Who has actually flown a big bow

[pebbles]

What kind of big board? Your skill level? Try a skimboard. The bigger the better. To me big boards suck, the skimmer will be a challenge at first. Later, you will love the speed and tricks available. A friend of mine likes the wakesurfers(more volume). I prefer the skimmer because of weight and speed. Shuvits rule!

later
pebbles

[noel]

At 180 lbs. I don't feel the need to ride a bigger kite than my Batwing 15.5 and a Spleene Door 164cm. If the kite will fly, I can stay up-wind. A friend of mine that weighs 275 lbs. has never been able to ride with the rest of us when we are on 15-16m kites. He can't stay up-wind unless it is blowing close to 20 mph. and he is on a 16m Waroo. This last week we borrowed a demo kite. It was a 20m Best Waroo. Now it is big and slow but great lowend. Now with us on our 15-16m kite, he rides with us. He will never get the lowend that we can get but it opens a whole new window of fun for him. I weigh 180 lbs. and rode it in lighter winds than my Batwing could handle and I still rode powered upwind. It was a bit of a truck though. Not for me but a great kite with power for those bigger riders.

[frez]

I test flew a bunch of gear before settling on a Flysurfer Speed 2 and Door 64 combination. I did fly the Assault 2 19 (a friend of mine is a local dealer for both brands).

The Assault 2 was slowwwwww and heavy. It had very little difference in performance vs the Assault 16. At the same time I tried an RRD 15M Hypertype. That was better than both Liquid Force Kites in light wind, much faster and lighter bar pressure. At the time I was riding a Nobile 666 EXT board.

However, the Flysurfer Speed 2 has 'em all beat in combination with a Door 64. I couldn't afford the Silver Arrow or I would have gone with that. Tremendous lift, huge wind range and adjustable bar pressure so it's a pleasure to fly for hours. The Door is worth another knot on top of the Nobile board at least.

I have also been on the Contra 14 which is an excellent light wind kite although a bit heavy on the arms. But it's reasonably quick - I would say it marginally is better than the RRD HT from last year in low wind.

Anyway - to summarise and back up what others have said:-

1. Board first - a flat board well designed such as the Door lets you build up good apparent wind on any kite. Surprisingly the Door (and the EXT) hold down well in chop, ride toe-side well and are not hard to jump or do tricks on. Bang for your buck wise the board will make more difference than the kite.

2. Kite - Don't bother with a big bow. A modern flat kite no more than 14-17M max will do the trick. If you have the cash go for a Speed 2 19. Don't buy an earlier model Flysurfer - it would appear they come with all sorts of issues - but the S2 is an easy easy kite to fly with no idiosyncracies.

If you have never tried a foil you should at least demo the Speed 2 if you can. Once you get the hang of how to jump it the float is ridiculous!

BTW if anyone has kite looped the 19 then post the video. That'd be a hell of a move.

[Lem]

Interesting.. I'm a c-shape kiter, but am thinking about a big bow for a lightwind kite over a high-aspect large C. I'm currently looking at the JN DaVinci BAT 15m in combination with a spleene door or JN Bone.
However, my local spot can be a bit choppy which means I usually need more grunt than on flat water. I'm 75kg (ish).. Will this give me useful low end below my 13 Primadonna2 and 134 board?

[kitester]

I had a 20m Waroo and took it out in about 8 or 9 MPH. It works but its not much fun. I also had it out when the wind picked up to about 20. That was not much fun either. I am about 190lbs. it will fly and pull in about 4 or 5 MPH which might be ok on a land board, buggy or snowboard. You can get some good hangtime when it picks up to about 12 but the jumps wont be high. Most of the guys I know only go out when its worth while, about 15 or better. Even the 200+ guys dont put up a kite unless its blowin' 15 or better. So if they cant be out on a 15m or a 13m they just do something else. Because I train and we get many days when there is less than 10 MPH I own a 16m Bullaroo. It will stay in the air if the wind stays above 4 MPH and students can practice upwind body drags in about 6. It really starts working well for me in about the 12+ range. It also works well past 20 a bit but then I would have a much better time on my 10m Bullaroo.

[tautologies]

hi, I have the 14 Helix as my biggest kite, I like it for those super light wind mornings just cruising. I don;t think I owuld take anything bigger now, but rather use a bigger board.

This of course is a personal preference thing. I don;t think you need to go all the way to an SUP to go, I am heavier than you but really think that the wind someone with a bigger kite than that can go in is really marginal. Maybe with more power at the windspeed I can go, but "smaller" (14 is still a big kite) kites do turn faster which matters.

A.

[Lem]

How much difference does a door make over a regular 130s board? Would I be better off with a door and my 13m Primadonna2 (c shape kite so not mega power) than going for a bigger kite?

[Carlos_C]

A huge amount Lem.....last year I went out in about 25 knts (My brother was flying a pulse 10 at the same time) on a 3.5mt FS maniac and door 158.....best fun I've had in a long time - no jumping just throwing the kite around like a demon - screamed upwind never felt safer on a kite

For me at just under 70 kg it's bit big - the session 141 is much better.

The door can really improve a session - wheras your thinking of changing up kite size - - jump on a dor and you are nicely powered and jumping again (using Board speed)

[just do it]

Just like Carlos said, the Doors make a massive difference. They are also quite different to a normal shaped board in the same size. Trying is believing.
I yet have to meet someone who wasn't staggered by their lightwind and upwind abilities but they aren't exactly freestyle weapons.
For that purpose Spleene launched a new design, the RIPMAX 140-47. This board has a more conventional outline but thanks to its width gets going easily as early as the Door154 but it will need a better rider to get the most out of it.
So if you fancy ultra lowind wake/freestyle riding the RIPMAX is fantastic and for normal freeriding in light winds the Door remains first choice.
Obviously if you are quite light(10st) the Sessions or the RIPPLUS can already be enough.

[k2ski3]

Lem,
There are a lot of light wind boards out there besides the Spleene. The important details are width, >42cm and a flat(no to very little rocker), shapeless bottom. Also remember fins add drag so if you have some great flat water conditions try the board without fins for maximum low end.

For lightwind specific twintips, Spleene, Underground, Crazyfly, Litewave, Slingshot, & Skywalker are the ones that come to mind quickly & I hope a few other riders will post some others.

Don't overlook surfboards, skim boards, and mutants as they are great options too.