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Folks, finally heading to Maui Sat. and looking at the forecast next week, it looks kind of light...Does NOAA downplay the breeze? For any locals - looking at the forecast - If I only bring 2 kites...what sizes would you suggest I pack? many thanks. -Pete

are u riding a surfboard or a TT?

for surf 6-7m for sure and a 8-9m for the lighter days
for a TT you need a 7m as well for sure and a 10m for the lighter days
don't forget that this place is a wind machine even when the forecast looks light

My advise: leverage your expectations

Feb and Jun are the worst months when it comes to wind at the islands. But then the elements don't know the calendar, they are the calendar.

I don't know what board you ride, what size you are, what your skill level is. So the best I can say for now is that your bring a kite size your are comfortable with on your home turf. If you get lucky you may get something around 20ish (with gusts). The rest is hit or miss. With one kite you may get one or two days of kiting, with a second kite perhaps you are looking at three days. All depends if it is worth it packing two kites. So best is, that you keep your days flexible, ready to roll if the wind picks up. Otherwise here is so much other fun stuff to do.

peace

Been windsurfing 15 yrs, kiting for 8 or so....I weigh 165, I guess Id say Im intermediate..? Anyway, I'll bring a JimmyLewis Twin tip. We ride 14M's 75% of the time at our local spots, 10M's 20% of the time, and a few times a year, (a Major Low Pressure system ) I wish I had an 8. I rode a 6 in Hatteras once...Was hoping to ride one again in Maui - Time will tell...I guess I'll bring the big stuff, and hopefully that will make it windy and I'll have to rent/demo/ buy a 6 or 8! Thanks

WindS4 wrote:Been windsurfing 15 yrs, kiting for 8 or so....I weigh 165, I guess Id say Im intermediate..? Anyway, I'll bring a JimmyLewis Twin tip. We ride 14M's 75% of the time at our local spots, 10M's 20% of the time, and a few times a year, (a Major Low Pressure system ) I wish I had an 8. I rode a 6 in Hatteras once...Was hoping to ride one again in Maui - Time will tell...I guess I'll bring the big stuff, and hopefully that will make it windy and I'll have to rent/demo/ buy a 6 or 8! Thanks

I use ikitesurf. if it is showing blue then there probably wont be any wind. But you do need to watch the current wind you can see it trending up counter to the forecast. iKite shows about 3-4 mph less than what actually shows. Watch kihei too. I had 2 sessions when kihei and kanaha werent forecasted to blow, but kihei did.

Thursday the 23rd looks to be the first good day of wind.

east is kind of crappy at kanaha because of the wind shadow. I was in maui in early april and got about 6/14 days in (not very good).

I just got back yesterday from two weeks there. I weight 80 kilos and ride a surfboard. I took a 7,9 and 12. Used all of them, mainly the 9. You can look at the graphs but they won't tell you about Kanaha and Kihea. The unique, (and great) thing about these spots is the Venturi effect you get between the two volcanoes. Wind gets squeezed through there and picks up speed. It will always be windier there than the predictions. Keep that in mind when looking at the charts.
Action Sports Maui has a great weather page if you look that up. Loads of good information on the place.
Have a great time and be careful of the turtles. There are so many out where you kite, you often have to take quick evasive action to avoid hitting them. It is actually pretty cool to be kiting with so many of them around.
Enjoy