I am hoping for some general advice about my kite quiver.

Me- girl, 60ish kg (dont have scales), starting second season, can keep upwind if its good conditions (eg at Cocos last month was upwind all the time!), pretty good kite control, bit more iffy on the board, mostly getting my sliding turns, playing with toe to heel carving turns and just starting to do little jumps. Big girls blouse attitude but getting more adventerous as I gain confidence. I think I want to try a bit of all styles (flat, wake, wave) as my skills improve.
My gear- seated harness (old but nice), 136cm LF drop board. Current kite 07 LF Havoc 8m.

My Quandry- my kite is a bitch in anything less than 20knots, and I want to get out in the 15-20knots we seem to have most of the time in Perth.
But I only have a grand to play with to get another kite

The Questions- do I keep the 8, and add another second hand kite to my quiver? Or sell the 8 and buy one new kite?
Which kite size and type- I am thinking North Rebel 10 or 12, as I tried these in Cocos and had fun, but open to suggstions.
Where do I look to find the kite and try them out?

Thanks everyone for your help in advance!

Nic

Don't buy anyting bigger than a 10m if you plan to stay in perth, at 60kg you won't get much use out of it and when you do you will be flying it heavily de-powerd(pointless in my opinion).

I would disagree that we have 15-20knots as average, thats more an east coast stat. A regular seabreeze here in perth is more the 18-25knots and in winter the fronts produce 20-30+knots. Unless you are saying that you ONLY want to kite in 15-20, if thats the case then get a bigger kite.

I am not a big fan of the LF and would suggest you demo a selection of alternate brand 9m kites from your local dealer/shop and compare them against the LF in the same wind. It might just be that the LF has a poor bottom end.

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Originally posted by Knickers

I am hoping for some general advice about my kite quiver.

Me- girl, 60ish kg (dont have scales), starting second season, can keep upwind if its good conditions

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are there many girls with scales where you come from?

check on the www.choicekitesurfing.com.au web site or the SOS (don't know address soz) web site both have secondhand gear or ex-demo gear for sale cheap from memory... also there is a lot of gear for sale in the seabreeze for sale section cheap in Perth...

recommend going to a number of shops and demo as many shapes and styles as you can... Graham@Choice and John@SOS are great for giving advice and both from memory have demo gear available...
are you hunting for a "c" or bow or hybrid? sure you can get a 11-12m "c" real cheap at the mo...

hope you find what you're looking for Knickers.

Knickers,
come down to bunbury one weekend, friendly crew with a good range of kites to suss out and good range of locations, even a few girls getting started.
no one will try to sell you anyting either

The Havoc 07 is known to have a fairly limited wind range for a hybrid. The Rebel generally likes to have 15-17 knots to get going, but is a great ride. The 12mtr 07 would be better than a 10mtr o7 as the smaller you go, the faster they move (unless you like a speedy kite). The 08 Rebel's are great in all sizes.

Choice kites for range this year would be F One Bandit or a Slingshot Rev.

As the guys say, demo them and see what fits. Alot of stuff comes into the mix, confidence, experience and general conditions, so best to try before you buy. New technology is better, especially when talking wind range, but there is a price tag to match. Most shops would consider trading in your 07 havoc, it doesn't hurt to ask.

Nic
If you still have Mondays off and there is some wind come and have a try of my 9mtr Bandit, I'll ride the 13. I reckon one decent session and you will find a way to buy one (just cut down on the non essentials like food and electricity for a while).
I think the 9 is all you would need (especially if you have to starve for a while to afford it), it has heaps of bottom end power, if I can ride it from 18 knots you will be right from 15 to 20 no worries but they still handle well depowered so an 11 could be an option too.
Give us a call on Monday if you interested.