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Beginner kite size

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:50 am
by Hayvan
Hi, I am new to the forum and the sport. I have been skateboarding, long boarding, and snowboarding all my life. I have spent a while with a trainer kite and am working on lessons. I'm from Northwest Ohio/ Michigan area. I'm 5'8" 130 lbs. Hopefully with this background you guys could give suggestions on kite sizes for certain wind ranges, especially a light wind kite.

Thanks.

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:06 am
by KYLakeKiter
Hello Hayvan. Because people on this forum are from all over the world, you will find that lightwind recommendations will cover from 12m to 21m kites. Specifics on the wind ranges you want to kite in are important. Very generally, at your weight, a 15m should do the trick at the lowest of ranges, but if you really need to keep the kite in the air in the lowest of winds (7kts with lulls down to 5) you might want to go bigger. The most important thing at the beginner level is to find someone in your area who knows the local winds and have them show you the ropes. Best of luck.

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:11 am
by Hayvan
Thanks a lot for the reply. I was looking at a 12m as my first kite to start building my quiver around. Just wanted to here other's opinions as well
Thanks again.
Cheers.

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:36 am
by matth
Talk to local riders or do some research and find out what is the most common wind range. Here in Mass/Cape Cod area a 12m is a must have. At your weight a 10 would be your most used kite. You will eventually want three kites. Around here that would be a 7/10/13 or something close to that. Seeing how its summer now you may want to grab your big kite first, Just be careful not to get overpowered, big kite can be a beast to handle..

Lots of great deals out there. Shop around and you can get two kites at the cost of one new kite

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:52 am
by kitewise
Hayvan wrote:Thanks a lot for the reply. I was looking at a 12m as my first kite to start building my quiver around. Just wanted to here other's opinions as well
Thanks again.
Cheers.
What are the winds like where you are planning on kiting?
If the winds are like the Gorge, the 12 is way too big.
If you're going to be doing lake kiting in the summer and you have a job, it's likely to be way too small.
If you're strictly buying on price,it sounds perfect
Like others said, some local research and conversations with your instructor will save you money
There is much gear to buy yet.....everybody out here has gear that we ran off and bought on our own before we knew any better.Waisted bucks...then we tried to sell it to some other impatient newbee who didn't know any better either. I say save your money until AFTER you have actually had your lesson. :remybussi:
Just my two cents,
Phil
Phil

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 3:28 am
by toyletbowl
hmmmm...at 130 lbs, you may never ever need anything larger than a 12m even in light winds with the right board.

Do you have a good dealer you're working with? If so, support them. I'm a dealer, but have no problem suggesting you try to support local dealers.

You might want to start with something around a 9m or 10m. We usually start riders off with what we call the middle sized kite unless they live in light wind areas or high wind areas. This way, you will use the 9m in light to medium winds. Then as you bet better, the 9m becomes your medium wind kite and you can build your kites around the 9m or 10m.

Hope this helps,

Bob
www.kiteridersllc.com

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 11:01 am
by Dimitri M
Hello Hayvan,
The best and safest way to find out what kite is right for you is to visit one of your local Kiteboarding shops. This is the reason why we have shops and dealers world wide, so they can help you choose the right kite and board.
So make sure you get lessons, because kiting might me an amazing sport but it's also a dangerous sport like any other sports out there.
Good luck.

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:55 pm
by Hayvan
We have one small local shop and maybe 20 guys who either kite or windsurf in the area. My local shop does not offer lessons and they don't have a large selection, but I am sure they are full of knowledge. I've been looking for the time to drive 2 hours for lessons on a day with wind.

Once I take lessons and speak with the kiters in my area I know I will have a better idea what kite size is appropriate. I just thought any info that I could get and cross reference wouldn't hurt. Also I was kind of hoping you would be able to just give some suggestions like x-xx kts size Xm kite.

Thanks again for all the help

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 4:58 pm
by dyyylan
Even then it's difficult to say because conditions vary so much. I'm only 10 lbs heavier than you though so if you're looking at a 12m you are probably looking at a 10kn to 18kn wind range as a beginner, then maybe up to 20 or 22 once you know how to edge properly. I ride a 9m from about 18-28 and 7m for anything higher than that.

One very important thing is (unless you live in a very high wind area) start with the biggest kite first. It's kind of like driving a car, the car behaves similarly at 10mph as it does at 80, but if you make a mistake doing 80 it can get very bad very fast. So you generally want to avoid the high winds until you get more comfortable. And of course after you take lessons.

Re: Beginner kite size

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 5:07 pm
by edt
wind around here ranges from 10 knots to 50 knots because so much of it is storm drivern. 12m is fine for a first kite. btw, maumee bay state park is not real high on my list of places to kite it never seems to have much wind, compared to say Sterling State Park in Michigan (only on an east wind) or the Avon Power Plant near cleveland (anything but SE). I know Red Sky surf & snow is based out of toledo, you can talk to them. their blog is under their website, go to the latest blog post and just leave a comment. You'll find out that between toledo and cleveland you have some of the sketchiest most difficult places to launch in all of the great lakes, with a beach so narrow you can barely pump up your kite, mostly rocks up against a tall treeline and water that quickly goes deep. that's one good thing about Maumee state park, it does have an easy launch with a big beach. Michigan has some very nice places for a beginner, like Tawas state park good wind there and a lot of shalow water, but that is such a long drive for you.