HELP! Kite quiver decision anxiety

[Yann]

Not sure where to post this since it's not 100% strapless related. Maybe we should rename one of the sections that we don't use that much to "General topics" or something.

I'm thinking about going down 2m on my biggest kite from 13m to 11m this year. Last year I only used it 4 times out of 48 sessions in Sweden and since I hardly never ride any spintip and for sure will never do it underpowered again, I thought it might be a good idea to save some money and be able to skip one kite size in my quiver. I'm thinking of 11-8-6- with an optional 4 in august when the strong wind kicks in.

I weigh 80kg. What do you guys ride as your biggest kite and what do you weigh? What other sizes do you ride? Which one is the most used? Are you going for stability or manouverability? Heavy bar pressure with a lot of feedback or light bar pressure for one handed riding? Those are the questions spinning around in my head atm... Ozone made a lot of changes to their kites this year that really made it difficult for me to decide what to ride.

A short report from Sweden that is not worth a blog post:
No wind here atm. Last time we had wind our spots were frosen and the last session we had you had to be careful not to ding your board on the ice rocks Crashed my kite and the valve split in two pieces beacause of the cold making it into hard plastic. I figure that in combination with the pressure from the impact broke it. A couple of session before that I cracked a dump valve when trying to pull out the plug in -15C (snowkiting). Ripped the whole valve off the bladder instead. Winter sucks... Pump handles are also very fragile in the cold...apparently! Maybe boards too? I've already fulfilled one of my new years resolution; to learn how to repair my own dings. My 6'3" is now an inch shorter snub nose and almost ready to be ridden again. Just some sanding left. Hoooray! Ok, back to subject. Help me out!

DSC05617.jpg (211.34 KiB) Viewed 30467 times

[Dready]

hello yann first of all my repects man.... i gets to cold on scandinavia for me at this time and rare be kiting on this side of the world were i can steel do a minimun of two hours a day....

at the moment life is just reduce to trining wich is good soo i will be posting my new pictures, but coming back to your question i think that is a smart move to drop your biger kite i did that about to seassons a go to not traveol with too much gear, my bigest kite is a 10.5 and you will be surprice how much i used, i have a 7 but steel on the pakage, lots have to be with the fact that when you dont have a biger kite to jump to you develop a better ligthwind avility, pluss you want the kite to toll you in to the wave but you want to ride it on the wave power to get a better feeling of surfing.

surfboard and skimboards will move even on almost no wind if you develop inertia with the kite, but on my personal opinion kiting is done with wind so i hate to be to underpower so ill wait untill i can get going on my ten before geting a biger kite.

this is because im spoild kiter and i have good conditions and i dont have to drive to the spot....


also giving a bit of forcas advice the caribbean has wind at the moment yesterday we had a good swell and over 20 knots...

cheers every one.

pD: yann im sorry i have take long with the email but i have a problem with my acount and internet on this side of the world is not that good , but is done

[chanson]

Yann..

I used to fly the larger C kites for lightwind. Then went to a 16m BOW. Then down to a 11m SLE. Now I ride my 10m ERA(SLE) and an 11m SOLO... With the range of these newer kites...that's as big as I need to go. Light-Medium bar pressure and a little more on the Solo....which I have found to like a little more... More direct feel and more responsive...So this year I will probably go with the SOlO quiver and have the 11m as my biggest kite.

Those kites get me going under 10knots.. Under that I better be going downwind, skate-kiting, or get the winch out for some sliders..

I feel as long as you can move the kite and keep it going... like Dready said... My skim is my lightwind machine!!!!
I can get planning in very minimal winds..

At our local lightwind spot, people used to use kites up to 25m... now the biggest I see is a 16m... But the norm is moving to 12m SLE's as the biggest.. I had no problem last year with my 10m SLE and skim.... first one out, last on the water...

let us know what you decide.

[pebbles]

Yo, I feel like a wimp for not riding when it gets cold here! Can't imagine being in a slushy.

If you are thinking about 11-8-6, check the Freakdog/EH kites. I weigh 210lbs. and used to ride a 20m C, then a 15m Hybrid, and now ride the 13m EZE for my big kite. Awesome lowend. The 11m EZE, 8m or 9m Rippehr, and 6m Rippehr would be a good quiver. My buddy swears by the 9m Rippehr. I go for the more grunty kites like the EZE and Beast/Vicious. I also teach, so a Rippehr/Unleashed would be a little too much for a beginner. Currently I have the 13m EZE, 8m Vicious, and a 5.5m Vicious and plan on getting a 9m EZE to replace the 8m.

My friend has been in winds to 35mph with the 9m and said it eats gusts. He also has been on the 6m in 40+ and felt he could hold even MORE wind. Also, the Rippehr/Unleashed LE is reinforced inside to handle overpowered crashes.

later
pebbles

[sundogchicky]

i got cold the other day, then i saw that pic yerr flipppping nuts!!! how many hours does it take after a session like that for your nuts to come out of hiding?

[Yann]

LOL, it's not that bad really. When you put your cloths on you just have to plan everything carefully to make it as quick as possible. Once out on the water it's nice and warm with the modern wetsuits. The worst part is the change from wetsuit to cloths because the 6/5/4 wettie is so damn difficult to peel of when wet. Before I started kitesurfing I used to surf in these conditions and we stayed in the water until we got tired, 2-3 hours normally. We usually had hot tea with loads of hunny in a thermos. After each wave we ran out on the pier and had a cup of tea. We either drank it or poured it on our gloves before we jumped in again Sometimes the tip of my fingers would feel numb for weeks after. Nowadays there is insulation inside the wetties, gloves and boots which makes a huge difference. Some breaks are now even crowded here at winter.

Thank you guys for you advices. I now feel a lot more confident in choosing a size smaller kite as my biggest.

[Yann]

Almost forgot...

No worries Dready! Concentrate on getting good footage and save some of them for Nordic Surfers Mag We'll continue with the article sometime in April-May.

[Lonny]

Not sure where to post this since it's not 100% strapless related. Maybe we should rename one of the sections that we don't use that much to "General topics" or something.

Actually, I had a kite related topic when I first started the site, but it was not getting used, and was just confusing people. So, I took it off. It will return when the need arises again.

As far as dropping your biggest kite goes, I would do it. I have a 3 kite quiver now of Cabrinha Switchblade IDS of 12, 10 and 8. I can cover from around 9 knots to well over 30 knots with that quiver - sometimes I do wish I had a 6. Since you pretty much ride a skim or surfboard you should be able to do the same. I am only slightly lighter than you at 72 kg. Although is that with all the rubber you have to wear too?? I really like the Switchblade because it has good range, and is super stable. Last year's kite was a bit too dead in the bar for my tastes and did not give a a lot of feedback through the bar. This year has the perfect amount of feel in the bar, but does not fatigue you in anyway. However, when you unhook with the Switchblade it is really outstanding and very predictable.

I find that riding strapless you tend to go for the extra kite on the small end of the range vs. the large end. So I would do a 6 vs. a 13 if I could only choose one.