I agree - it is REALLY difficult to find good wavekites around 4-5m2
Most 5m2 kites today, are downscaled bigger sizes, which works good for super light riders and for freestyle.
But for waveriding they all suck bigtime IMO, as they should have made a very different profile so it can be controlled and depowered much more - as when you go down the line in waves, then the wind speed makes 4-5m2 kites impossible to fly "low" without you having to make a bigger radius and then you can not ride freely
So with an aggresive style like that, which is used by many, and especially if the wind is a bit side-on, ALL 5m2 kites I've tried today, has way too much power and no good.
F.ex the Naish Bolt
And the Takoon Reflex
And the Wainmans
And I could go on...
I think the only one I've seen which are not made anymore, was the Takoon Enova2 from 2008 which was awesome in this respect, and we were many wave guys holding on to this very kite in the 5m2 till they wore out after many years of use (mine died after 5 years of intense use).
Sadly no newer kites has been able to replace
And NO, it is not a matter of taking a smaller kite
When you ride with big kites, 9m2 and maybe bigger, it does not matter that much how they depower (unless you got huge waves).
And with medium wave kite sizes around 6-8m2, the good okay depowerable ones many brands offer, fits the bill just perfect IMO.
But for small kites, 4-5m2 they need extreme depower to work the same way as the bigger ones - in waves
Otherwise you have to change your technique by a huge margin, whenever you go from a medium kite to a small kite, and back (and you often do this back and fourth on the same day when the wind changes a bit or is just in between).
Meaning, you have to fly the small kites higher - which will ruin your freedom and backbone kite skills will be destroyed
Low end small kites SUCKS IMO, and useless for most wave kitesurfers
The problem is, that the brands dont sell that many kites in these sizes, so not much focus on these, and definitely no variation, as they dont make money on "optimizing" these for waveriders.
For wave kitesurfers in low pressure areas, kites between 4 and 8m2 is the most and maybe only used sizes for the average 75-80kg rider, so a bit of a bummer not being able to get a good wavekite for this.
There are a few who prefer low end small kites, but only a small fraction of the waveriders.
I wish we could get the brands to change strategy - but as most kites are sold to "non - waveriders" I dont think it is possible
Peter