Friendly kite for gusty conditions or when overpowered

[windyway]

I've flown several well known kites that make riding difficult when the wind goes crazy.

Anybody who lives with these conditions everyday,
probably has found a kite that shines when the going gets tough.

Lets say you are out on your 9 meter and the wind starts gusting to 35.
Will your kite remain stable and in control?
Whats your suggestion? WW

[Miltsface]

i kite primarily on inland lakes and its pretty gusty most of the time. I've had ocean rodeo rises for a few years now. they have a huge range and can suck up huge gusts with the normal bar travel. I'm sure there are a lot of other kites that would perform similarly. look for high aspect SLEs.

[tony montana]

i kite in very gusty conditions and have used and owned a lot of good brands,last 3 to four sessions have been very gusty.and a lot of kiters had to come in because they were overpowered i had no problems,most kiters were on same size or smaller,i fly naish park 2012,its probaly what i like most about these kites,massive de power for handling gusts.hope this helps.Tony

[plummet]

i say low aspect 3strut sle . heaps de power at the bar and super h
fast relaunch. my chosen weapon is the ozone reo for storms.

[tautologies]

I've flown several well known kites that make riding difficult when the wind goes crazy.

Anybody who lives with these conditions everyday,
probably has found a kite that shines when the going gets tough.

Lets say you are out on your 9 meter and the wind starts gusting to 35.
Will your kite remain stable and in control?
Whats your suggestion? WW

Hmm, I'd actually prefer a higher aspect kite. They can move forward in the window and loose power, whereas lower aspect kites will pull, and not spill power the same way. Obviously there are a lot of other variables though.

In general I've say what really matters in addition to how the shape stays true to the design is how strong the wind variation is. One of my spots, the wind can go from 0-35, averaging maybe 20-24 in the same session. The problem is now not how the gusts, it is that the gusts often comes from a different direction shifting the wind. It can be challenging.

On days like that I do two things. I bring out the Bolt. And I pump it rock solid. Having your kite keep its shape is absolutely critical. I also keep an eye upwind. Most of the time you can see the gusts coming on the water. I also usually hope it doesn't hit right as I try to turn off the top of a wave...

[knotwindy]

North Rebel or Fuse. both crazy stable under or over powered, gusts or lull, whatever you get it works. only difference is 4 or 5 line.

[tomatkins]

Until proven otherwise, I would bet on a high aspect kite with a very stablized canopy. It seems like the more struts the better, and the more pulleys, the better, since they would enable the kite to make more "micro-adjustments" more quickly, and resist "deformation" of the canopy. Something like a 7 strut Bow kite, blown up really hard, would be my choice.

I would love to see some other style kite, that has less struts, less pulleys, and one that turns faster, and drifts better out perform a Bow kite in the gusts. I would buy that kite!

[L0KI]

I ride inland lakes as well, conditions are gusty crappy during the south winds most of the year and super duper shittty during the north cold fronts in winter because they are storms basically.

I agree with the three strut medium aspect kite theory here. Most companies make their "easy" kite this way. Some of the early three strut delta grunt buckets were not great but most of them have been tweaked to be more moderate aspect now.
I don't get excited about bow kites anymore but that's just personal preference, some turn really slow, a few have a lot of bar pressure, but they can be safe, but boring.
Don't agree about higher aspect five strut SLE kites, they can provide lots of range but some (not all) can be finicky in shit wind, they fly at the edge of the wind window and tend to shoot forward in gusts and then drop back in lulls (yanky then stall-ey), great for upwind and the best for big boost and float, but not usually a kite that sits nicely when it's really gusty.
Here are a few that get my vote of confidence:
I enjoyed the Wainman Rabbit kites, they are safe in a gusty environment, they sheet out really well with not much bar throw, not known for big boost/float because of the low aspect ratio, but they do everything else pretty great.
Blade Triggers are suuuuper smooth in gusty conditions, they turn nice and fast, somewhat pivotal turns from about halfway between center strut and wingtip, so not a powerhouse in the turns, and they boost and float really well for a medium aspect kite.
Recently tested an Epic Renegade 11M kite, easy to sheet out in gusts, sat in the right place in the window all the time, boost and float was really great like the Triggers. Fast turns from the wingtip so more dynamic powerful turns than Trigger. Renegades are designed for waves first and all around performance second, but I really like what the kite did in gusty flatwater conditions.

[tony montana]

North Rebel or Fuse. both crazy stable under or over powered, gusts or lull, whatever you get it works. only difference is 4 or 5 line.

North rebel great kite for gusty conditions great wave kite,usually you can ride a size smaller due to it fantastic range.safety system probaly the best there is.TONY

[tomatkins]

Here is the controversial KF thread that contained a lot of discussion about types of kites and their ability to survive squalls:

40 kt + Squall vs. 11 m Crossbow


viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2367629



I don't know if the video can still be viewed… it was impressive. Unfortunately, the thread turned into a 'bashing', and generated more heat than light… but, the ability of this Bow kite to remain overhead and controllable in this squall was impressive, and this IMHO remains the standard of comparison, when other style kites are considered for their "squall/gust-busting" ability.

Rickl stated in the thread:

…"put together a video of the squall bringing winds estimated to gust to around 40 to 45 kts. (about 46 to 52 mph!). There was a well experienced kiter, Devin Caroll in from the Gorge out on an 11 m 2011 Crossbow who was caught by the video camera. The remarkable thing was how stationary his kite remained during this onslaught. An 11 m kite subjected to intense winds that high particularly when parked at the zenith could still convey some power to the kite perhaps a lot. A traditional C kite would have him flying to Chub Cay well to the east. Even some flat kites could convey excess power or might spin or otherwise put the kiter in jeopardy. That didn't happen in this case. I was standing by Pete Cabrinha who offered a few comments on what we were seeing."….