WA
1806 posts
hello all, although i can't surf I attempted to go out in around 4-5' break today on a 6'6 minni mal in around 8 - 11/12 kts on a 16 meter( im 77kgs). and have discovered that a. the board turns bloody slowly and kind of feels like steering a park bench, and b, when the wind felt like it dropped to 6kts, i was still standing up but not moving, while my kites on the verge of luffing / not flying, when power stroking also, it felt like alot of the power was getting wasted on getting the lumbering park bench to move. Has any1 got any tips for light wind board, to put it into perspectinve ie sizes, and weather that energy can be getting wasted if the board is toobig?? which is what im thinking, i also went out on my flx122, to see the differnce when the wind picked up to around 12-13kts, and, now im starting to think the minni mal is 2 big for a light wind board , (i was gonna try some wave surfing) but had no faith in my new found abilities on steering the park bench in those waves. any ideas any1?
WA
320 posts
I'd just keep at it. I quite like sailing my 7'2" mini mal, but I wouldn't go out in less that a "reliable" 10 kn. The issue is the ability to keep your kite up more than anything.
When you want to turn quickly, bring your weight well back, lifting the nose out of the water, and the whole board will pivot in an instant. I like to do it as a downwinder if the wind is really light.
WA
1806 posts
that's what i ended up doing... though i looked abit spastic tacking with 6' of board at head height and me standing , almost falling off on the end while it spun
WA
1450 posts
Yeah as people have said above. I find flying the kite over the top helps to pull you through the turn. Like if u point the nose downwind, fly the kite over to the other side, it will bring the board around pretty much for you without having to apply much of a carve.
Its actually pretty easy with big slow kites because it turns you around nice and slowly and you can initiate the kite turn well before you initiate the board turn.
