Frustrated with an NV in lightish wind and foiling, am I just bad?

[wallydog]

Shameless plug. Keep your 17m for snowkiting. Got to have that.
Sell the NV and buy my almost new Gong one-strut Unik 10.2. All set for anything.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2404380

[Michaelr123]

and now I'm realizing that Boxer's are basically competitors to Ultra's, and not really a wave kite. Idk why I was thinking it was more of surf kite... So a drifter/sst/ neo/etc would be a better choice for my 9m kite in ~11mph of wind, does that sound correct? these are also cheaper and easier to find which is nice.

Or would a boxer/Ultra combo not be too crazy? I'm finding a lot more deals on Boxers as opposed to Ultra's which could sway my decision on the lightweight kite.

[grigorib]

I think 9m might be a bit small for 11mph winds. First thing first try your NV on 30m lines and see if it makes difference. Next - demo a 10m SST or 10m Rally (or comparable wave and delta kites respectively) on long lines.
Don't jump to buy anything until you try options and demo the gear.

[Michaelr123]

Do you think another 3m would make a big difference from 27m lines?

i see why there's so many discussions about going from a TT quiver to a TT+foil quiver. there's definitely some weird overlap where it seems like i almost want a few of the same size kites to get different performance. the 12m NV seems like a great kite for my TT in 15mph+ conditions. I'd also like a 12m lightwind kite for my foil, and then a 9/10m wave kite. So I could end up with a 12m, another 12m or 11m, and then a 9 or 10m kite. does that sound like what's happening?

[jumptheshark]

I feel your pain! I have multiple kites in the same sizes that are drastically different.

Have only ridden he foil since last fall, but still can't quite bring myself to get rid of anything!

[wheat]

The only time I am using my big kite is when I am traveling to a place with shallow water and it is a light wind day.

Since you are just looking at adding your third kite and keeping a small, ~3 kite quiver, I would put some spread in the kites to be able to handle higher wind.

Some quiver ideas.
7m surf-10m (lightish)-12m NV would be good combination of what you have and the 10m as a all-around foil size. You give up some lower end as PF said, but a 10m doesn't overpower as quick.
8m Surf-12m (light)-12m NV This would gain you something on the light wind, foil days.

[RadDrDuke]

I live in Florida (light air) and only own a single kite: Airush Ultra 9m.

As long as the lulls are over 8knots I can go have a blast foiling. Mid teens is surfboard, High teens to 30 is TT or surfboard.

The problem with bigger kites (ie. 12m) is that they are heavy and slow, with a hydrofoil you just need a little pull to start and then the apparent wind keeps you flying. I had a 12m NV and it was super heavy and slow, worst kite I ever owned but it was V6 or something.

I have a wife and two young kids so I can't spend too much time dicking around at the beach; single strut w/WFMG pump allows fast setup and importantly self-launch/land. Walk on the beach and then on the foil in 4 minutes these days, and I live 4 minutes from the kitebeach so I can be foiling in 8 minutes at any given time LOL

[Michaelr123]

I'm going to shamelessly revive this thread, haha...

So I've been keeping up with the one strut comparison thread waiting for some sort of concensus to be reached on the boxer vs ultra vs alpha vs unik debate And I don't feel like one has been reached. So going off of the fact that I like to pay something like $600 for kites, I'm now more interested in a used boxer or new unik. At that price I'd rather go with a slightly used boxer just because of the brand name and reputation (I'm still gong curious though). My general feel is that the alpha and ultra v2's are slighly more loved, along with being a bit lighter, but haven't seen any great deals on them and I just can't bring myself to spend $1300 on a kite...

So with that being said, I've been trying out an 8m Apollo in the really high winds we've been having lately. I really like how it handles in the gusts and going upwind along with how fast it is. I'm thinking about a 9m in this kite for faster riding with the foil, and as a high wind kite on the TT. It'd also be a great kite for snowboarding this winter. And I'm also getting a brand new one for a great price if I went for it.

So at this point, my lineup could be a 9m Apollo, 10/11m boxer/(maybe ultra?) 12m NV and then possibly my 17 turbine if I decide to keep it. I would think I could foil on a 10 or 11m one strut in really light winds, and then switch to 9m Apollo when things pickup or get gusty. For TT I would ride my NV in 15-20mph and then switch to the 9m somewhere on the top end.

What do you guys think of this lineup? I haven't tried a wave kite yet, so that is maybe something I should do as well.

Thanks for all the advice,

[foilholio]

Alright, tell it to me straight, Am I struggling with my NV (NV V8, 12m, 170lbs, 23m lines) in 10-13mph days because I'm still not great with my kite control, or because its a heavy kite that really needs to be in 13-15mph of wind? don't get me wrong, I've had some awesome days with this kite foiling/TT/surfing, but its typically been in 14-20+ mph. I've spent a lot of time in what most of you would probably call marginal winds, but are pretty typical for us out here in the Midwest (Madison, WI).

as for my other kite, I've got a 17m turbine, which I spent a lot of time on this summer before I had a foil. Obviously its way too big of a kite for foiling, and its not really much of light wind kite, maybe a little lower end than the NV (10-13 mph) So I still wouldn't be able to get out most days.

If you had to help a new guy pick a third kite based on my predicament, would you push me towards maybe a contra or drifter (other brands for wave or lightweight kites are cool too)? I've also been interested in a gong strutless as well. if anyone has a recommendation on sizes i would appreciate that as well. To be honest I'm probably going to pick up something fairly cheap to try off of ikite to try out before investing in something new, so any help on 2014-2016 models would be appreciated as well.

Thanks,

Get a foil kite, look at Pansh.

[Flyboy]

I'm going to shamelessly revive this thread, haha...

So I've been keeping up with the one strut comparison thread waiting for some sort of concensus to be reached on the boxer vs ultra vs alpha vs unik debate And I don't feel like one has been reached. So going off of the fact that I like to pay something like $600 for kites, I'm now more interested in a used boxer or new unik. At that price I'd rather go with a slightly used boxer just because of the brand name and reputation (I'm still gong curious though). My general feel is that the alpha and ultra v2's are slighly more loved, along with being a bit lighter, but haven't seen any great deals on them and I just can't bring myself to spend $1300 on a kite...

So with that being said, I've been trying out an 8m Apollo in the really high winds we've been having lately. I really like how it handles in the gusts and going upwind along with how fast it is. I'm thinking about a 9m in this kite for faster riding with the foil, and as a high wind kite on the TT. It'd also be a great kite for snowboarding this winter. And I'm also getting a brand new one for a great price if I went for it.

So at this point, my lineup could be a 9m Apollo, 10/11m boxer/(maybe ultra?) 12m NV and then possibly my 17 turbine if I decide to keep it. I would think I could foil on a 10 or 11m one strut in really light winds, and then switch to 9m Apollo when things pickup or get gusty. For TT I would ride my NV in 15-20mph and then switch to the 9m somewhere on the top end.

What do you guys think of this lineup? I haven't tried a wave kite yet, so that is maybe something I should do as well.

Thanks for all the advice,

A 9m wave kite (pretty much any wave kite) will turn much faster than the Apollo & will drift much better - useful when you're not so powered while foiling. The Apollo will be better for boosting big on a TT than any wave kite. Good kite for snow kiting too. If you're not actually going to be riding waves, the Apollo would be a decent choice. I wouldn't put too much stock in "brand name & reputation" though - all kites brands are pretty much equivalent at this point.