^^I have been thinking the same thing recently after seeing most the 2010 kites now. There doesn't appear to be a industry standard, surely if a company is going to say a kite is 10m Then it should be that, any other kite layed over it same size should have similar canopy area. I've done it with a couple kites and they aren't very close and that's in 6m and 8m size where you would think there would be less descrepencies

Can anyone involved with kite manufacturing explain this

To be a bit picky, you can't compare projected area by deflating the kite and lying it flat on the beach because of the curve of the kites when they're in the air. To get the correct projected area you'd need to have the kite in the air at 12 and be looking down on the canopy from above. Think of it as being similar to the shadow the kite would throw at noon if it was sitting at 12 in the window.

As for the relation of projected area to kite size, it may be an arbitrary decision by the kite company as to what size a kite is. Here's the size chart for the North 2010 Evos (used because it was easy to find, and I couldn't be @rsed to spend time looking for any others)



As you can see in the table, the difference between a 6m and a 10m is on 2.5m^2 of projected area.

Bear in mind though that projected area is only one facet of what determines lift for a kite.

my 2c

gorilla said...

To be a bit picky, you can't compare projected area by deflating the kite and lying it flat on the beach because of the curve of the kites when they're in the air. To get the correct projected area you'd need to have the kite in the air at 12 and be looking down on the canopy from above. Think of it as being similar to the shadow the kite would throw at noon if it was sitting at 12 in the window.

As for the relation of projected area to kite size, it may be an arbitrary decision by the kite company as to what size a kite is. Here's the size chart for the North 2010 Evos (used because it was easy to find, and I couldn't be @rsed to spend time looking for any others)





As you can see in the table, the difference between a 6m and a 10m is on 2.5m^2 of projected area.

Bear in mind though that projected area is only one facet of what determines lift for a kite.

my 2c

I appreciate your point but a 10m kite is 10 m2- not 12, not 11 not 9. Kites are sold on sail area, not projected area.

Methinks labelling a kite as a 10 but having the sail area of an 11 gives you a marketing advantage. (More grunt than the competitor etc)

Laying kites on the beach deflated and comparing fabric area is definitely the way to see which manufacturers are being creative with their sizing.

Just an interesting point.

odetojak said...

To truly understand kite sizing, you need to follow the correlation to the fashion industry, and in particular, women's clothing sizes.

For instance, if you have a girlfriend who in the current year is a size 12, the following year, she will no doubt be a bit gruntier, have a bit more bottom end, yet officially she will begin coming in a size 10 for that season because the manufacturers regularly adjust the sizing down to compensate for these other factors.

Bahahahahahahahahahaha