Looking for advice on first quiver

[apparantlee]

Hi, I'm looking to put together my first quiver this year and I was hoping to get some advice on kite choices if possible.

My weight: 95kg looking to drop to 85
Local spots: Burnham on Sea, Exmouth
Current gear: 139CM liquid force wakeboard
Previous experience in wakeboarding, snowboarding and mountain boarding.

With a view to maximising the number of potential sessions following a lesson I'll be taking in the spring I'm looking to buy a light wind kite with good low end first followed by a smaller kite as a later addition towards autumn.

I have two questions I'm hoping for some help with:

1. In the provision that I'll be getting a large 'door' twintip/directional board initially, would I realistically see considerably more light wind use out of a foil kite as opposed to a light wind LEI such as a 15m contra/envy? I've heard foils tend to have smaller wind ranges than light LEIs.

2. Depending on the ideal choice for the first kite, (foil/LEI, 15M/17M etc) what would be the most complementary choice for the second kite to cover as much of the higher wind ranges?

Any help/advice very much appreciated.

Lee

[Kees]

Contra 15 meter is a good choice, what ever you get, do NOT get a foil kite, you will crash your kite a lot even after lessons and they are a nightmare to get back in the air compared to LE kite. I don’t know if you can get them in GB but a litewave wing is an excellent board, much better that most regular “doors”.

[knotwindy]

Think about buying the kite you take the lessons on. You will know what size you need and you will know the release/safety system (hopefully) well. Keep it simple in the beginning.

[Mossy 757]

If you've not taken lessons yet, save your money. I think a lot of people mistakenly buy gear in order to get into kiting, and counter-intuitively you actually want to save this step until you know what you're doing to a degree. Use the forums, facebook, Reddit, etc. to discover your local kiting crew and take a few multi-day trips to a spot where you can get professional lessons. Once you've succeeded in lessons to the point where you know with confidence you can body drag, ride upwind, and perform a deep water self-rescue, then I'd consider buying gear. The advantage here is that you'll have more of an idea of what kind of size you're likely to need and you'll have spent your early development hours (which usually involve lots of kite crashing) on rental equipment instead of your own kit. That last point can't be overstated, unfortunately (personal experience!)

[TomW]

It depends on your common winds, but expect your winds to be frontal, generated by weather systems. That means a lot of variation of wind.
First, get real kiteboard, if you actually have a wakeboard - don't use it. It won't work well.
Forget foil kites for now. Expensive and you'll stall your progression.
You should have 2 kites to start. for a bigger kite like a 15m lei, a 3 strut model. But you'll need a medium kite too, like a 12m. IF you have a lot of 12-14 knot days, you might consider a 17m and a 12m kite. You are 95kg, you might need the power.
Get the same make and model if you can.
Later towards fall you can get a 9m. Again, same model if you can.


I fly foil kites when Hydrofoiling, lei on a surfboard. ( North Mono 12-9-7). Been kiting since 2001.

[grigorib]

My suggestions
- get a largest door board possible. See if you can find 170x50 with "square-ish" outline (not narrowing tips). It'll be easiest board to learn on and will serve you for lightwind conditions for years to come. Later you'll need a regular sized board as you won't be able to hold edge of a door in above 18 knots
- Lightwind conditions are very hard to learn in, so I'd suggest to get a regular size kite (but a door board) first
- Lightwind and regular kite won't be same model. Contra-Switchblade, Turbine-Rally, etc would be coupling options you'd choose from
- Large (14+ m) Envy/NV, RPM, Rally, Switchblade - are not lightwind kites. They're regular kites for heavy riders
- 95-85kg is quite a range of weight. 95kg would mean 17m-15m lightwind and 12m regular kite, 85kg would get you to 15m lightwind, 11m regular
- foil kites have pros and cons. As long as you have proper launch spot for them and community of foikite riders around you, you'll have fun with them, otherwise it might be somewhat disappointing experience

Sorry, I was lazy to check on your usual wind/waves/currents conditions at your homespot - those make difference for gear choice

[apparantlee]

Great, thanks for the quick responses!

Mossy I was just about to post that as I've been sessioning a trainer kite since November i was considering buying the gear before the lesson as a way of pre-familiarising myself... I had a nagging feeling akin to your advice though!
I should say that i'm definitely not looking to break the bank on whichever first kite I get, more the opposite, but would you say that the risk would be decreased if I intended to only fly it on two feet on the land until after the lesson?..
Knot I hadn't thought of that option, good thinking, thanks.

Now that foil kites are pretty much off the table for me and a 3 strut model looks to be the way to go, I will aim to hold out until after the lesson, if an absolute bargain presents itself beforehand though and I decide to loosen the purse strings early, what does everyone think about this chart http://www.kitesurfnow.eu/images/pdftex ... ooklet.pdf from kitesurfnow.eu?
Does it generally seem realistic?..

Haven't been able to find local average waves/current info yet grigorib but according to world weather online we see from roughly 6-13MPH in the summer and around 13-25MPH in the winter. Gusts don't ever seem to register over 32MPH which doesn't sound right..

Thanks for the litewave tip Kees, looks like you can indeed get them over here, interesting that they seem to have evolved into an almost snowboard like shape?

[iriejohn]

I kite near Portsmouth, same sort of conditions.

Don't buy anything, have your lessons and watch what other people are using. Talk to them. Lots of really good gear around because the second hand market has collapsed but don't buy now.

[grigorib]

I kite near Portsmouth, same sort of conditions.
...

So 6-13 and 13-25 MPH? Waves? Currents?

[iriejohn]

I kite near Portsmouth, same sort of conditions.
...

So 6-13 and 13-25 MPH? Waves? Currents?

6/8/10/12m for 15-35 knots (and 17m for summer seabreezes). 82kg/1.8m. Frontal winds. Lieuwe Shotgun TT and Mitu 5'8". Mostly onshore(ish), 3-5m tides, flat to waves 1-3m, strong current when spring tides, mostly kite on sand beach 50.7752° N, 0.9077° W