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Bigger board or bigger kite?

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keegster17
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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby keegster17 » Wed May 05, 2021 2:46 pm

Go with 15m at your weight. I ride 18m soul and I am 175lbs, most guys who fly it find it slow, however I get out the most in the lowest winds on a twin tip. Any twin tip riders in are area, all have 15m kites, some are getting away from the larger kites to Foil, but do on occasion still use a 15m with a foil board.

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby twigg » Wed May 05, 2021 3:17 pm

I'd add that the benefit of having a big board is that it's easy to switch (in case you picked wrong kite size or the wind died down a bit). switching kites - not so much.
But for your dilemma, I'd get a 15m soul just for the sake of having a foil kite in the quiver. The experience is quite different.

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby GetHighOrDieTrying » Wed May 05, 2021 3:20 pm

Raynski wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 12:46 am
GetHighOrDieTrying wrote:
Tue May 04, 2021 11:52 pm
really depends on what you like to do with the kite. what's your prefered riding style? are you or do you want to get into foiling? what are the other kites in your quiver?

i have 8 and 11m LEIs and a 15m foil kite which gets me going on a twintip in about 10 knots (85kg) on a 136cm board. but fun starts at +15knots with the 15m. your 140 TT is already a larger board. in my opinion large boards are not ideal for jumping so i personally would prefer 15m kite with smaller board over 12m kite with a door. if you get into low wind kiting there is no way around foil boards. keep in mind a 15m foil kite is large and slow and you will need some time to extract the performance from it. so in the beginning plan couple of sessions to get used to it.

enjoy the ride!
Thanks so much for responding!
I have only been kiting for 1-1.5 year and doing small jump 3-4m now on LEI. I really like the jumping aspect, and trying things like dark slides and board of. But to be honest, seeing as how I’ve just started out, I just want to get out on the water as much as I can this summer without it becoming boring haha. I’ve figured that would mean kiting for my size in atleast 15 knots, which we get plenty in the summer, but usually not very much more unfortunately. At the moment I have a 12m and a 9m.


ps: what do you consider a large board? I have been looking at this one, it’s a larger sized but still supposed to ride like a twintip and good for jumps in lower wind?

https://www.fluidkiteboarding.com/store ... duct_id=81
Hi Raynski - great to see you are full of passion for this amazing sport!

i think a 15m would be a good addition to your 9 and 12m kites and in 15kts wind you can have good fun with it. a bigger kite is also good for nice floaty jumps with plenty of airtime. seems like that's what you are looking for if you want to get into old school tricks like darkslides and board offs etc.

if you get the 15m kite not sure you need a bigger board at all besides as mentioned bigger boards are generally less fun and less suited for jumping. the fluid board you have shared though looks interesting but i've never tried it. your existing 140 board should be sufficient to get you going with the 15m kite.

have fun and enjoy the ride!

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby sflinux » Wed May 05, 2021 3:47 pm

Go with the 15M. For a 15M, you want a thin leading edge, lighter the better, tow point away from the center of the kite, mid or high aspect preferred over low. I am the same weight as you. I like the 15M/9M combo. The 15M will give you more power than the 12M. If it is too windy for the 15M, the 9M is already working. The 9M is more fun than the 12M. I also use big board / small board combo to extend the range of each kite, as coming in to switch kites eats up a lot of minutes compared to just switching boards.
A bigger board, is usually wider. A wider board will have a lower planning speed, which needs less power from the kite to get to planing. As wind speed goes down, the amount of apparent wind a kite can generate goes down. For that reason, I prefer a 15M to 12M. And as the wind speed picks up, I prefer the apparent wind a 9M can generate over a 12M.

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby Raynski » Wed May 05, 2021 4:48 pm

Thnx for all of the advices everyone :remybussi:
Going to go with a 15m and hold off on the bigger fluid board for now, can always buy it later.

Cant wait to go out on the water more!! :jump:

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby bkkite » Wed May 05, 2021 7:15 pm

I'm 215lbs, and I would ride a 15m in those winds and frankly higher. I ride a 15m Core XR with a 139 board. I have a 12m, and I would really have to work to have any fun in that wind, even with a surfboard (i.e. much larger board).

If you were 160lbs, that might be different.

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby JakeFarley » Wed May 05, 2021 7:31 pm

If you are considering a Flysurfer Soul (foil kite), a 12m would be equivalent to a 14m LEI and a 15m would be equivalent to a 17m LEI kite. I am the same weight as you and 14-18knots with a 12m Soul should work for you. I use my Crazyfly 135 x 46 unless there is a lot of chop.

If you eventually get into foil boarding, the 12m Soul should be a good size to start with. The 15m might be too much.

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby Raynski » Wed May 05, 2021 9:17 pm

JakeFarley wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 7:31 pm
If you are considering a Flysurfer Soul (foil kite), a 12m would be equivalent to a 14m LEI and a 15m would be equivalent to a 17m LEI kite. I am the same weight as you and 14-18knots with a 12m Soul should work for you. I use my Crazyfly 135 x 46 unless there is a lot of chop.

If you eventually get into foil boarding, the 12m Soul should be a good size to start with. The 15m might be too much.
Damn, does it work good for you? I’ve already ordered.
Why everyone in here recommending a 15m?

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby Kristan » Wed May 05, 2021 9:32 pm

Raynski wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 9:17 pm
Damn, does it work good for you? I’ve already ordered.
Why everyone in here recommending a 15m?
It worked not only for him, as I said it works for me as well. Buuut, considering your current quiver you simply do not need a 12m Soul unless you plan to replace your 12m LEI with it.

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Re: Bigger board or bigger kite?

Postby Raynski » Wed May 05, 2021 9:45 pm

Kristan wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 9:32 pm
Raynski wrote:
Wed May 05, 2021 9:17 pm
Damn, does it work good for you? I’ve already ordered.
Why everyone in here recommending a 15m?
It worked not only for him, as I said it works for me as well. Buuut, considering your current quiver you simply do not need a 12m Soul unless you plan to replace your 12m LEI with it.

I understand, but if you can have as much fun/power/jumping height with a 12m soul, as you would with a 15m, why would you bother with a 15m unless you plan on riding sub 14knots though? I mean yes you would have 12m kites, but the 12m soul can do pretty much the same as the 15 with the added benefit of being much faster then a 15m...then having 2 12m kites doesn’t really matter except for the symbolism of it


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