Hey Dimitri

Three gorillas is plenty of money to get yourself close to top of the line everything, however this may not be the wisest move. Most people wear their first kites out rather fast as they tend to crash them a lot more than experienced kiters. I certainly did, I lost track of how many patches I had in it.

Instead you might want to consider a kite one or two seasons old, second hand, and save your money for an upgrade once you aren't crashing it so often. Just a suggestion though, feel free to ignore it.

The difference between a 9m and a 13m is.... four metres of sail area. More wind, less sail. More sail for less wind. There are different handling characteristics of different size kites but this is merely a function of size. More significant is the difference between a 13m 'C' shaped kite, a 13m 'bow' kite, a 13m hybrid, a 13m bridled foil or a 13m unbridled foil. Do a search here, there is way more information (and argument over which is better) than I could regurgitate now.

But probably the most important thing, get some lessons. Kiteboarding is dangerous and if you don't know some key safety info then you could get in a lot of trouble, or dead.

Welcome to the asylum.

Lotofwind is spot on. Hold off till after your lessons, Your instructor should be able to walk you through different types of gear and whats best for you. The latest kites(last 2 years)are wisest bet, as safety systems and performance has just come leaps and bounds. there are plenty of great quality last year kites second hand, once again a good instructor or shop should walk you through whats going to be right from you. And remember the guy who sells a particular kite will tell you its the best on the market. take it with a grain of salt and dont buy straight away, look around and talk to as many dealers as you can, listen to their spills and you will soon start to figure out who is giving you the best advice.

good luck and have fun.

buy the "search " feature and save us from the next tyraid of continuously re-hashed topics....
Make sure you wear boardies over your wetty too.
And quickly look up top hats unexpected updraft aswell.
Strapped is better and waves are better than flat water....

Any more that i've left out?


Oh and don't buy a link....maybe someone might give you one then you can pour petrol over it and light it one night....might be the only one to actually "go up".