Hi beginner foiler here, I’ve gotten a few great sessions in with my 9m switchblade but it’s obviously not the right kite for this so I I’m trying to get 1 or 2 inflatable kites for foiling.
I weigh 65 kilos, riding the impulse foil, and my area gets a lot of sub 12 knot days in the summer. What inflatable kite size would be the best for me for the 8-11 knot range? Sorry for opening yet another thread on “the right kite for light wind foiling” but I’ve read though all the others and they always end up talking more about foil kites and I’m not ready to go there yet.
I assume that a drifter will be a little too heavy to relaunch sub 10kts (if I’m wrong please let me know) so I’m open to a single strut or strutless. I’ve read other people say they don’t ever need more than a 10m with a surf foil, but I assume they are doing looping starts and what not which I can’t do yet. Based on my limited experience and assumption I was thinking an 11m boxer would be the best kite for my weight and the range I’m looking for, but it’s not the cheapest kite.
The cheapest single strut is the solo but the closest size to what I’m looking for is the 12 and I feel like I could very likely become too quickly overpowered with that size. (However there are people in my area who make frequent use of 12 and 15m foil kites, but generally riding racier foils.)
Do the single strut kites drift as well as the dedicated surf kites? If so, I’m thinking I will get a larger (10,11, or 12) strutless or single strut, and a wave kite 2 or 3 meters smaller. Maybe you folks will tell me that a 10m drifter at my weight should get me going and relaunch fine sub 10kts.
Wish I had more experience to make an informed decision on my own but it will be hard to get that light wind experience with the 5 strut kites I currently own.