Light Wind Kite

[dwaynej]

Light wind kiting is not easy, it takes experience and not just kite control or board finesse you also have to know your equipment and how to tune it to work best with specific kites. Even buying a match set kite and bar, you will soon need to make adjustments. All these light wind promises are based on perfect conditions by skilled riders who what to watch for etc, there is no majic kite that will make you kite beyond your ability period.

We need to write an FAQ which covers kiting equipment, tuning, and technique for light wind conditions. All these posts about specific light wind kites are just nuts. Give me any kite from any manufacturer and I will make it work.

[early bird2]

Very good explanation thanks.
I had this problem on foil kites back a few years ago.

In light wind kites reviews , we don't hear much about it , this is probably not a problem for experienced kiters but could be for someone new to kitesurfing and trying to find the best kite for him. There are probably kites that behave better than others on this aspect.

[dwaynej]

Very good explanation thanks.

Thank you!

[fastrider]

I saw this post and was reading about other kites so i thought i would add my thoughts since i have the epic infinity i can give an honest opinion about it and i'm about 210lbs 6ft1.

when i was out the past thanksgiving the wind was around 12-14 mph so i thought why not the infinity ( i have the 3g v2 )
well i was riding an axis 156/42 inferno because the wind was perfect for my weight which i have noticed that the videos you watch well hell we have all watched i figured out a 210 lb rider like myself can not get up on the kite in 8mph winds not going to happen (but i dont have a sup so im on a 156 board ).
Anyone thats 160-180 should not have an issue as long as you keep the kite moving and you have enough surface.
sorry got off the subject


I was doing fine until the wind picked up to 18-22mph which me being 210 and on a 156 it was hard for me to stay up wind at all much less jump or hell even not coming in shore at 90mph would have been a plus hahah now if a storm wasn't coming i may have been able to do it with a 139 board but at that point why not get a smaller kite.

I have heard from kiters that dimitri was working on a v4 infinity with 2 settings on the LE someone said its 2 setting for wave/teaching or for better upwind and jumping with the same power and stability.
I hope the color choice is better for the infinity blue is ok but it would be nice to have a choice I was always found of a good green and black mix always looked sharp in the sky.

I found out quick that the old epic bar safety which i had (2010) was not a good combo with the wind.
so like us all i forked out the $$$ and got the new cl bar and all from epic which WOW huge difference from the old bar first thing i noticed was the flagging on a single front line which would have helped alot in the high winds it was a great investment for sure..

all in all i figured out that the kites we all read about can very based on your weight and height
and your kite skill
i figured no matter what kite i choose the wind range for my weight is going to be more like
11-14mph infinity kite low wind 156 or a 139 board perfect set up.
15-19 mph13m kite med wind - 156-139 board based on if i want to pop and have better upwind
20-28 9/10m kite high winds with a 139 board

i tried alot of kites out before i decided on a epic v2 i like the turning speed of the kite.

im just a normal kiter like everyone else learning what not to use based on my weight
so get out and try kites and contact some of the reps for yourself because one thing i have learned on the forum is there are alot of opinions and the best way to judge any kite is to try one for your self.

i bought my kites based on the way they fly and bar pressure and safety and cust service for if anything was to go wrong how hard what it be to get parts if needed because no rider wants to set on the side while the wind is awesome food for thought
if you have any questions about weight and board size message me i may help because i have searched alot before i bought what i have so i might save you some time

stay safe
DC

[jsquid]

They can be bad enough that they get packed up and left in your garage for 2 years and then when you finally decide to get rid of them you can't even ask $100 cause nobody has ever heard of them.
Never tried one of these but I got stung by the griffen monkeys years back. about the same price for a 15m kite and bar.... save your money and get a proven light wind kite. I think Core is onto something, I recently tested a 17m xr3 and I was very impressed with its upwind ability even with my medium 135cm x 41cm freeride board. I was flying upwind in avg 8 knots, my wife was out in 5 - 6 knots...(fully depowered at that...) and she was doing small jumps and still getting up wind without too much effort. Personally the first thing a light wind kite should do well is go up wind... if it cannot do that well then go back to the drawing board.

We were on Long bay in Provo. Very windy week but we did have one morning which was light till mid afternoon. We were traveling with a core dealer from Ontario. Hangtime kiteboarding. So we had a chance to test his kites. He can verify the conditions. Keep in mind my wife is only 120 lbs and was riding an Epic Spartan 129x39 at first and switched to my board when it dropped to 5 or 6 knots.
Other things to consider, wind is side shore, this was at low tide so no current, and very calm conditions. Waves less then 1'.

Laughingman makes true statements about the conditions, and I think by the huge grins on all our faces we were all enjoying ourselves in the light wind.

I was out the same day (before the drop to 5 or 6 knots) on my 139x44 Carved Imperator V, at 185lbs upwind and enjoying some backrolls on the pretty flat water.

Cheers.

[Living2Kite]

Hq now have the Matrixx 2 with an 18m lightweight fabric kite.
I've not heard much about this kite. I wouldn't be so bothered about this but my HQ depower foils are excellent.

[amnonshlomo]

I got another kite to ask about
Starkites taina 17m 2015
A new delar is in, and have one in stock.
The truth i never heard about it
And there isn't any info
Someone familiar with the brand?

[joriws]

The previous post with the video shows the Turbine with kite unable to launch with onshore winds. We get the same on our beach and when the wind hits close to the beach the wind goes up and over the trees and up the hills thus the no wind. Even 200' out it's different so don't follow what every turkey is dishing out.

Flysufer speed 3 was great but the Lotus lacks power.

Sure the tree line affects some but it does no take surface wind away at our spot. Foils are window edge launched from sand and they can be perfectly reverse relaunched from water where the turbine is. I am cruising about the same upwind level where guys tries to plane because their kites are blocking me and once I needed to slow down not to splash water on turbine guy which causes me to stop and I need to dive kite again etc.

I find 15m Speed3 and Speed4 pretty similar in 'hook feeling' power & perceived low wind range with agility better in Speed4. If you dropped out from sky (if I recall correctly from earlier threads it was you saying that) it is a jumping technique fault. Either airfoil speed polar usage failure or kite overflew you. Initially I had similar feeling but I adjusted technique a bit.

I'd love to experience Chrono 15/18m but nobody here has one and no importer demos. ~3000 euros for complete kite with 100 hour usage limit. Flysurfer kites require only 2nd mixer check/tuning with those hours (check every 50 hours for optimal performance as you know because you had speed3?).

[nate76]

Hq now have the Matrixx 2 with an 18m lightweight fabric kite.
I've not heard much about this kite. I wouldn't be so bothered about this but my HQ depower foils are excellent.

I've had a chance to try the 15m and 18m HQ Matrixx 2. One of the 1st things I noticed was that these kites do a noticeably better job of returning to zenith after a power stroke - and backstalling is reduced - in very light wind. I think this is directly related to the choice to use a light weight fabric for the new model. The ability of the kite to stay in the air in sub-4kt wind is pretty impressive.

As others have said, your ability to do anything in a 4kt wind will largely be dependent on ability and snow conditions. The snow would have to be pretty hard to make that sort of wind useable.

[KYLakeKiter]

I got another kite to ask about
Starkites taina 17m 2015
A new delar is in, and have one in stock.
The truth i never heard about it
And there isn't any info
Someone familiar with the brand?

I had a couple of Starkite S Bows that were very poor quality and I was constantly fixing leaks and failing seams. They flew OK, but the main thing they gave me was a headache and a lot of practice fixing kites.

That being said, I have not personally seen a 2015. Also possibly just my chance experiences, but I have seen several occasions with Taina owners having leaks and other problems more frequently than other brands. That may be just coincidence, but it is enough to make me avoid Starkites.

If you can find a deal on a Flite, Fat Lady, Turbine, XR3 or Infinity V2 or V3, I think you would be happier in the long run. They are all good kites, so if you can find the price you want, I think you will get what you want out of them.

Depending on how long you hold out, you might even watch for the Switch Helium. I don't know anything about it or when it will be released, but if its anything like their latest versions, it should be worth considering.