Hi all, just asking about some advice as a newbie. I'm about 60-65 kg (a small dude) and was wondering what size kite I should get for 10-30mph winds?

Is it best to get a twin tip as a first board even if I come from a sup and surf background? I would like to eventually get into surfing a kite in waves so I know I'd need to eventually get a directional board.

As for brands and types of kite would a Cabrinha Drifter be any good?

Cheers for any help!
Dan

.... Also, once on a surfboard, which is more buoyant than a twin tip, you'll need a smaller kite, say 6m at your weight. Go a 6m wave kite then and see how you go with the 8m freeride for lighter days. You should be covered.

10mph to 30mph is not possible with 1 kite. The issue isn't really the topend but more the bottomend.

An 8m kite will probably cover 15-30mph for you with a surfboard. If you like surfing and have no problems riding waves you can use the waves to go back upwind. The limiting factor will be the ability of the wind to support the kite. To be honest an 8m will fall out of the sky at 10mph. Remember there will be luls too and you need to be able to relaunch your kite if it crashes.

Depending on where you live the 10-15mph range isn't really worth it as with this little wind there will be lots of luls where even the biggest kite falls out of the sky and there will also be hardly any other kiters out which isn't ideal if you are learning.


Bear in mind that wave kites like the Drifter trade some wind range for their ability to drift and turn quickly.

6m kite is too small for you imho.

BookemDanno said..
Hi thanks for the reply. Location is Wales UK so my winds vary a fair bit. Could be dead calm to howling within a few days.

You don't need kite gear. You need a windsail / windsurfer!

nah windsufing in the uk needs way more gear than kitesurfing.

If you are from Wales then get a 9m kite if you only want to get 1 kite. I personally don't think thats a good idea. In the UK you will have very little wind in the summer which often turns into 12m weather. In the winter you have 9m weather all the time which often turns into 7m weather, but some guys like me plow through it with a 9m most of the time. I do weigh 80-85kg though and the more you weigh the safer you really are in stormy/gusty conditions.

I have 9m/12m quiver and if I could pick again for the UK I would buy a 8m/12m quiver as it just gives me a bit of extra bottom end when its blowing hard.
If its much above 30 knots I tend to not go out which does mean I miss a few days occasionally.
In the UK you generally cannot go out above 35 knots (the emphasis here is that people die ever year in this weather and you would be a fool to go out without coastguard support).

Being 20kg lighter this means you should really subtract 1-1.5m from my quiver. So if I were you I'd get a 7m and an 11m or maybe 10m with a directional.

The general rule of thumb for the UK is to not go out below 13 knots of wind and no kite size will fix that. In the UK you will never get 13 knots of steady breeze like i.e. Greece. There will be lots of luls which make the whole thing very difficult.