Recommendations for a kite

[grigorib]

I think your kite is good size for your weight for under 15 knots. If not, add line extensions to make total line length 27-30m. That will help.

[TomW]

Grimberg,

Go out on the 12m in 13-15knots, you should be able to learn and have some fun.
You WILL stop windsurfing if you learn to kitesurf.
Then get a 17m kite and a 9m kite, depending on winds at your spot.

[jonysan]

Grimberg,

Go out on the 12m in 13-15knots, you should be able to learn and have some fun.
You WILL stop windsurfing if you learn to kitesurf.
Then get a 17m kite and a 9m kite, depending on winds at your spot.

plus one on that !

[knotwindy]

Yea, the kite is fine. Just make sure the board is big enough.

[ChickenD!ken]

Here's the deal: kites are much more efficient than windsurfers in marginal conditions. The ability to create apparent wind by moving the kite far exceeds what is possible on a windsurfer by pumping. That means a kite gives you more range than a windsurfing sail & more ability to ride through lulls. However, there is a point at which you will not be able to get planing with a kite. What that point is depends on your skill,level with the kite & also, importantly, what kind of board you are using. On an average TT with a 12m kite, 11 knots will be the absolute minimum that you will be able to plane with at your weight. 12 - 13 knots required in order to kite consistently upwind & 14 - 15 knots to be fully powered. Getting a bigger kite, like a 15m, might add 1 knot to the those minimums, so it's barely worth it (IMO). A light wind board - like a big, flat rockered TT, or a flat rockered directional, like a North Nugget, will make a significant difference - you could probably stay upwind in 10 -11 knots with a 15m kite. However ... still questionable if it's really worth - perhaps, if you have a lot of days that have consistent 10 - 12 knots. It is also true that learning to kite in marginal winds is difficult, however, 13 - 14 knots is all you need to feel decently powered up, even when you are learning.

I am the same weight as you. For years I rode TTs & had 16m, 12m & 9m kites. About 8 years ago I switched exclusively to a small, flat rockered directional board. Since then I have never used anything bigger than a 12m kite. BIg kites are not worth the trouble (IMO) as they give you only a very small amount of extra bottom end & become over-powered quite quickly. As someone coming from windsurfing you might considered starting with a flat rockered directional, rather than a TT. A powerful 12m kite will be as big as you need.

That was a great explanation. It helps me a lot what you say about how difficult it is to learn on very light wind. Also a bigger kite that is not a pure lightwind kite is not for lighter wind but for heavier people with the same amount of wind. Right?

Correct. LW kites are great because you can get out on most calm days (depending on the size you choose of course) and have the place mostly to yourself. It is true that few people go for LW kites for the reason given above and also because they come quite pricey and are more delicate because the material needs to be light. The biggest plus of a LW kite is that you become a very good kite flyer. You are forced to make the most of all the variables you can’t control as opposed to battling to keep those variables from ‘gobbling you up’ when the weather is heavy. I have to say, I have never met anyone who just got into kitesurfing for the LW experience.

[ChickenD!ken]

I also second the above mentions on not going back to Windsurfing. I started with kitesurfing but I’ve never met a windsurfer who converted and then went back. Once you feel the true upwind capabilities, that’s it. Not knocking the windsurfers, that’s just what I hear from the ones who cross over.

[alfredo68]

Unless you are Robbie Naish on jaws you ll give up windsurfing if you start kitesurfing. There is so much variety on kitesurfing and it s so effortless compare to winsurf that i don t think you ll miss it.
I did the windglider, then the ken winner Dufour then the Angulo , sailboardsmaui, ahd etc. all good memories but i think if i try on one of those now they would feel like the titanic compared to my surfboard and wavekite.

[Flyboy]

Interestingly, at my local spot there are a bunch of windsurfers, including some who kite & windsurf. When conditions are optimal I can understand it. Windsurfing in Maui-like conditions with sideshore wind & big peeling waves beats kitesurfing in those conditions IMO, but in onshore wind & inconsistent waves, kiting offers far better possibilities for wave riding, allowing you to power through bottom turns using the apparent wind from the kite. And , of course you can jump in conditions which would not be possible for a windsurfer.

[hgrimberg]

Another thing to consider is that you risk to stop windsurfing even when wind is over 15 knots, once you get hooked on kitesurfing.

Unless you are a pro freestyler windsurfer, or really get the thrill of cutting through chop at high speed, but the progression on kite is a lot easier than windsurfing which looks really hard to learn anything beyond some variation of jybe and tack.
Not talking about personal experience, just did some basic windsurfing 25 to 17 years ago.

All good thing though.

Like other said 12m and 17m kite gives you 1 knot difference. But at 12 knots you can do a bit more tricks on bigger kite than on 12m at your weight.

Anyway I weight about the same and 12m has plenty of low end my 14m enable me a knot more but depends how steady wind is in those range and with a knot more I have more fun on 12m... so overall if I had to pick one it would be 12m. It's true that some kite are more geared toward heavier people, below 12 knots you are going to need light wind specific kite, depends how gust and lull are happening at your spot.
With hydrofoil you can go down to 10 knots or less with specialty gear. Can't go wrong with 12m, you will buy more gear down the road

I suppose I'll always be a windsurfer first and always remain as such. I was one of the founders of windsurfing starting in 1978. Used to live in Maui for a few years and one of those that were always needing bigger waves. I still think windsurfing is better for waves because you don't have to be thinking about the whereabaouts of the kite when riding a wave. I just want the kite for a substitute of working out. All of my windsurf friends that were hooked by kitesurfing, moved back to windsurfing after a few years. In any case I want to learn and experience it myself.
I am very interested in being able to "sail" at 12 knots. On the North website it was saying that this 12 m was ok for a range of wind going from 11 to 15 kts. It was also saying that for the Neo in particular, it was better to choose 1 or 2 sizes less because it was very powerful. So I suppose that a Neo 12 will be almost the same as a Dice 13 or even 14? Maybe when it says that you can kite with just 11 kts on a Neo 12, it means that you will have to be moving the kite up and down like "pumping" it? I honestly don't like that, I would prefer being able to plane without much effort. Also, since I am a beginner a bigger kite could be a bit dangerous if suddenly I get cought by a strong gust, right?

[jeromeL]

If you are surfing on windsurfer then I guess you will still do it!

Do you want to use surfboard with a kite in 12 to 15 knots? If wind is steady on surfboard and 12 knots no need to pump kite.
for surfing I wouldn't really go bigger than 12, you want a kite that turns fast and don't want to get pulled of the wave when wind pick up.
On surfboard you don't want too big of a kite, smaller are faster making it more nimble for wave also you want to surf the wave without help of kite.
Considering you want to surf and such I would try to meet up with people at your local spot because kite size depends on local conditions...

I wouldn't worry about kite being too big and dangerous but depends what gusty you are talking about,12 to 14 isnt huge, with a bit of skill you can hold 14 in 20 knots no problem.
I got caught once on 12m went up from 15 to 45 that was very dangerous...