Best kite for light wind?

[Guest]

What is the best kite for light wind? Typical wind around here during the summer is 8-12 mph and I am 200 lbs. I have a MACH1 15.1 that I can use when the wind is above 12.
Does anyone tried the : Airblast 17.8 ( or 16.4), Hydro 15 or FlySurfer MastAir 16.0 ?

[nati]

i have ab 16.4 and the kite works good from 10-11 knots,but you need 12-14 knots to jump...,the only problem is that the kite is slow, and you should check for better kites -like the north 22m,or some foil kites that will give you the same pawer but with better proformence

[PMad]

I fly the mach1 18 from 8 to 13 mph (so far) and I am very happy about it.
This weekend I tried with a wind that was around 5-7 mph, but it was only sufficient to raise the kite and keep it above the head (kite remained amazingly responsive even in such low conditions, though). No fly below 8.

Note: in very low wind conditions (<9mph), this kite can stall in any slight lull if you have it close to the widow's edge, and then is quite hard (impossible?) to restart. Probably the case with every "big" kite around, but I just thought I would mention this "detail"....

Fly safe!
j.

[Guest]

kiteboarding.de was in Cabarete testing kites for two weeks. We had a few very light wind days and IMHO, every kite was hard to restart in light winds... some much harder than others but it's just a fact... big surface area and light winds = 50/50 chance of water relaunchability!

Marina, kitexcite.com

[Guest]

kiteboarding.de was in Cabarete testing kites for two weeks. We had a few very light wind days and IMHO, every kite was hard to restart in light winds... some much harder than others but it's just a fact... big surface area and light winds = 50/50 chance of water relaunchability!

Marina, kitexcite.com

[Andres_Santacruz]

My foils relaunch great in light winds. I believe that at least for light winds, foils are better.
Andres

[Toby]

the difference between a North Rhino 16 and 22.5 is very small, maybe only 2-3 knots.
But the handling of the big tubes are no fun.
The North is ok, but in light winds the foils like Flysurfer will be the best working kites. The MastAir 16 is great for light winds also the new Warrior 16.5 and maybe Warrior 20 (they are not sure of building it yet).
But in these light winds forget about jumping, you just need a constant pull which the Flysurfer provides.

[PMad]

I would agree that foils are a better match for very-low wind conditions (<8), as they are essentially lighter and have better aerodynamics.
Yet, you won't have the same flexibiltiy and stability that a 4-lines inflatable with good depower system will give you, especially when wind conditions would start low but gradually increase as time passes (typical in my place to start at 8, increase to 12-13 in 1 hour, and end-up again at 8 later)

just imho.

(I had foils before, and now enjoy the nice technology proposed in most 2002 product lines (f-one mach1, in my case).
Cheers,
j.

[Andres_Santacruz]

Jido,
Have you tried flysurfer.de foils, better depower than tubes, easier to launch, more stable, more power, and less expensive.
Andres Santacruz

[Toby]

Hi Andres,

I have to comment this!
Foils are easier to handle and to relaunch.
But for jumping tubes have more power and the depower is the same if not better. And the Flysurfer kites are not cheaper than tubes. At least not in Europe!

Greetings
Toby