Hi everyone,

Im a brand new kiter and Ive had some excellent lessons. What does everyone think of a 2015 Cabrihna chaos kite as my first kite? I'm thinking it's probably too hard to fly and I'll end up drowning. Thoughts?

Hi

I have not ridden one myself but from the blurb I would suggest there are easier kites to handle than the Chaos as your first kite. It all really depends what you want to do (freestyle / free ride / wave ride).

A lot depends on your confidence and your willingness to handle the inevitable spanking that a high performance kite will hand you as a beginner. A lot of us on here learned with kites that had little or no depower at the time and for some people jumping in at the deep end is the way to go. If that's not you though then selecting a kite with a lot of depower would be the way to go.

There are no end of brands (and pimps) on this site that can point you in one direction or the other.

Good winds.

If you want to progress quickly in kite surfing you are better of to get a more user friendly kite. When I say user friendly I do not mean it has to be a learners kite but you want something that has a wider wind range and is less touchy than a Full C Kite. I would recommend the following kites all of which I think you will progress far quicker on than the Cabrinha Chaos.

Cabrinha Switchblade
Liquid Force Envy
North EVO
Naish Park
Slingshot RPM

TSmith said..
I had a great time learning on a Switchblade, would defiantly recommend, i doubt you will need a freestyle kite for a few years anyway.
www.cabrinha.com/collections/kites/products/switchblade

I think the Switchblade being a "must try or buy" beginner kite days are over.

axion said..
If you want to progress quickly in kite surfing you are better of to get a more user friendly kite. When I say user friendly I do not mean it has to be a learners kite but you want something that has a wider wind range and is less touchy than a Full C Kite. I would recommend the following kites all of which I think you will progress far quicker on than the Cabrinha Chaos.

Cabrinha Switchblade
Liquid Force Envy
North EVO
Naish Park
Slingshot RPM

Would you say the Envy has wider range than a Solo?

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your replies. I've spent this week debating whether or not I should swap my kite for an easier beginner kite.
ive met a lot of people on the beach at St. Kinda and Inverloch who have suggested that the CHAOS is not the right kite for me, but being the stubborn lady I am, I was determined to give it a decent go (plus, it's soooo pretty).

So I took it out at Inverloch today, it wasn't a good sign when i set up that everyone else was packing up and going home. But I was there until sundown trying to launch and relaunch ( and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch and relaunch) for about 5 hours in 10knots or less.

I agree with what most people say about the Chaos-it is aggressive and it is difficult to relaunch! It is very powerful and I LOVED THAT! I have been dragged across the sand, slammed into the sand and dragged face first through the water. However, in my final hour today....I think I finally got the hang of it.

Now is probably the best time to point out that I'm super goal-driven and stubborn, I also want to be a good kiter (really good) and I'm one of those people who will practice from 7am 7pm if that's what it takes and the wind allows it. So....here is what I'm thinking:
If i have only ever know a freestyle higher end jumping kite being my Chaos...perhaps my skills will develop at a faster rate, or need to be better to accomodate the kite. Perhaps keeping it would be a good idea as then I don't need to get a different one and then progress to something like the
CHAOS for tricks later on anyway.

or perhaps, I should just suck up the advice and get a kite that is easier to fly?

Thoughts?

(PS :at Inverloch again for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 26jan)