yep.

buy few years old but unused from your local shop. should be 1k$ less RRP

second hand kites are very rarely worth it. no one sells a good one.

I have ridden kites with half of the canopy replaced and didnt notice any difference. I reckon go for it provided its a quality repair, you will save a lot of money

so what did you end up getting? just curiosity.

My brand of kite is prone to le blowouts, my old 9 has 5 le repairs done by Neil at htl
Flew the same as it always did
Strangely never went where Neil repaired it
Says dividends on his quality of work

If its a good repair it will be sweet. But repaired kites are like used undies. Not worth anything. Don't pay much for it.

Also a repaired kite is a good indication the kite has had a hard time. Ask about worn stitching on the leading edge. pin holes in the canopy, fluffiness of the lines and bridles.

This is what a decent le repair should look like
Completely around and not just a patch
Even if it has just a nick

Regarding the original question, if it's just a tear repair then the kite should fly same as it always did. If it's a leading edge panel replacement then that is very difficult to do and to get the panels all lined up and tensioned properly.

For tape repairs, I used to sew around big tape repairs to avoid the edge peeling up and getting sand under it.

A properly applied canopy tape repair needs no sewing at all. It will be stronger than the original fabric. Spinaker tape is 50mm wide so you've got heaps of surface area to bond. I usually just continue any existing stitching across the tape to avoid a weak spot in the existing fabric and seams. Even better if I can bury the end of a run of tape in an existing seam to avoid any end peeling.

You would only need to sew if you were putting tape on something coarse (and dissimilar to the tape) like dacron.

A tip I got from a sailor friend (open ocean racing yacht skipper). I put hot water in a bottle and "iron" the tape down to set the glue and get out any bubbles and smooth out wrinkles. His tip was to use a saucepan. I have use a metal water bottle, and a wind bottle. The water needs to be hot, not boiling.