Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Light wind kite

Forum for kitesurfers
Kristan
Frequent Poster
Posts: 265
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:50 am
Local Beach: Plescheevo lake
Favorite Beaches: Mejvodnoye, Crimea
Style: Freeride
Gear: Kites: Eleveight XS 14m, Paraavis Smile 3 15m. Boards: Flysurfer Radical 6 144x46, Flysurfer Flydoor4 170x50
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Russia, Moscow
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 26 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby Kristan » Tue May 26, 2020 11:32 am

You gonna need 160cm "door" and 15m Soul if you wanna ride from 8 knots. But since you are beginner, foil kite is not that much of an option. Contra 15 might work too.

matth
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2135
Joined: Wed Apr 03, 2013 1:18 pm
Local Beach: Revere, Nahant, Chapin, West Dennis, Hardings , Kalmus, First Encounter, Dog, yerril, Wing
Favorite Beaches: Wing, West Dennis, Kalmus, Chapin, Revere, Nahant, Dog, Horse Neck, Good Harbor, Yerrill
Style: Freeride
Gear: 7m Slash, 10m Pivot, 10m Slash, 12m Pivot. Firewire Vadar, Duotone Profish, Crazyfly Raptor ltd
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 81 times
Been thanked: 100 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby matth » Tue May 26, 2020 12:42 pm

I can't believe no one has mentioned the New Aluula Flites, from all reports I have seen it is an absolute game changer. I have the regular 14.5 Flite and can ride at 8knts, and upwind around 11knts with big TT or light wind Surfboard. Not exactly a lot of fun but I can ride. My guess is the Aluula version would lower those numbers by a knot or two and be more fun to ride and better at relaunch.

In the end a foilboard would be the best choice, I started last season, found it easy to learn and can easily ride, stay upwind, and have a blast in 8/9 knts.... I use a 12m and 9m boxer..

User avatar
Janus
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1280
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2003 9:34 am
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: Private Kite & Wing Beach d'Epine
Style: Freeride
Gear: *
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Netherlands
Has thanked: 81 times
Been thanked: 131 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby Janus » Tue May 26, 2020 1:53 pm

Kristan wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 11:32 am
You gonna need 160cm "door" and 15m Soul if you wanna ride from 8 knots. But since you are beginner, foil kite is not that much of an option. Contra 15 might work too.
i don't see the logic of this.. at 8 kts the 15m Soul is a good suggestion even if you are a beginner.

Michaelr123
Medium Poster
Posts: 90
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:05 pm
Weight: 175lb
Local Beach: Mendota / Monona
Gear: 14m apollo, 12m NV, 11m boxer, 9m moto, 7m apollo
cabrinha Ace 141cm, 3'6" dwarf craft /w moses w800/s421
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby Michaelr123 » Tue May 26, 2020 4:09 pm

I was in your shoes about a year ago now and I went for a 160cm lf libre and a 17m turbine (78kg). The late summer winds around the midwest are not conducive to TT. I used that setup a lot last summer while I was practicing, probably more than my 12m and 143 tt. That was a big part of me learning how to get every ounce of power out of a kite and how to use the board, upwind, etc.

I've since gotten into foiling and sold off that equipment, but I would recommend that setup. you could maybe size down to a 15m turbine, it'd be a little more future proof in my opinion, but I don't think the 17m would be too much, especially at first when you need a bit more help getting up on plane. I've noticed that as I'm getting more efficient I'm picking smaller kites more often. You can pick up a bigger 2017 turbine for around $500 and a door board for $300 with straps and sell all that gear back at close to the same price after a year or two.

just my two cents.

Kristan
Frequent Poster
Posts: 265
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:50 am
Local Beach: Plescheevo lake
Favorite Beaches: Mejvodnoye, Crimea
Style: Freeride
Gear: Kites: Eleveight XS 14m, Paraavis Smile 3 15m. Boards: Flysurfer Radical 6 144x46, Flysurfer Flydoor4 170x50
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Russia, Moscow
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 26 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby Kristan » Tue May 26, 2020 6:46 pm

Janus wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 1:53 pm
i don't see the logic of this.. at 8 kts the 15m Soul is a good suggestion even if you are a beginner.
Soul is never, ever! a beginner kite.

PullStrings
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2284
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 7:54 pm
Kiting since: 1999
Gear: LEI's & Surfboards
Has thanked: 252 times
Been thanked: 281 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby PullStrings » Tue May 26, 2020 8:55 pm

The OP does say his style to be : beginner

But he may have never bothered to update it
Or he wrote that just for fun

He joined Kiteforum in 2009

It's time for zamo27 to return to his thread and comment on the replies

User avatar
Janus
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1280
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2003 9:34 am
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: Private Kite & Wing Beach d'Epine
Style: Freeride
Gear: *
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Netherlands
Has thanked: 81 times
Been thanked: 131 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby Janus » Tue May 26, 2020 9:58 pm

Kristan wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 6:46 pm
Janus wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 1:53 pm
i don't see the logic of this.. at 8 kts the 15m Soul is a good suggestion even if you are a beginner.
Soul is never, ever! a beginner kite.
Hate to say it but you’re really! wrong. :wink:
The Sonic isn’t a beginner kite..
a beginner can use a lot of kites but in specific window / conditions..

joriws
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1299
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2010 11:03 am
Gear: Flysurfer, HQ, Moses, Nobile, North, Ozone
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 76 times
Been thanked: 163 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby joriws » Tue May 26, 2020 11:02 pm

Kristan wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 6:46 pm
Janus wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 1:53 pm
i don't see the logic of this.. at 8 kts the 15m Soul is a good suggestion even if you are a beginner.
Soul is never, ever! a beginner kite.
I started kiting with loaned ozone samurai and then my first own kite Speed3 19dlx. Speed3 was beginner friendly.

Why Soul would not be beginner kite? You know it steers when you pull one side of the bar, depowers more because of better aerodynamics. Much safer beginning your hobby in low sub 8-12kn winds non-wasp kite than losing control of lei kite in winds suitable for lei like 20 knots.

User avatar
Slappysan
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1453
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:54 am
Kiting since: 2004
Gear: Wave Bandit Performer 4-10
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Has thanked: 44 times
Been thanked: 187 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby Slappysan » Wed May 27, 2020 2:10 am

zamo27 wrote:
Mon May 25, 2020 6:59 pm
i ride a twin tip and im 72kg wanting to kitesurf at 8-12 knots
I'm the same weight, but ride a surfboard or skimboard and have a Gen6 OR Flite 17m. Since I got it it's become my most used kite size and almost completely replaced my 12m because of it's ability to handle up to 20 knots of wind.

I can hold my ground in 8 knots on my finless skim and have fun on it in 9-10 knots. I maybe need 1 knot more for surfboard. There is a massive difference between 8 and 10 knots, let alone 12 knots.

I've tried the included line extensions and didn't find them that useful, they don't give any extra power, just a longer power stroke.

I would describe the Flite as a hangtime machine with great upwind performance that you can hold down in strong winds. The low end isn't as good as other 17m I've flown but if you work the kite it can generate power.

My main complaints about it are the one-pump system is circa 2009 and a pain to clip/unclip/deflate and I would like a bit more low end.

You can see how it handles in 20 knots here:


You can see how it handles in 8-12 knots (with surfboard) here:

Regis-de-giens
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2006
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:58 pm
Weight: 62 kg
Local Beach: France: St Laurent du Var, Cannes, Almanarre
Style: 62 kg , light wind, waves
Gear: Conceptair pulsion 18&15&12S, OR Flite 10m , Airush One 9&6, peak 5M , Rally 6, Elf 11 &7, 19m2 single skin proto.
foil Ketos, RCS Supreme, TBK Mana, snowskis, kite-boat
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 266 times
Been thanked: 351 times

Re: Light wind kite

Postby Regis-de-giens » Wed May 27, 2020 8:02 am

Depends your "wind scale". Before Hydrofoil, with my lightweight and big TT board, my Flysurfer speed3 15m was hardly enough to get fun in 10-11 knots, menaning just staying upwind...

And ... to get fun in 8 knots, it was with a big TT door and a ... 22m2 foilkite ! Otherwise "nothing fun happends" below 9 knots /62 kg...

So, hydrofoil as a winner if you find the energy to learn, very fun from 6-7 knots with a reasonnabke foilkite. Otherwise enormous kite to get some speed and do other things that just do straigth lines staying upwind below 10 knots ...


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: alekbelia, andylc, Baptiste_FR, Bartolo, Bing [Bot], bshmng, Chriz76, DanielorDani, gl, Google [Bot], ham-er, headintheclouds, knotwindy, Leon van Bergen, Pitu, rnelias, Slappysan, tobesen, tonester, Ventum, Wainando, Windwarrior, Yahoo [Bot] and 362 guests