Had Low Wind Breakthrough For Big Guys Like Me 100 kg

[Kitedougiefresh]

I have tried several things to lower my minimum wind speed needed to foil. I use a 2300+ cm front wing.(Slingshot Infinity 99)and a Concept Air 18M Pulsion Kite. Both have helped, but the latest thing has made the most difference. I am now using a 7' Naish Sky Pirate surf board with a stick on foil mount. I am curious to what others will say, but to me the board is creating more resistance against the kite, which is huge on under 10 knot days. This allows me to get up on the board and then at this point if I am not able to foil instantly, I can send the kite again and build up enough speed to get to foil, which is not very much with the infinity wing. I can now just ride the surfboard in to shore if the wind drops too much. Also, I am using the 12 m Pulsion and wondering if I need the 18M anymore. It is to the point that even on days when the kite doesn't want to hang in the air without help, that I can send it hard and get up. I am not able to do with my Peak 13M. The Pulsion has a lot more lift. Anyone else made the same discovery?

As a "big" guy I don't use a bigger kite than a 6 or 7 with a foil...I have a 97cm board and a surf jet foil. I now use the medium size from naish but I also have a 1250cm2. A big board will definitely add drag in terms of getting up to speed and on foil. I mean if you are comfortable in the air, you really should not need much board at all. But the key is really to get a bigger foil. So you definitely do not need a huge kite unless you are going for speed and racing.

What sort of kite and what is the wind low end?

Pulsion 18. Around 6-7

[Kitedougiefresh]

He's on the Infinity 99, which is the biggest wing I've ever seen Not sure if there's many options bigger?

Axis has several wider wings, but I think none have more surface area.

https://axisfoils.com/products/s-series ... front-wing

I have a 2450 which is bigger in surface area, but I am not using it for kiting. I could not imagine using a bigger kite than a 4 with that much foil. 18 would be impossible to handle. My 1250 is as big as I would want to use a 6 with. I just got a 1050 to be able to go faster...at that size I go immediately to foil. Barely any board needed at all.

At 100KG a 4 m would not have enough to pull me up onto the board, especially at 7-8 wind speed which is when i use this setup. Otherwise, on a 633 wing with a SS 100 cm baby board when 12 or more.

[Kamikuza]

I think you are correct. The wing is not even meant for kiting. Designed for a windsurfer setup..

It's for free-pumping.

[Kamikuza]

I have a 2450 which is bigger in surface area, but I am not using it for kiting. I could not imagine using a bigger kite than a 4 with that much foil. 18 would be impossible to handle. My 1250 is as big as I would want to use a 6 with. I just got a 1050 to be able to go faster...at that size I go immediately to foil. Barely any board needed at all.

BigTone kites with the 1020, which is 2000cm2 I tried it once with a 90cm mast cos I had nothing else that day, but it was horrible.

As kitedougiefresh said, the issue for bigger guys is that power spike for getting out of the water with smaller kites and lighter winds. With my 21m foil kite, I could get up and riding in the silliest of light wind, but then when it inevitably picked up I'd rapidly be over-powered ... and the riding was pretty much lawn mowing anyway.

So I gave that up for a smaller faster kite, which lost me maybe 5 knots of bottom end starting ability, but only a couple of knots for riding ... and if I can water start, then I'm going to have at least an ok time. If the wind drops and I'm riding, I can make it back to a safer place ... so long as I don't bin it!

I've also gone down from my old faithful 820 wing to the 660, saving the 820 for desperation days.

[bkkite]

I have a 2450 which is bigger in surface area, but I am not using it for kiting. I could not imagine using a bigger kite than a 4 with that much foil. 18 would be impossible to handle. My 1250 is as big as I would want to use a 6 with. I just got a 1050 to be able to go faster...at that size I go immediately to foil. Barely any board needed at all.

BigTone kites with the 1020, which is 2000cm2 I tried it once with a 90cm mast cos I had nothing else that day, but it was horrible.

As kitedougiefresh said, the issue for bigger guys is that power spike for getting out of the water with smaller kites and lighter winds. With my 21m foil kite, I could get up and riding in the silliest of light wind, but then when it inevitably picked up I'd rapidly be over-powered ... and the riding was pretty much lawn mowing anyway.

So I gave that up for a smaller faster kite, which lost me maybe 5 knots of bottom end starting ability, but only a couple of knots for riding ... and if I can water start, then I'm going to have at least an ok time. If the wind drops and I'm riding, I can make it back to a safer place ... so long as I don't bin it!

I've also gone down from my old faithful 820 wing to the 660, saving the 820 for desperation days.

Yeah, overall that Infinity 99 wing is enormous, and combine with an 18m... that seems like a lot to get going that low. I mean I've flown a 15m Core XR with a Slingshot Infinity 76, and a Nobile infinity foil 5'2... and I can ride just over 10mph... I just switched to a Core Xlite 12m with that same setup, and I've been out in the 8mph to 10mph, and more recently I just switched the Slingshot Apollo 60... which requires a bit more to get going.

Guess I'm saying what everyone else says, which is its more fun with a smaller kite. And eventually as you get more efficient at water starting and riding, you can even sneak a smaller wing in there. I was nervous the 12m would be too small, but its move pretty fast and stays up in really light wind. I feel like its the sweet spot for me riding in the doldrums of summer light wind.

[Kamikuza]

Yeah, overall that Infinity 99 wing is enormous, and combine with an 18m... that seems like a lot to get going that low. I mean I've flown a 15m Core XR with a Slingshot Infinity 76, and a Nobile infinity foil 5'2... and I can ride just over 10mph... I just switched to a Core Xlite 12m with that same setup, and I've been out in the 8mph to 10mph, and more recently I just switched the Slingshot Apollo 60... which requires a bit more to get going.

Guess I'm saying what everyone else says, which is its more fun with a smaller kite. And eventually as you get more efficient at water starting and riding, you can even sneak a smaller wing in there. I was nervous the 12m would be too small, but its move pretty fast and stays up in really light wind. I feel like its the sweet spot for me riding in the doldrums of summer light wind.

I've ridden a few times with my 12m Switchblade, but it's too slow for very light wind and just a tad more and it pulls like a truck.

Guess it depends on your spot -- so often we get light wind that actually picks up eventually after some time so the big kites are pointless, if you wait a little. Over on the coast though, there are days you really need ... something more.

I was super-impressed with the Flite 12m Aluula I had for a couple of sessions. Incredible low end grunt and it actually drifted ok too. I'd like to demo a bigger single strut kite too...

[bkkite]

Yeah, overall that Infinity 99 wing is enormous, and combine with an 18m... that seems like a lot to get going that low. I mean I've flown a 15m Core XR with a Slingshot Infinity 76, and a Nobile infinity foil 5'2... and I can ride just over 10mph... I just switched to a Core Xlite 12m with that same setup, and I've been out in the 8mph to 10mph, and more recently I just switched the Slingshot Apollo 60... which requires a bit more to get going.

Guess I'm saying what everyone else says, which is its more fun with a smaller kite. And eventually as you get more efficient at water starting and riding, you can even sneak a smaller wing in there. I was nervous the 12m would be too small, but its move pretty fast and stays up in really light wind. I feel like its the sweet spot for me riding in the doldrums of summer light wind.

I've ridden a few times with my 12m Switchblade, but it's too slow for very light wind and just a tad more and it pulls like a truck.

Guess it depends on your spot -- so often we get light wind that actually picks up eventually after some time so the big kites are pointless, if you wait a little. Over on the coast though, there are days you really need ... something more.

I was super-impressed with the Flite 12m Aluula I had for a couple of sessions. Incredible low end grunt and it actually drifted ok too. I'd like to demo a bigger single strut kite too...

I rode my Core XR 12m on my foil before and it too pulled like a Mac truck and made it hard in anything but the lightest winds.

I never flown other single struts, but the xlite has been fun, it stays up in the lightest of winds, my XR 12m would constantly fall out of the sky lulls. The xlite turns faster too and drifts really well

[Kamikuza]

I rode my Core XR 12m on my foil before and it too pulled like a Mac truck and made it hard in anything but the lightest winds.

I never flown other single struts, but the xlite has been fun, it stays up in the lightest of winds, my XR 12m would constantly fall out of the sky lulls. The xlite turns faster too and drifts really well

Had a play with a Mono 13m (cos it was the only demo in the shop) ... wind started out ok but picked up so I didn't get to test it really for what I wanted it for. Didn't like the bar response and didn't drift as well as my Drifters...

[bkkite]

I rode my Core XR 12m on my foil before and it too pulled like a Mac truck and made it hard in anything but the lightest winds.

I never flown other single struts, but the xlite has been fun, it stays up in the lightest of winds, my XR 12m would constantly fall out of the sky lulls. The xlite turns faster too and drifts really well

Had a play with a Mono 13m (cos it was the only demo in the shop) ... wind started out ok but picked up so I didn't get to test it really for what I wanted it for. Didn't like the bar response and didn't drift as well as my Drifters...

Did you find the bar response slow?

The Core xlite feels a lot like a Nexus 2, but it doesn’t fall out of the sky on big lulls, which just makes you way more confident going out in light winds. It probably turns about the same as the nexus, maybe a touch faster, with a touch less input from the bar. The drift is really nice, I’ve built up so much instinct not going towards the kite quickly… with this kite riding down wind is a lot easier than the Core XRs I was riding before ( admittedly not good kites for foiling )

[bigtone667]

The power spike to get up onto the board/foil is pretty important. Even though I ride a ridiculously large foil (2000cm2) and Hover 155 (and enjoy it) ..... I really rely on having quite a large power zone for the kite and I achieve this primarily by having 32m race lines. Makes a huge difference to me getting started.