Hey everyone. I've been foiling on a Moses 590 wing and F-one Bandit inflatable kites. I live in the gorge and we've got pretty strong wind most of the time, and the foil scene is mostly about freeriding on small wave kites, so I ride a 5m Bandit if the wind's from about 15-25 knots, and a 7m Bandit if the wind's from about 12-13 knots to 20. I have bigger kites but almost never use them. These sizes are way smaller than what people are riding in different locations, especially on foil kites.
I was thinking of getting a Flysurfer Soul as a first foil kite, and I was wondering what size to get. A 6m would fit right between my two usual kite sizes. An 8m *seems* like it would work as a "light wind" kite for me. There are videos online of people using the 10m in ~10 knots of wind, which seems like it's plenty for a very light wind kite for my conditions, and I expect it would get overpowered easily.
BUT, racers are riding around on giant 12 and 15 and 18m foil kites in conditions where I'd be flying my 7m inflatable. Do foil kites really like to be ridden larger, or is this just racers trying to hold down as much power as possible? If I want a gentle introduction to foil kites should I stick with something in a size range I'm more comfortable with, like an 8m?
Any advice is welcome, thanks!