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Newbie question

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Tom82
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Newbie question

Postby Tom82 » Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:04 am

Hi, I had +-15 hours of kiteboarding/landkiting lessons, so still a beginner, and I would like to buy my first kite to progress.
I am 100kg, local conditions are 5-19 nots and my goal so far is land (snow maybe next year) freeride. I am not really aiming for big jumps.
I do not want to spend fortune on this so I was looking on used gear and was hoping you can help me to choose from these:
Ozone Summit V3 12m
Ozone Summit V3 15m
Ikon Empire 12m
Flysurfer Speed 3 12m
Ozone Frenzy V10 11m
Ozone Manta M3 15m
All of them are +- same prize.
There is also Flysurfer speed 3 21m for about 60% more but that would be too big I think.

As for the mountainboard due to my weight I am deciding between HQ Raid Thief, Kheo Bazik and Libre Longrider.

Can you give me your thoughts?

Herman
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Re: Newbie question

Postby Herman » Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:51 am

Welcome to land boarding etc. Before commenting on your proposal I would like to know what kites you were using in your first 15hrs and on what terrain? Also what is the ground like that you expect to be riding your new year? What advice did you receive from your instructor regarding gear?

Your first kite choices do not tally with your comment that you are not aiming for big jumps!!

Tom82
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Re: Newbie question

Postby Tom82 » Sat Feb 29, 2020 12:57 pm

At first it was some LEIs Core, then Best TS, I could not really tell model and size, next some Naish 12m.
For landkiting Pegas 8m on grassy ground.
Terrain will be grassy ground.

Herman
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Re: Newbie question

Postby Herman » Sat Feb 29, 2020 3:05 pm

The quality of the ground dictates the power you will require. However going for a 15m high performance foil as your first kite would be very ambitious. Imho there are 2 basic approaches to landboarding that are relevant for your stage.
A. Having just enough power to ride.
B. Having lots of power and feeling that you are pinned to the sky.

With A you learn to work the kite and carve the board, then start sliding and toeside riding.........
With B you have the kite near the zenith and any small movement and you are riding. Just a small send will get you airborne.

You can hurt yourself with A or B but a loss of kite control with B can result in a serious yarding.

Therefore if you go for a big foil you will be restricted to the lower end of your wind range. I would have thought that you need a two kite quiver for 5 to 19knts. As a beginner I think you would find the 15ms a real handful at 15knts and probably plenty at 12knts. As an example on good hard packed sand if the wind drops to 15knts I can still ride my 5m Montana. (Similar wt to you.)

If you expect to end up with a 2 kite quiver I would get 6-8m first and a 12-15m once you had gained some experience unless your area is nearly always light wind. If it is generally light I think the Frenzy V10 11m would still be plenty big enough as a first kite for a newbie unless they are very athletic.

Board wise have a look at Trampa as well, they do decks for heavyweights

Either way stay safe and have fun. (15m summit or manta will be much more powerful than the 12m Naish.)

Regards Herman

PS There is nothing wrong with LEI for landboarding above10knts. Probably easier for beginners if conditions are gusty. Cheaper to! I use a Cabrinha Switch Blade 9m between 12-20knts for general messing about.
Last edited by Herman on Sat Feb 29, 2020 7:46 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Herman
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Re: Newbie question

Postby Herman » Sat Feb 29, 2020 7:15 pm

Another thing I could have mentioned is that more power will help if the rolling resistance of the ground is high. It will allow you to keep the kite higher etc. However, you must learn to hop off or crash without putting a silly input to the bar which would result in a yarding. Thus the approach and emphasis can be quite different to learning on fast ground with a small kite and learning on slow ground with a big kite. Big kites can be ridden slowly by keeping most of the pull facing skywards, but they can bite if you lose control.

If you can, talk to the local riders to see what they are using. 8in wheels are fine on hard sand but 9in may be better on rough grass. Waist harness is fine for fast ground and small kites. Add a climbing harness for powered more pinned to the sky stuff.

Regards Herman

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Re: Newbie question

Postby Matteo V » Sun Mar 01, 2020 12:34 am

I never really liked the ozone Frenzy, but that is the best kite off of that whole list. I think you should widen your search. There's a reason there's ozone Summits out there. Same with the flysurfer speed series. Kind of junk foil kites that we're just surpassed by even some of the cheaper brands.

Tom82
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Re: Newbie question

Postby Tom82 » Sun Mar 01, 2020 10:55 am

Thank you for replies guys.
So smaller kite then, what about Flysurfer Unity 8m?
Except that there is not much in offer around.

Herman
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Re: Newbie question

Postby Herman » Sun Mar 01, 2020 12:35 pm

Never flown a unity but from what I recall it did not stay in production that long and was not hugely popular, although it does come from a very reputable manufacturer.

Don't let me put you off the 11m Frenzy if it is a good deal, it will not be money wasted because you will grow into it. Just be careful in your early sessions and do plenty of static flying in about 10knts of wind. You will soon know if you want a smaller kite as well!

An additional small kite could be quite cheap. A tatty 5 or 6m LEI would complement the 11m Frenzy. (It is easy to get upwind landboarding and you can use kites that are well past their best.) I actually started with a 2 line 3m foil which I could ride up and down the beach in top end of F4 and above. Also, I occasionally still use old C kites for unhooked stuff and these kites are virtually worthless. Riding a 6-8m C unhooked in 15-19knts is relatively safe if the ground is fast enough because you won't be using too much power and it is easy just to let go, and have it flag on the 5th. Lots to learn..........

PS If you decide to get a LEI avoid designs that are prone to underpowered backstalling, eg Kahoona last generation of Waroo.
Also a simplistic rule of thumb, is order of most power generation for same area is: foil, then LEI/SLE, then least C kite as the projected area is smaller.


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