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Surfboard riders...Whats your biggest Kite?

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Bille
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Re: Surfboard riders...Whats your biggest Kite?

Postby Bille » Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:57 pm

As you all know ...
i Don't ride waives so i'm Clueless.
But
Tommy T told me that the day this shot was taken, he was on a 9 or a 12m Caution Zombie.
Very seldom on an 18 at Carlos...maybe in the am but not usually unless it's super lite and
looks to stay that way all day.

The point is that he'll use an 18m when necessary, and i've seen him use
a 12ft Long-board with it in San Diego.

Bille

Here -- More Tommy :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDGmTfRHruY



& while we're at it, Here is Tommy on one of those Bad days of kiting :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oqGR-icFL4

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SupaEZ
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Re: Surfboard riders...... Whats your biggest Kite???

Postby SupaEZ » Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:44 pm

iblocalsurfer wrote:A 17m Fat Lady with a 5'11" Fish. Mostly upwind wave riding though which is still a blast if there is any kind of swell. Can get a little sketchy if the wind gets too light/onshore and there is size. Mainly because it's easier to outrun your kite. Anything over 11 mph is doable as long as your kite drifts well and not prone to falling.

I would say very similar in waves...Hot summer Florida wind Speed3 21M with 5'7" quad Whip with 8-9 mph is doable..."Colder" Fall/winter Florida wind Rebel 12M 2011 with same board in 12-13 mph is doable..I am 75kg/165lbs

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Re: Surfboard riders...... Whats your biggest Kite???

Postby Nico » Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

23,5 mts Cabrinha contra "C" and my woodie malibu surf board 9'.
Different, but fun nonetheless.
Nico

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Re: Surfboard riders...... Whats your biggest Kite???

Postby windmaker » Thu Dec 29, 2011 5:14 am

There is no limit to what kite size can be used when riding a surfboard but only if you are not riding waves.

Proper wave riding with anything bigger than 10m is difficult. Typical small/medium wave speed is 15k so if the wind is that light there is no point in using a bigger kite because once on the wave you will be traveling faster than the wind and your direction of travel will be determined by the kite not the wave.

In big waves (they are faster) and light wind you create a lot of apparent wind (if the wind direction is right) so here again a big kite is no help as you can easily get over powered with an 8m in light wind.

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Re: Surfboard riders...Whats your biggest Kite?

Postby TommyDuotone » Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:37 am

@windrider:
I beg to differ. We do it in San Diego all the time. When I get home tomorrow, I'll post a pic of wave riding(with a big kite) in double over head and under 15 knots. And this wave will have teeth. :D
Last edited by TommyDuotone on Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Surfboard riders...... Whats your biggest Kite???

Postby robertovillate » Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:25 am

jens wrote:Depends on where you are. In the Great Lakes there is no "Ground swell" , whatever waves there are are a result of the wind you are experiencing at the moment. So no light wind wave riding. That said the biggest I have used lately is a 10 but for the most part the waves aren't worth getting excited about until it is 8/9meter wind.
Jens, for the most part you are right, but some of the best wave riding session can happen here (MI side of Lake Michigan) on the "die-down", e.g. when the waves are still good size and the wind shifts from West to NW side shore and drops into the 15 kt range, holding the waves up nice and clean.

I like to be on "the smallest kite possible"...but that can be defined a lot of ways. I like to have plenty of power when in the waves to help me get of the beach, but also a kite that will let me park and ride/float and ride. I've had a lot of great wave sessions with my 2007 15m Hypertype I (one of my favorite light wind kites) and my 2007 16m Bularoo (a super stable, light weight, reliable kite). I can hold these kites down close to 20 kts, both kites turn surprisingly well, and I'd rather have a little extra power than to be contantly whipping a smaller kite around while trying to enjoy a wave. Plus, when it's light, the extra "reserve power" of the big kite helps me get back upwind quickly so I can go for more and more rides down the line.

Of course I'd rather be ripping it up on my 7.5m kite all the time, but I need a solid 25 kts for that. I ride a good mile or more downwind around a pierhead to hunt waves quite often and getting home is always a priority. And slogging about underpowered on a long down-winders isn't much fun either IMO.

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Re: Surfboard riders...... Whats your biggest Kite???

Postby Peter_Frank » Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:41 am

windmaker wrote:There is no limit to what kite size can be used when riding a surfboard but only if you are not riding waves.

Proper wave riding with anything bigger than 10m is difficult. Typical small/medium wave speed is 15k so if the wind is that light there is no point in using a bigger kite because once on the wave you will be traveling faster than the wind and your direction of travel will be determined by the kite not the wave.

In big waves (they are faster) and light wind you create a lot of apparent wind (if the wind direction is right) so here again a big kite is no help as you can easily get over powered with an 8m in light wind.
Windmaker is spot on :thumb:

You CAN ride waves with big kites, like 12 or 14m2 - and can be fun sometimes, but VERY difficult, and many find it too difficult to do at all - or impossible to get any fun out of it.

As you can also ride the same waves with a 9m2, just not hold ground - but way more fun and agile typically.

I like riding waves with big kites too, but you need to practice a lot - and not good in big waves as said - because of the apparent wind spikes :(


I think we can all agree that "proper" waveriding (in general consensus as we can all have our own likings) is going in full turns and down the wave (down the line), right ?

Otherwise it is just "cruising" on the wave, and a very different thing :naughty:


:D Peter

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Re: Surfboard riders...Whats your biggest Kite?

Postby tautologies » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:15 pm

Re: kite size and waves. It is not that hard to ride waves with a big kite if the wind direction is right. I think the assumption here is onshore wind, but some spots here get some nice side off breezes and then you can better ride in light wind as any speed at all on the wave will provide more power in the kite....bonus, no need to swing the kite around. You do need the kite size to make it back up wind though. :-)

So wind direction matters.

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Re: Surfboard riders...Whats your biggest Kite?

Postby TommyDuotone » Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:00 pm

I guess we all have our own definition of "proper wave riding" and what we consider to be fun. Getting pulled by a kite while your doing "S" turns is more like cruising to me and not as fun or exiting as real surfing. Much more fun to me to let the power of the kite go and feel the wave power under your feet. And, if conditions allow it, hard bottom turns with verticle off-the-lips and tail releases. And, coming down with the power of the wave not the pull of kite.
In light slight onshore wind this can also be done when riding the wave upwind. Only hard part is the bottom turn because the kite wants to pull forward, but with practice it can be done. You just need a verticle section and need to release the tail a bit as you exit the turn. Having kite that sits more forward in the window and drifts depowered helps a lot. Yeah, it doesn't feel like the full bottom turn you would get when surfing, but still fun non-the-less. And, you don't need a full bottom turn to do floaters and tail slides if the wave is verticle enough.
Last edited by TommyDuotone on Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Surfboard riders...Whats your biggest Kite?

Postby windmaker » Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:00 pm

Yes Taut, in light wind direction is most important. As long as you are not traveling directly downwind for too long when riding the wave you will not over run your kite.

I am lucky because I ride and travel a lot for wave riding (just got back from a month in Maui) so my biggest kite is an 8m. If the wind is light I would rather use a larger board and concentrate on keeping my lines tight (a different kind of riding) or just ride my MTB.


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