Hello All,

My friend is a girl rider, 64 kg who is almost doing the water start.

She is planning to buy a kite and i would like to get your advice about the best kite for her.

The wind condition where she kite is like from 12 knots to 25-27 knots max.

I was thinking to advice her a Naish Ride as it seems very stable, easy to travel with (no center struts design) and seems easy to relaunch along with great construction.

I was thinking for her maybe 9 and 12 would be perfect quiver ?

Can you please let me know what you think of the Naish Ride and if you think of any other kite that could give her a lot of room for progression ?

It could be other model from Naish or other brand too.

Thanks you for your advice.

Cheers

I have the 2014 12m ride. Its the best 12m kite I've owned. Im an IKO instructor in san diego. I go straight from my 17m to my 12m ride in 14mph(I'm 226lbs). I couldn't think of a better kite to start out on and she will never out grow it. Ive been recommending these kites to my students and they love it. I haven't flown the smaller ones yet but at 65kg and 27 knots the 9m might be a bit much for her !

Yep...the Ride is a fine first kite. 9m / 12m is a good split but you might want to shift down a notch 8m / 11m might be better for her. Sometimes wind speed is not the only indicator. Higher latitudes (N or S) tend to have denser air to the tropics. I ride 8m / 11m Rebels most of the time here in the UK and I'm 110kg....so extrapolating from that a 7m / 10m combination might work well for someone 60kg...

Lots of other good first kites out there of course...the free ride kite in most brands 'should' be suitable. I also think that if you've a local shop where she's going to be kiting their ability to support the product after sale can be a session saver (or they're not doing their job very well).

I'm not a big fan of the Ride, I would opt for a Park if you are stuck on Naish.

the park seems to agressive for a first kite what do u think ?

what u dislike about the ride ?

Concerning the Naish i like her to stick to this brand as it seems to me the best quality available nowadays. thx u guys

I love the Ride. It is the best kite to learn and progress . Easy relaunch, sheet and go feeling. When you are learning what you most waste you time is trying to relaunch. With the Ride you can do it all the time. Even when the winds are light. I have a 14, 10 and 8 meter. As soon a get money I will get the 12. I also have NRG 16 meter, Park 4, Ozone Reo 12 , BWS 8 meter , Air rush DNA 8 and lithums 6 meter. I have been a kite surfer for 4 years and I have flown a lot of kite trying to find my quiver You will not regret getting a Ride. Once you know how to kite , relaunch and jump then you can start to loop the kite, it is then when you want a advance kite.

yup, ride i a great kite...it is not only a beginner kite though. Just make sure she pumps it real good...like any kite really.

Ive owned the parks. They're good for beginners too but there is something about the ride ! No flutter at all,its not twitchy, it always lets you know where its at. I can go on ! Naish kites in general have probably the best construction of any kites I've had. They can take a beating from a green pea !

I agree with others that if you are going with two kites, an 8/11 is better, but even that seems a bit too big for that wind range. I'd go with 7/10. A 9m and 12m are too big for sure. That's what I'd use for that wind range and I weigh 86kg.

I've seen beginners on the Park, but it turns quite fast so it could be a little more difficult to handle, (assuming the Ride is slower turning). I think the Ride also has better low end too, but I have not tried one so I can't confirm that. But if both of those things are true, the Ride would be a better choice than the Park. She would probably be fine on any of the Naish kites besides the Torch, but the Ride seems like the best option overall.

Hello flysurfing,

I own and teach on Ride's and they would be the perfect kite in the Naish line for her. Here's my take on sizing. I own and teach on 6/7/8/9/10/12 Ride's and my girlfriend who is an advanced rider also flies the kites. She weighs in at 63kg. She uses the 9m most of the time and then the 7 for high winds. She never rides the 12 at all...just way to much kite for her. Once in a great while she'll grab the 10. The Rides have great low end because they are so light they never fall out of the sky so she can get away with the 9m at 13 knots...but she is an advanced rider. So the 8/10 combo is what I would suggest for your GF. She can easily fly the 10 in 13 knots since the kite is near impossible to drop. If she goes to a 11 then she may get overpowered to soon. Absolutely forget about the 12 (unless you want a new kite too ). I can teach newbies on the 10 down to 13 knots pretty easily if they are near your GF's weight. I'll use the 12 only for big guys otherwise the light people get pulled around a bit much. I feel she will learn fairly quickly with the 8/10 combo as the 11 may have just a bit to much pull on her when the kite comes across the window. That's my take for what it is worth...pennies...

Also you'll love those size kites in the waves/surf...