Assuming you are simply tall, I would have thought just one size larger should be best. I have a mate who is 6'4". He rides a 13 when we shorter mortals are on 12m. Personally I like North Kites. The rebel gives you a good solid pull. Easy to fly and good for progression. North bars are adjustable for reach which is mighty useful if you have longer arms than normal.

Plenty of other kites would be similar. I think the Cabrinha Switchblade would be pretty good as well. The reviews are pretty good - plenty of low down pull. But I'd say a North Rebel is a better bet........ for no other\better reason than I prefer the bar feel of North kites

For tall and heavy, the locals here all go towards the Zepher. Other people talk about it as a light wind kite but I tend to see it used as a regular kite (12m wind range) by the heavy guys.

I've seen 100kg dudes put on their arse with a 2m trainer kite.
It's about driving it through the wind window to generate power.

Don't get to hung up on trainers though, they're purely about learning the basics of kite control and the wind window. I used a $20 two line stunt kite to learn, but some people still say i lack kite control

fingerbone said..
I used a trainer for a while then bought a piece of crap $200 6m kite to get to feel the way a LEI is supposed to feel.Worth every cent. Had fun getting dragged around the sand with that.

Me too, just skipped this "trainer" thing. If you ever flew kids kite, and you have at least basic common sense about wind and kite you should be able to fly quite safely some 6m/7m LEI depower kite just by watching few "how to" videos. 15kts is limit here. In these kind of situation, no matter what you do with small LEI if you let bar out and sit hard on your arse you should be able to survive loop or full dive through middle of power zone. Kite will drag you few meters, remember to let bar out so kite can rush to edge of wind window.

Be aware, you can destroy it just by hitting ground once at high speed. If you smash it just once properly on ground, it will break apart 100%

I bought used old $200 7m LEI (F-one Bandit) to do this and now i use it as my high wind kite. That's not best option to use as storm kite as it can break down anytime, but i don't care as i will not do massive air's and loops with it. Just ride it in high wind, so if it break anytime or i do some stupid thing with it - no damage.

Hi TroyB

It's nice to see your enthusiasm to learn the sport.

Choosing to fly a trainer kite first is a great way to get started by yourself and learn a few basics, which only takes a few minutes. However being well powered on a trainer kite should not be the goal here... as a matter of fact you should avoid strong winds with a trainer kite for obvious safety reasons.

Self taught newbies who spend too many hours on a trainer kite without any coaching/supervison eventually develop bad and dangerous habits that are hard to break once you move on to a real inflatable kite much larger in size.

Buying a cheap small inflatable kite and learning to fly it by yourself isn't the best idea either. You will need more than 18 knots to fly a 6m kite comfortably and in more than 20 knots no matter how big you are you can easily hurt yourself even with a small kite. They move fast and hitting the power zone with will send you off your feet. This is not only dangerous for you but also others around you.

The most dangerous place to fly a kite is on the land/beach. Therefore the only safe way to do this by yourself is to have light to moderate winds (10-18knots) with an UNDERPOWERED small trainer kite such as an ozone IMP 2.5m or 3.5m if the wind is always light where you live

For the cost of a decent 6m kite with bar you will easily cover the cost of most if not ALL of your lessons. For a heavy guy like yourself a 6m kite would be fairly useless on the water, unless later down the track you want to go out in nuking 35 knots + winds.

A much better way to get started is to watch the beginner progression DVD and then book a first lesson.

Every season self taught beginners and mates teaching mates show up on crowded beaches. Needless to say they are the main cause of accidents on the beach.

On a windy day go talk to locals at your kite spot, help them launch and land their kites. Watch them setup. Ask them about lessons and who they recommend you get lessons from. Some schools and instructors don't offer much more quality than an experienced kiter who decides to teach you so you need to spend some time and do your reasearch when shopping for quality tuition.

Stay safe

Christian

Sounds like your a big enough dude.

Just get a 14m take it out in 15kts and learn. Don't sook around with a 6m or what ever.

This is the way I learned and all me mates learned.

Don't be stupid and take it out in 20kts or more to start with. You should be up and going in about 2hrs.