Kite size?

[knotwindy]

So, I was helping a friend learn to kite safely and away from most other people and when we got to how to pick the right kite size for the conditions (wind, water, forecast, etc) and got back to the main area with others we both noticed that;
some folks always pick the smallest kite possible, even if it not enough to be fun
some folks always pick the largest kite possible, even if it too much to be fun
some folks always pick the same size kite, whether it is too big or small to be fun
And rarely did we see folks pick the best side kite for them and their ability & conditions.

Same where you ride or just a local thing? We tried to figure out why and got basically nowhere. Which of these are you and why?

[Toby]

I pick my largest (and only) size: 18. And I have tons of fun.

But I barely see anyone where I ride who picks very powered...mostly normal powered to just go back and forth and jump here and there.

In general everyone is fine, but also due to pretty consistent wind between 15-25 knots. If you live in a very gusty area where winds come and go it is hard to find the right size.

[geokite]

Did they tell you they were not having fun?

[Smeagle]

Some LIKE to ride overpowerd, some LIKE to ride underpowered. Everyone should do what they like, even if YOU don't like it.

[DefyInertia]

I feel pretty confident I always pick the right size and my sense is others do as well.

Weight of the rider is a major major factor and it’s sometimes hard to tell how much someone weighs. I often ask people and am sometimes surprised how far off my internal guess of their weight was.

I don’t look 92kg so people often comment on how large of a kite I’m putting up (my 12 m bandit gets the most use), and I ride a 147cm SLINGSHOT misfit most of the time, but I never get into trouble being over powered.

[SolarSet]

I try to pick the right size of kite for current condition, if I'm underpower I try to learn some oldschool tricks like backroll/frontroll kiteloops, grabs etc,. If I'm on powered side of spectrum I go for jumps and train good take off technique with some loops. If I ride and my bar is almost fully sheet out I go back to beach and change for smaller kite If I have time as long as there is enough wind for me to go upwind I'm happy because there is always something new to learn!

[Peter_Frank]

Agree, most are "correctly" powered is also my experience.

Only if pretty new, you can be quite off - but it will settle over time so you get the "perfect" size for you.

The last two words, as you have already figured, the most important.

If I ride on a kite hydrofoil I almost always go with the smallest possible kite, feels better and you have more fun and agility carving around like you please.

With a waveboard, I go for the medium powered one so able to ride DTL freely and still go upwind fast - a narrow band where sise is important.

Some like to jump high, picking the sweet spot size.
Others want hangtime on cost of a slower kite, and pick a big kite.

And you could go on and on.

But rare to see some picking the wrong size, and if they do, usually they/we just go ashore and change
Or, if just a little off personal sweetspot for a given day - it will be sweetspot for some moves requiring a less or more powered kite, spot on from SolarSet

Peter

[ham-er]

My guess is it's a lot to do with personal preference. Some prefer to ride over, some underpowered, some might have different type or brand kite and find themselves enjoying a particular kite more and might choose one over another, others simply don't have the right size for the day with them.
There's also beginners who have no clue or just trying to figure it out.

Conditions often change during your session and even though you started on a perfect size, 30 min later you may wish you picked a bigger one or vice versa.

I sometimes deliberately choose a different size to the optimal one to test myself or the kite at different conditions especially when I have the option to switch in case I made a horrible mistake.

Bottom line, unless you mess up the choice completely like taking 17m when its nuking 30kn, each kite will be within its wind range at some point during a session. Sometimes enjoying gusts other time enjoying lulls

Either way it's fun to be out on the water

[JakeFarley]

Conditions often change during your session and even though you started on a perfect size, 30 min later you may wish you picked a bigger one or vice versa.

That's when knowing the wind forecast (winds building or subsiding) and your local conditions helps. I've been out for what I call the "Happy Hour" many times when the wind came up for 1 hour and then dropped (local thermals - mostly spring time). But sometimes the wind does what it wants to do and we get surprised. The first time I flew my 21m Speed 5 the winds were forecast 11-14 knots. When my session was over I was surprised that it was blowing 18 knots. Sometimes the forecasts are not accurate (meteorology is not an exact science).

[Boston kiter]

I agree with others, I feel like I choose the correct kite 90% of the time. I like to be at about 85% powererd on a strapless surfboard, and about 110% on a TT. On the foil I want the smallest kite that will get my ass out of the water.