Kite sizes beginner's question

[edt]

go for it. a quiver with a 10 and 14 is fine, or 10 and 13 or 10 and 15, it's all good. I tend to run a two kite quiver, a 15 on my twintip from 15 knots up to 25 knots then I switch over to my 10 from 25 knots up to 40 knots. Below 15 knots I go back to the 10 and get out the hydrofoil. Nothing wrong with a 3 to 5 meter gap on a twintip. If you are riding a surfboard though it sucks as when you get too powered you get yanked off your line, so increments of 2 meters are better. Recently because of my hydrofoil I am thinking of going down to a one kite quiver just a 12 meter, and switch between the hydrofoil and twintip as I am able to hold down more power on the hydrofoil now that I am getting a little better at it.

[sergei Scotland]

when a blade trigger has a range from

14m 14-18knts buy something different...
my gaastra pure 2016 in 13 QM goes from 12 to 24 at 80 kg..... i thing the 14 to 18 knots cannot be true its a really small range for one kite - nobody has such stable winds - i would be always changing my kites

A bit of misunderstanding here: Blade trigger standard range is not 14-18.
Kev used weight calculator from Blade site to find "optimium" size for 94 kg rider.
So site recommends using 12 above 18 knots for my (!) weight.

The range of 14 m Blade Trigger for standard 75 kg rider rider is
11-18 knots (beginner); 10-21 (intermediate+) -
which is similar to what you say you get from yours (although top values is given as lower).
I think it is probably a bit on lower side though (in real life it is probably more like 12-20).
for 10m 75 kg it range is given as
15-28 (beginner) 13-30 (intermediate+) knots.

So if I am to take beginner range numbers from Blade the envelops do overlap to the tune of 3 knots.
But obviously standard 75 kg rider will have "non-optimum" size for somewhere around 16.5 knots where:
14 m will be a bit too much (11-18)
10 will be a bit small ( 15-28).

Now: I am 20 kg more which is weight ratio of 95/75=1.26. Square root of this is SQRT(1. = 26) = 1.12
which is the wind speed factor for me.
So for me awkward wind speed will be 16.5*1.12 = 18.6 knots.
This seems a bit worrying as 18.6 knots = 21.3 mph which is usually considered "close to perfect" for a beginner kitesurfer.


More stupid questions
Question 1) Could someone with "wide" quiver like 10 + 14 m (95kg) or say 9-12 m for 80-85kg - how bad this middle point actually is?
I kind of suspect it is not actually too bad?

Question 2) It is typically (often) gusty here in Scotland.
if I take an example: 17 mph average with gusts to 28 mph forecast.
Do I as a beginner:
A)have to have my kite range match 17-28 wind gust range (or be wider)
B)CAN have a lower range kite say 15-24 and basically stop riding (kite downwind, lots of depower,bar fully out, may be slow down and sink) when a gust comes in? Gusts are usually short in Scotland...
C)MUST use a kite with a higher range say 10m is 15-28 knots (17-31 mph), i.e. average wind 17 mph will be hardly enough to kite,
but I will be probably much safer when a gust comes in?

Or to re-phrase Question 2:
is it a huge problem when I am riding a kite with top of the recommended range say 10% lower then possible (short) gust speed? Is it too dangerous?
or
must my kite range include the top gust speed?

[PeaBody]

What are other people using at your spot?

I don't think using website wind range recommendation is going to be that accurate, get on the beach on windy day and see whats being used.. talk to some locals.

What kind of board are you riding? You could use a 14/15m and TT or maybe even have a 12m as your biggest kite with the correct board.. shinnster, surfboard, foil.

I am a similar weight, and so are a few people I kite with, most common here is 9, 12, 14/15 for hybrid type kites or 8, 10, 12, 14/15 for C kite styles.

3 meter gaps are fine on modern hybrids, 2m gaps would be best for the sweet spot when using more C kite type designs.

[iriejohn]

Now that as well as a TT I'm also using a strapless directional which is more sensitive to wind strengths I now have 2m gaps all the way through (6/8/10/12). The biggest I use on the TT is 12m and the biggest on the directional is 10m.

[ble]

My weight is also 95kg. Using 8m 10m size switchblades and just ordered 13m drifter that I am going to use for liter winds with 5'10 size surfboard. My main kite is 10m switch + 139x42 twintip, using it basically from 8ms to 12ms wind speeds.

[Mauma]

Hi, I am from Uruguay, 75kg and 1,7mts learning to kite and already own a 8mts Switchblade. My goal is kite in the sea with waves on directional and some TT, but still learning...only been 5 times out in the sea so a lot of time ahead of me.

I want to add a kite to my quiver (max 2 kites) so I can go out more often and everyone says 8-11 is the sweet spot for Switchblade....do you think it will make a huge difference a 10 instead of an 11 in switchblade model? Because on second hand market there's a 10 from 2021 in really good price, for the same price I can only get a 2018 11mts one.

But maybe 8-10mt don't overlap as good as 8-11mt? What do you experienced kiters think? I am new to this so a bit dizzy....Also I am not interested in going out if there isn't at least 12 knots.

Thanks!

[Havre]

How are the conditions locally Mauma? Not a huge difference between 10 and 11, but it can be significant if you got conditions that are often "borderline".

As an example when I replaced my 12m Enduro with a 13m Edge, due to the local conditions here, I can kite a lot more (not only due to the size as the Edge is also shaped a bit differently so might be comparable to a 14m Enduro in low wind - or at least 13.5). To replace my 13m with a 14m (theoretically - as the Edge doesn't come in 14 if I remember correctly) - would make less sense. Not sure if that would in practice give me many more days - or at least those days would be quite boring.

I'm 100kg+- so a 13m Edge for me might not be all that different than a 10m Switchblade for you - that I couldn't say though.

[Mauma]

How are the conditions locally Mauma? Not a huge difference between 10 and 11, but it can be significant if you got conditions that are often "borderline".

As an example when I replaced my 12m Enduro with a 13m Edge, due to the local conditions here, I can kite a lot more (not only due to the size as the Edge is also shaped a bit differently so might be comparable to a 14m Enduro in low wind - or at least 13.5). To replace my 13m with a 14m (theoretically - as the Edge doesn't come in 14 if I remember correctly) - would make less sense. Not sure if that would in practice give me many more days - or at least those days would be quite boring.

I'm 100kg+- so a 13m Edge for me might not be all that different than a 10m Switchblade for you - that I couldn't say though.

I would say you have days in between 10-20knts and stronger days 18-30knts... I am not interested in going out if there's less than that as I like the open sea. The good condition would be when it's side-on-shore because you can try to ride the waves or do downwinds throughout the coast. I don't like lagoons. And I actually ride a TT because I am beginner but my intention as soon as I manage the kite with ease is to use a directional surf board and try to ride in waves.

My initial thought about 8-11 quiver was because I go back to Argentina where its only a river and not so strong winds so the 11 would be handy in there, but it wont be the most use, that's why I was wondering if 8-10 would make lots of difference... it's hard as a beginner to understand all of this and I don't want to purchase something that in the future would be of no use LOL

Now I am only going out on 18knts and up with my 8mts till I figure this out

Thanks

[RomeUtah]

Sergei,
How new are you to kiting and how comfortable are you when a gust sets in, or riding OP? Are you riding ocean side or in the lakes?
IMO having a wind bump up 10mph is manageable as long as you have a helmet and a life vest (and some company ), get a little tea bagged, go get your board keep riding.
Realistically you are not going to have a bunch of kites pumped up to switch off in a session. Easier to switch boards than kites. Find a kite or two with that have great range, and large depower, that dont lose their minds when you over sheet out.
I'm roughly 80kg, ride in high elevation lakes in Utah, my two go to kites are a 8m soul and 15m soul, winds vary by 10+mph in a session and I find a ton of overlap with them. I take the 15m all the way up to 25knts(and hate life), and ride the 8m on the twin in 12knts(10knts if not punchy) and also not really have the best of times. Only drag is that they are foil kites and have their own learning curve. I also have my twin and foil boards out to give me more overlap.
Looking at stats is great, but they don't tell the whole story, grab the kites you have observe what you are missing and go from there. You may be a lot more comfortable riding a large kite OP, but hate riding OP on 9m or lower. The perfect quiver is super relative. (it took me almost 10 years to get the right kite combo where I live, and I still have 7 kites, tube and foil)

[Slappysan]

Sergei,
How new are you to kiting ...

Sergei last posted over 5 years ago. This is a necro with a new quiver question from Mauma.