Wicksy said..

Have you seen this?

http://www.boardridingmaui.com/kite.html

Very interesting design. But the price! Ouch. Thanks for that anyway. So far the Ozone and Epic kites are in the running for my money.

Yeah. I did some more googling, and it really comes down to board type, size and technique as well. I mean there are guys riding 12 or even 10mt kites in 8 to 11 knots but they have sector boards. Hmmmm time for a new board purcahse it seems.

My biggest kite is the Cab switchblade II at 14mt. Should be enough, but she fell out of the sky too often on me today. I know she is old but boy what a great kite in 15knots! Is there bridle adjustments that could be done to make kites fly better in light winds?

These guys are doing what I want to do..

Yep depends on your board and how you want to kite. I've got a turbine 17m, it's best as a yellow arrow kite - at 10-12 knots I use my normal TT (Dundee) and it's great fun. It likes to park and ride after 1 or maybe 2 sweeps, like a big old car. Sub 10 you'd need a bigger board but it would go as low as any I reckon, it's one of the gruntier big kites, definitely worth considering.

I I also add the 7 metre line extensions

at 88kg i have the board mentioned in the vid "cab plasma" and HIGHLY recommend it for 8-15kn with the Core 17m. i can get out a bit earlier than the zephs as it has more static grunt one sweep and your off. The zephs are a bit better once over 12kn
the board is a few years old, but i find its a great balance size-wise. big enough to get going sub 10kn but not too big to throw around like the door boards are.

cutch said..

Yep depends on your board and how you want to kite. I've got a turbine 17m, it's best as a yellow arrow kite - at 10-12 knots I use my normal TT (Dundee) and it's great fun. It likes to park and ride after 1 or maybe 2 sweeps, like a big old car. Sub 10 you'd need a bigger board but it would go as low as any I reckon, it's one of the gruntier big kites, definitely worth considering.

Is the Turbine a Cabrinha make?

Hey Kazan , the Cabrinah stylus is a 165 cm board they also make a 155 I think but shop guy said go the bigger one
It was a grand with sandle bindings ( h 1 Cabrinah as well) this gear is all 2014 so I doubt you'll find any second hand
The kite(17 meter Cabrinah contra ) is quite exy as you have to buy a special wide bar for it kite is $2 k bar is $750
Although I think I got a couple of Hundy off the kite from memory
I weigh over 110 kg and this combo gets me up in anything , some of the lighter guys I know are just riding 15 m contras
And still raving about them , they are made from light weight materials and even the lines seem slightly thinner / lighter
So they are not just an over sized normal kite , this and the fact fact they have been specifically designed for light wind makes
Them go a treat , relaunch is too easy as well and upwind ability is nuts
The only down side is they haven't got as much De power as what I'm used to and self landing is not as easy as what
I'm used to either , I think this is because these things just want to fly !!!
The good news is that the qr 1 flag out totally kills the kite instantly ( flags to 1 front line only not 2 ) as I have been out on the
Water by myself on this , as no one else can go out , I have just been using the flag out to self land and it kills all power straight away I'm still stunned at how well it goes when I went out a couple of days ago I really thought I was wasting my time
But thought I may as we'll check what it's lower limit is , I ended up over powered at some stages ( when wind picked up a knot)
And a few days earlier I took it out with some other guys who were way better riders than me and I was keeping upwind and gaining distance up wind where these guys were having to walk up the beach for 50 meters every 1 or 2 runs
I'm sure you have cab dealers in qld , I'm heading to maroochydore at Easter and saw they have a cab dealer there
If you google Cabrinah contra you'll come across the ads and info they have online same would apply for the stylus I think
Good luck hope you can afford one , maybe catch ya at Easter , cheers

+1 for the zephyr
but for a standard twintip you will need 12knots with most of those kites
i would suggest a freerace board to get the very low end from those kitess
personally i find find Really large twintips really boring, in low winds your only can really only mow the lawn.
learning a directional gives you a new skill set.

I fly in light winds a lot. I've got a 17 Zephyr, 15 Contra, 15 Edge. Zephyr is the best for low winds. I've flown the larger Contra, still prefer the performance and feel of the Zephyr. Contra is 3 strut, Zephyr is 5 strut, I've found that large kites need 5 struts to support their massive canopies efficiently.
Boards, I've got an Airush Sector One Design, Cabrinha Alias, Cabrinha Stylus 1.65 and a Cab skillet 5'10" surfboard, the Sector wins the bottom end competition, but its big and bulky, so not used as much as the Stylus. Alias has a similar bottom end to the Stylus. Surfboard is above 12 knots only. Stylus is 10 knots and the Sector can go as low as 7/8 knots, but you don't wan to drop the kite when you are turning, turning the big semi race directionals is a skill that needs to be learned, hopping off and turning the board around is an option but in a lull you can easily have the kite stall in 6/7 knots and then you will have trouble relaunching and also getting back to your precious Sector.

I've got a used 2013 Sector for sale, and also stock and sell Zephyrs and Contras.

Last night I was at Dolls and was able to kite with the Stylus and a 12M Ozone 2014 C4, but slowly lost ground in 10-12 knots, due to tide robbing me of around 2-3 knots of power. Good technique, a fast efficient kite, and a large board is always a good combo, the bigger kites just mean you can park and ride in those light winds and even do small jumps and transitions.

+1for the Zypher 17m for me too. I built my own bigger TT for in the light and was out this morning at the dog beach on the south easterly I got there at 12kts and true to my form lately the wind drops once i set up and according to the Melville graph when i got home it was in the red the whole time I was out initially upwind no worries then only just losing ground after that and the old girl fell out of the sky once in an off gust and me snoozing not keeping her moving but she relaunched okay.
I'm 105kgs and 6'2" and not the most experienced kite surfer but I do highly recommend this kite as even I can have fun in 8-10kts

kitcho207 said..

at 88kg i have the board mentioned in the vid "cab plasma" and HIGHLY recommend it for 8-15kn with the Core 17m. i can get out a bit earlier than the zephs as it has more static grunt one sweep and your off. The zephs are a bit better once over 12kn
the board is a few years old, but i find its a great balance size-wise. big enough to get going sub 10kn but not too big to throw around like the door boards are.

Hay Kitcho...Is that the TT I had a ride on the other day....If it is its the bees knees....I would not have been out on my 12m switchy without it..Cheers again..

Billy

Looks like the 2014 Turbine is out. Video review.

cutch said..

Looks like the 2014 Turbine is out. Video review.

Ooh that looks like a nice light wind kite. What's the bladder like compared to other LEI? It looks rather "thin".

Thanks