooth jump arc She love you long time!

I have had very good experiences with the Rebel, Dice, and XR6 in 50-55 kts. The Dice would be my fav followed by the Rebel. The XR6 starts to warp on me at 225 lbs once the wind is stronger than 45 kts. Lower than 45 kts the XR6 was awesome and had an advantage over the Rebel in terms of doing loops. The GTS was junky in these winds - the bridle is over engineered and keeps trying to do too much. In strong megaloop winds the kite surges back and forth within the wind window making it very unstable. The XR6 did not do that and neither do the Duotone kites. The effect can be visually seen in alot of megaloop videos from Core's pro rider, Steve Akkersdik. The Orbit and Supermodel do well in these winds, giving you great command over high end wind ranges while being softer pulling the rest of the time - good for jumping when you have alot of power.

I repeat though, you should only be out in 30+ kts if you have some skill. Get comfy with larger kites in lighter winds then try the smaller kite/big wind approach. In 30+ kts, you no longer need the crutch that the Rebel/XR/Rally/Edge offer - in 30+ kts, ANY kite can send you up provided its correct size. For this reason, I have never been much of a fan of the smaller sizes of the Rebel/XR. As you get to the 9-12m range these can be great kites. Past 13-14m kite size, a different design concept is needed for such light winds (eg, Juice/Flite/Fat Lady).

I'm interested to know the theory as to why the other kites are better. My limited understanding would have me assume that more struts gives more airframe so more stable and with a flatter shape so it sticks to the edge of the window easier so its easier to control the power?

You do raise an interesting idea though. I'd gone for the XR6 purely for the easy wind range (as mentioned you can have fun at just over 20 knots and don't need to touch the trim until the wind hits 30 knots). I wonder if something like the three strut Evo would be just as good in terms at the top end but more fun away from a twin tip?

[kitesurfer007]

Does anyone rock 9/11 ? Leaning towards this instead of 8/10//12.

[Boston kiter]

Does anyone rock 9/11 ? Leaning towards this instead of 8/10//12.

I definitely prefer 12/10/8 I think 12/9 is too big of a drop-off and you will stay on your 12m too long knowing you need a lot of juice to rock the 9m. I would much rather be on a nicely powered 10m than a slow overpowered 12m.

I ride my 12m to about 23/24 mph then switch to the 10m. If I had a 9m i would probably wait till i was overpowered at 25/26 mph.

[SMJ]

Does anyone rock 9/11 ? Leaning towards this instead of 8/10//12.

When deciding between a 9/11 and 10/12 quiver consider your weight and the most common winds speeds at your local spot(s). With the XR's I much prefer to ride them more towards their top-end range.

Here are a couple decent kite calculators that may help:

https://knowledge.thekitespot.com/kite- ... r-twintip/

https://www.omnicalculator.com/sports/kiteboarding

[Ice101]

11m more fun than the 12m. Go 11m/9m the sweet spots are way better and over lap better. 11m has more usable range and no loss of power over a 12m as moves faster so you can build more apparent wind. But the top end is better.

[Kitedicted]

Does anyone rock 9/11 ? Leaning towards this instead of 8/10//12.

I agree that 11 is more fun than 12. The 10m is probably much more fun for jumping than 12, but an 11 is a nice compromise. Combining the 11 with the 9 gives a big sweetspot but will limit high range compared to 11/8. So consider if you ever are overpowered on the 9m, if this is common then 11/8 or 12/10/8 is better. If not 11/9 works surprisingly well. Personally I've switched to 11/8 from 11/9 recently because of light weight and the fact that the wind usually jumps up quite a bit so it's either light - moderate or quite strong. 11/9 has worked for me most of the time but the extra range on the 8 is nice and I hope to start learning loops on it as well.

[yyusufoglu]

Does anyone rock 9/11 ? Leaning towards this instead of 8/10//12.

I have a quiver of 11-9-7 Xr7s. I use the 11m between 14/22 knots and the 9m as from 20/30 knots and the 7m when its blowing consistently in high 20s.
Did consider the 11/8 but in the end decided not to go for it as i thought the high end of the quiver would be bit too limited for my weight (around 70 kgs).
Looking at my total use of the kites, I'm on the 9m 50% of the time with rest of my sessions split more/less equally over the 11m and 7m.

[McLovin]

+1 for the 11/9/7 quiver don't shortcut your fun ---> 3 kites is way better than 2 and 4 is ever better still...

I mean you COULD cut your steak with a spork but there is just something so RIGHT about the right tool for the RIGHT job...

At 127kg's my numbers vary from the little peeps but they are correct about quiver recco - here is my usage for what' it's worth

I'm typically +2 sized vs the normies.
7 XR6 7.1%
9 XR7 15.3%
11 XR6 30.6%
14.5 A*Flite 46.9%

Cheers,

Mc