15m light wind kites Juice/Turbine/Zypher

[grigorib]

BTW I’d sell 13m Turbine in near new condition with 55cm bar for $970

[Windigo1]

I was the guy riding 17m and 15m kite 50% of the time and now that I foil I am rarely riding bigger then 9m and it's a lot more fun. If you absolutely want a big Kite of the ones you listed I would go for the Juice but a much better kite would be the Ocean Rodeo Flite 14.5 go with the Alluula if you can afford it but even the regular one will be lighter and faster turning. The importance of light light wind kite cannot be overstated!

[bkkite]

I think a lot of people will eventually move into foiling for sure, but if you're just starting out kiting, I think foiling is pretty intimidating and expensive. If you're at a light wind spot, and you're only getting to ride every so ofte, these big kites are a good choice and at a reasonable cost especially if you get them used. Definitely don't regret my 17m, 19m, 15m experience.... but loving foiling on a 9m

[Flyingseb]

I was the guy riding 17m and 15m kite 50% of the time and now that I foil I am rarely riding bigger then 9m and it's a lot more fun. If you absolutely want a big Kite of the ones you listed I would go for the Juice but a much better kite would be the Ocean Rodeo Flite 14.5 go with the Alluula if you can afford it but even the regular one will be lighter and faster turning. The importance of light light wind kite cannot be overstated!

I absolutely like my 17m, best kite I’ve ever owned. Light wind old school, very light wind foiling, I can’t imagine putting it on a hold, considering what it provides to my riding, and how often I can use it, with total confidence.
Reading from you, my only fear is that one day kite manufacturers would stop building big kites, which almost happened some years ago!
Small kites, smaller kites, and so on, and strangely in light condition I’m the only one going upwind, then the only one having fun jumping, then the only one boosting.
What’s wrong with big kites?
They have never been so easy to deal with, big range, fast turning, light, reliable power delivery...only not the best to surf waves, true, but kitesurfing is so much more than just this aspect.

[Xtream]

Thanks for the responses, I just picked up a 17m Airush Ultra 3, had my first session yesterday, Wow its a brilliant kite. Best low wind kite I have flown.

[nafets]

I had the confusion a couple of months, was mainly looking at used Juices. What I ended up getting was a 15m foil for the same price and I honestly couldn't be happier. Can't wait to give it a try in the snow too

[dejavu]

Appleton is spot on. Get into the Cabrinha Contra with a flydoor 4 or 6 and extend your sessions big time.

[kitexpert]

The importance of light light wind kite cannot be overstated!

It can, and it is done all the time. I use on TT 17m 5 strut kite and issue of not being able to keep it in the air comes much much later than the limit to get going on TT. I don't even know how much it weighs. In 10kn every kite stays in the air, even though it had 7 struts or more but at the same time you start to struggle on TT. On hard surface limit to keep my 17m in the air and kite ski is 5kn. I can pull it up in 2-3kn (on surface 1-2kn) but it comes down pretty soon or immediately and constant flying/looping is a must.

12kn is very easy for kite and TT, and then you don't even need a big TT (assuming you are not a heavy weight person).

Turbine and Zephyr are extreme ends of big LEI kites: one is very grunty delta kite, other is one of the weakest big kites available. However Zephyr would definitely be my choice of the two because it is a pleasant kite to fly and because of my middle weight lack of power is not that much a drawback. I remember very well when I was on 17m Turbine and my friends humiliated me with their foil kites (15m Speed and 13m Chronos). Then I thought this kite pretty much sucks.

[PullStrings]

When you see wind ranges for large LEI's that have 5 struts it might show this :

17m 7kn to 19kn...........(sweet spot for nice power is 1/2 way at 13.5 kn)
19m 6kn to 18kn.......(sweet spot for nice power is 1/2 way at 12.0 kn)

A 17 could weigh 10 lbs and a 19 weigh 11 lbs

On a wide LW TT and a 17 it takes around 10 knots at 75kg to start going upwind but the kite will not fall out if wind drops to 7kn if you know how to loop it.
Similar with a 19......9kn to start going upwind....wind drops to 6kn it will not fall out if you loop it.

But don't drop it in the water because it will stay there in sub 8kn.

Kite design has a lot to do besides just weight to stay up in the air.

Pilot skills plays a big role in knowing when and how to downloop / kiteloop to make it back to shore with dry kite.

Don't venture too far in suspicious light winds.

[ilboarder12]

for discussions sake, what about utilizing large single strut kites for lw? the ss ghost (15/17m) and naish boxer (14/16m) come to mind. sure they wont have the tractor pull like the turbine but much larger wind range versatility, easy relaunch and faster turning