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So you bought a kite that has 9 stamped on it but it turns faster than what your used to and works better in higher winds and worse in lighter wind?

Sounds like just a smaller kite to me. These days what is stamped on the side of the kite usually bears little resemblance to what the actual kite size is. and power output per brand and kite type varies greatly.

Ride the kite that feels right for the conditions and don't bother what the size on the side reads. All you have to do is change your impression of what kite to pump up on the day.

On a side note wave kites (low aspect kites) will be worse upwind and also create less power with apparent wind compared to their higher aspect brothers. It is what it is. you cant change it.

PS What is this kite you speak of?

The Rallys have great low end and good wave capabilities... However the Dice, which I love it's wave capabilities, has less low end. When you bottom turn to leave the wave the Rally will womp you with pull from the up stroke. The Dice is mellower, lighter, quicker and I prefer that. But I have to work it more for power to get back out... It's a tradeoff...

here in portugal we ride almost always with Side, and side-on, try the Blade triggers, they are one of the fastest kites for the sizes and have 2 setups, and one is for advanced wave that gives more depower, goes further in the wind and do excelent drift. i ride a lot of time in Guincho where we have very gusty winds, the trigger "eats" the gust without any problem, you almost dont feel them

About the Low end, the 2014 models have a better lowend comparing with the 2013 models. i have 98 kg ride a 6.1 surf board and i ride waves with around 13 knots

If you have the chance, give it a try.

vkngktr wrote:I have to agree that any kite designed specifically for waves are poor low end performers. I have been riding Best Cabos and have tried others such as Drifters and I am always on a bigger kite and find they are poor upwind performers. They are deigned to sit back in the window hence better drift but a sacrifice in upwind ability. I just switched to Airush Lithiums and found the upwind performance of my 7m better than my 9 Cabo with the same wind. The Lithiums are definitely more punchy in gusts which is troublesome since I mostly ride strapless. I do like the light bar pressure, ability to handle gusts and wind range of the wave kites. If I am confident the wind will stay strong or I'm doing a downwinder I opt for the Cabo.

@vkngktr
Sorry l have to disagree with you,on some points, and it would be great you would test a Switch methodv2, which has the complete opposite, than what you are saying.

First of all it has a thin leading edge, which makes it fly far forward into the edge of the windwindow, this results in a very good upwind.
Because of its shape, it gives you a good low wind , but still is a very comftable kite in its higher range.
In your jibe it builds a nice linear power, which pulls you in a nice controlled way through it ( ofcourse you need the jibing technique to be able to feel the benefits)
Overal barpressure is medium, but you always feel where your kite is...so every kite on the market has its differences,

My advice to the post starter, try before you buy...

Cheers
Dude

My kites are the Cabos. Im gonna tune my bar and probably demo a few other kites.

Can you compare the low end and turning speed to the drifters if you have time?

OR Razor!!! 10m Great low end, and does it all on top of waves, acts like wainman's but with better low end and more hang time

I think wainman's drift a bit better thou, been a while since i flew one

cleepa wrote:Try a Cloud!

definitely do. i have the 10m Cloud for sale- its amazing for wave riding - the drift is insane -but unfortunately not much waves here without offshore winds in jersey- $750

Epic Renegade, and I'm sure you would be able to get a demo ride.
Dimitri is coming to Florida for the next couple of months.

For years I used to fly a quiver of the same model kites, but have recently switched my quiver to different models. In efforts to be a minimalist and keep it to two kites, I'm now on a completely different 10m than 7m. The 10 is as powerful and fast as possible to milk every bit of performance from the conditions. In 12-20 knots it's nice to have an aggressive kite that is fast enough to enjoy in the waves. The 7m is more delta, slower to initiate a turn, gust proof with tons of stability and manners in the top end all making it easier to ride waves when it's really windy. The leading edge on my 7 is just as fat as my 10 and the two kites hold almost the same amount of air. Surprisingly, the experience of switching from one to the other is pretty seamless as they have similar turning speeds. The three meter gap has an easy 5 knots of overlap on the same board. I stretch the range of both and open up a lot more options by running two surfboards and line lengths. Now that I've made the change I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier as conditions are completely different when either kite is in its sweet spot. Why wouldn't you want different kites? Save your gutless wave kites for 20+ knots and get a raging bull for the light stuff. My overall range with a tt in the mix is something like 12 to probably almost 40 knots while always playing to either kites strengths. Not bad for just two of em!

Starsky - what are your 2 kites? I'm kind of doing the same thing with my quiver right now...