Hey,
I had an friend introduce me to snowkiting last year, and I'm totally hooked! This year I decided I should get my own kite (instead of borrowing). I've found and bought a 10m North Rebel (2008), as last year I was using a 10m kite and I know I can handle it. But there were a lot of lighter days when I couldn't get moving on the 10m kite, so I was wondering if it's worth investing in a slightly bigger kite, and if so, how much bigger?
We generally have winds around 7knts during the winter, with the odd days of 15knts. The days of 15knts I could easily get the 10m flying, 7knts not so much. I'm not small, weighing in around 93kg, but obviously not very experienced. I snowkite on a frozen lake, so there's plenty of room and the wind is pretty constant once you get a little bit away from shore.
I was thinking that a 12m-13m kite would be good for the lighter days, but I'm wondering if that isn't too small a gap (if I'm going to buy another kite, I don't want to have an enormous overlap). I'm very happy at the moment just freeriding, with the odd jump where I find a good snow-drift, so I'm not looking for a high-performance, trick-extraordinaire kite, just something comfortable to ride.
Any suggestions for size? Or even recommendations for what kind of kite to buy (that I could easily find in the $500 range)?
Thanks!
-Snow