My ultimate lightwind setup is an 11m2 Nova3 and a strapless 6'6 Fish board
As I am only 74kg, bigger kites dont give me anything more in the low end (and Nova3 IS a low end grunty kite, so could be compared to a 13m2 "typical" kite).
And then of course lines around 30m if it is "on the edge" low end conditions where you have to sine very often, or if there are many wind lulls...
Otherwise just standard line length 21-22m2.
Works great because of the wide tail and straight lines for early planing and good upwind angle, and the volume is also important in the lulls.
This is my light wind setup - well, maybe it would be "was" !
Because there is ONE disadvantage - a surfboard (even a faster/straighter fish) has rocker and/or round tail edges, to be able to turn well.
Meaning it starts planing early true, but from then on the speed is constant and does not accelerate really
But the new course race boards, they have volume, they have straight lines, they have lots of fins (2 or 4 big fins), and they have flat tailrocker, and they have straps.
Which means they start ridicoulously early - because of the apparent wind when you gain speed, as they can accelerate enourmously.
Also because of the good upwind angle, the apparent wind increases and kite power increases
(going downwind is difficult in these conditions in fact... You have to loop the kite sometimes)
So this is the best setup I've used !
In fact it is really amazing to see how you (or others on the same setup) can blast along even in wind where you can hardly keep the kite in the air
But there is no fun riding waves with such a thing, so it is solely for getting out in low end conditions
Kindly, Peter Frank
