The Psycho 4 is quite different from the Psycho 3, but both are DEFINITELY NOT the kite to teach folks on. This kite is not very forgiving and has explosive power.

Very fun kite, but not a kite for beginners.

I just got the Unity 6M regular and flew it in 40+mph gusts with no problems (I weigh 215 lbs). I was able to teach 2 people, who were able to fly it in 25 mph wind, their 1st time up (only crashing it once). I realize this isn't the low end, but even in light winds it flies, just not enough power to go out on the water (unless you have a big fat standup or similar).

I couldn't overfly that badboy as hard as I tried. It would just float right back nicely. It was strange how far it would fly past me, overhead. Never had a kite THAT stable;)

It doesn't "auto-zenith", but when you let the bar go, it quickly flies to the edge of the wind window.

Actually on my desktop the video was Speed3 "mirror" video with glassy water surface. So toby84 said Psycho3 but I think he did mean Speed3.

I learned my kiting with Speed3 19DLX without any water teaching except upwind body angle tips for body dragging. I never got tangles or bow ties with the kite and I always were able to relaunch. And I was able to learn on safer zone of the wind range. Which is the only wind range available at summer near my home.

Pretty interesting joriwis.

Interesting that you learned on a kite that most kiters I know think is too difficult to fly.

I learned on a 5m Wipika 2 line kite in about 25-30 mph gusty wind. Technically very very simple, but extremely unforgiving of mistakes, delivering a punishment immediately after any error.

Were you a pretty good kite flyer when you started? Any wind sport background?

Very cool.

John

Back then I would not count myself as a good kite flyer. I'd say probably an average but if average is very bad then I would probably say only bad.

My boarding background is that I could get up with wake board. I have a hang glider pilot license so that is only wind sport background to understand wind and aerodynamics. And I'd seen power kite at around year 2000 piloted by local paragliders.

Prior purchasing Speed3 I flew Ozone Samurai on ice on different conditions (gusty, ultra low wind etc) with total of 6 hours so I guess I flew it more than there is time on commercial course. I count this as a trainer kite flying period. I flew Speed3 once on ice (30 minutes) before entering water training.

But for my weight and skill level I was a bit too optimistic about kite's performance. At summer temperatures, 7 knots (3.5m/s), moderate wind twin tip and as a beginner I could not plane with it. But got good practice on getting up to the board and trying to extend the length of planing one meter at the time. On my second water session it was 18-20knots (9-10m/s) and I had no problem with the power but more problem with lack of driving technique with board. On my first summer I found out that 10knots (5m/s) was about my limit for planing and upwind. Now it is 1m/s lower. Perhaps with line extensions and race board I could extend limit a bit.

As an investment it was on expensive side compared to more common used kites but after I sold it price per hour/session was cheap. I had very little wasted gasoline (90 minute drive to shore) and no sitting on the beach to wait conditions to go up.

For my case I think it worked out quite good as I had new out-of-package, modern, stable, safe and powerful kite to learn with and I could go out learning when I had time for it. I liked my Speed3 experience so much that now my loved kite is Speed3 12DLX and I love to travel with family with only one kite to spare weight/space/hassle and renting a board.

On my experience I don't think there is anything I would not recommend as having large Speed3 as a beginner kite. Speed3 12DLX is probably a bit too extreme for a beginner

FS will be fine if the wind is very steady. Light winds can be very unpredictable here. I like the Airush One 15m for teaching. It will hover at the edge in about 6mph winds. It's light and extremely simple. it's quick to set up and is easy for students to fly in winds up to the high teens. The only kite I ever had (including Flysurfer) that would hang at the edge in less wind was my 23.5 m Cabrinha Contra c-shape. It will hang two feet off the ground in about 4 mph winds. Of course if it's 4 it could drop to 2 in a second.

Have you tried the latest FS kites?

I learned on a Speed 3 12m. My first big kite. I had flown smaller two line kites for years before, but my board skills were zero.

I basically self taught (the Internet is great) and had some interesting learning experiences. But, especially in a school environment with someone there to supervise launching and landing, the big Speeds would be great for teaching. Students could focus on board skills. Even in smaller sizes, a Unity would likely be a very good bet...durable too, but I have not flown a Unity.