Who's leading the light wind category these days??

[robertovillate]

Wow, ripping in 6 kts! Impressive. I would really like to see that. The big problem is still if it drops to 4 or 5 kts...then I'd be surprised if anything will work. ?

I was able to ride an RRD Hypertype 15m in almost as light of wind as a Silver Arrow 19...but not quite as low....and "not quite" translates "less performance" in light wind. I'm a lighter rider so that's a big advantage. But I would still love to see any LEI that can TRULY match the light wind performance of the Silver Arrow.

Course racing is perhaps a whole different matter and you may be looking for different characteristics in a kite.

Agree, the board is a HUGE factor. In either case, it's great to see such improvements in light wind kites by almost all kite brands, and with boards as well.

[Steve-O]

Board is the big factor here.

As far as kite goes, do you want grunt in light wind or just on a plane.

Smaller kites and big boards can get u on plane, but big kites can provide that grunt you might be craving. How soon do you want to be able to load and pop? That is huge for me in light wind. Not really interested in mowing the yard.

The Flysurfers are amazing for raw power, would have to agree with Jay on that one but they are pricey as Roberto mentioned. I can ride a 19m in 10 with my 131 and be very powered.

One note about the Crossbow 16M ...I have been teaching a student that is 340lbs and that freakin kite with his bad board technique can get him on a plane in 15knots. The board is only 145X43cm. If he had a bigger board he would be money. Think about that.... 340lbs. I don't think any of the above kites mentioned except maybe a Fly 19 could pull that off. Even more amazing is I can hold that kite down in 20knots at 150lbs. I can't however hold down the Fly19 in anything over 14knots.

The crossbow and the Fly are just two completely different animals.

Good luck. Lots of great choices out there.

[Big G]

Thank you all for the good information. It will help me make a decision that I will feel good about when moving forward with replacing the Royal Era 14m. In my search for a low wind kite, my interest is not based on trying to ride in super low winds such as 8knts or even 10knts. Believe me, I would not even waste time heading to the beach if that’s all the wind that is projected. There are times that a forecast does not fill in and its those days that I would like my “Light wind kite” to be perform in the lightest wind possible for those conditions.

Considering that kite manufacturers are in the business of selling kites, the marketing information and “hype” can be misleading. I think the push for selling those damn SS Machines was a great money making boost for the company but the kites where not the best light wind products as advertised. I certainly do not want to make the same mistake of purchasing another one of those POS…

What about the RRD’s, Waroo’s and Ocean Rodeo’s? Are they just not in the race?

[Unimog Bob]

Originally Posted by kent

Jay,

Good points, but if you think being lit in 10 knots is still light, you really need to try some new light wind boards. Any decent LEI or RAM will do this. I guess that in the end, maybe there is no difference because the board is really the largest factor.

I agree with Kent on this. I think the board is more important than the kite in light winds. I also think his "money talks" approach to Foil vs. LEI is more than valid. If Foils were better, it seems they would win and riders would use them to make money winning. Sort of end of story (at least for racing purposes, maybe not free ride as Jay alluded to).

I am of the opinion that all kites are getting pretty darn good these days.
Seven years ago, some kites truly sucked, and others just sort of sucked.
There was a "suckiness differential" worth knowing about in deciding on which kites to purchase. Now, it seems most kites are pretty good. I personally am more apt to make a kite purchase decision based on customer service/warranty reputation these days when it comes to buying a kite. Anyway.... just my opinion.


Kent, what is one of the "best" light wind/race boards out there for your average joe (not looking to win a race) - but for "mowing the yard"/ sightseeing the girls on the beach in 7 to 11 knots?

I was just looking at Alex Aguera's new boards on YouTube. Seen some others as well. He claims he can easily go upwind in 7 knots on a 13m Xbow.
I met Alex several years ago in St. Pete (as you know, he's from St Pete) and liked him a lot, and trust his word.




Thanks for any inputs.

[Whitey]

Don't get me wrong here. I am not suggesting that the new foil kites are the answer for getting on the podium at a course race, not the case.

I just wanted to shine some light on the comments being made about RAMs as a group. Folks are referring to SA (silver arrow) here and the new kites are not silver arrows. That is a type of fabric that you had the option of having a Speed 2 made out of. The Kite that Jay rode was a Speed 3 deluxe. These are two completely different kites. That is what I was trying to point out.

As for the original post asking who's the leading light wind category? I don't think he was referring to course racing. The foils obviously have not won the course races, but for your average rider wanting to spend a Saturday cruising the beach, throwing a few jumps, riding some small waves, while not having to constantly worry about staying upwind, it is not fair to say "the speed is not in the ball game".

I did this for several summers on my Contra 17, and now I do it on the foils. The Contra worked great, I had a blast on it, I just hated to pump that monster up on a summer day.

Well technically, your statement is correct the speed is not in the ball game ("the speed" is what the speed 1 was referred to) But the speed 2 and speed 3 are in the ball game big time, given that the game is not course racing, but just having fun in the sun ridding on a very light wind day.

Kent, I value your opinion and respect your experience in the sport, and wanted to add some missing information to the thread.

[kent]

Yep, i agree with all of you guys. This was a great thread and it's nice to see so much interest in light air kites. I really want to hop on a Silver Arrow when I can to check it out. I have heard great things about this kite.

Regarding the good light wind boards, for just riding around the new generation of course boards are probably not ideal as they generally need to be ridden flat. I actually ride the exact same board as Alex has in the video which was shot in La Ventana. This is actually going to be the new Cabrinha race board.

If you are looking for a good light wind directional, any twin fin race board from the last 2 years will work fine. While the North board wasn't competitive around the race course, it was easy to ride and worked well in light wind. The NJS from last year is good too. Both of these boards ride well on edge and are fun for reaching. You may not have to go as wide as race boards though.

I'd guess that a flat rocker board of 17-19 inches in width will be great. I personally like quads for the control, but twins in light wind are great. I've even seen some surf style fish boards work nicely.

If you really want to push it, the Alex board is really amazing! it's hard in the legs, but kills it upwind, reaching, and down wind. At the La Ventana event we were course racing on 7's - 9's and the water was very choppy. Adam Koch, also racing on an Alex board hit 36 knots off the wind with a set up very similar to mine. It's funny to think that we are using the same set up in 6-7 mph! I actually like the feel of these boards, but they are not much for jumping, etc.

[tross]

I've been riding an old 2005 CB 16 with a monsterdoor in light wind and can hang on to ~20kts when I have to. I've gone straight from it to my 9m SB. I had to replace it and I went with the new 2010 CB 16.

A couple weeks ago I went out in really light wind and could not even water relaunch it. I struggled and tried everything I could think of. I tried reverse launching, I tried getting it to flip on its back, I tried holding the lines as high as I could reach but I couldn't get it to get off the surface of the water.

I tried it again this past Saturday http://kiteboard.ning.com/profiles/b...little-session and had a blast when it was in the air - even when I had to work it a bit. But man, when it drops, it's a biyatch to get out of the water again. I had to dig my door into the water to get some more resistance. Eventually I got it to flip over by moving to one side and quickly back the other way. It rotated up and then fell on the trailing edge which put it perfectly positioned for a hotlaunch. It worked, but man what a chore.

In light air, I need to have the best relaunch possible. I heard the 2011 CB is going to correct this, but I haven't found anything on the web to support this. I'm contemplating bringing the kite back and getting an old contra 17. If only my old CB 16 could just hold on a few more years.

Kent - is it true that the 2011 CB 16 is redesigned to improve the water relaunch? Are there any tricks to make it easier to get the damn thing back in the sky?

thanks in advance

[Erick]

Getting back to the LIGHT wind kite topic yet another way to impact your riding in LIGHT winds days besides types of kites, boards, line lenght, etc. (and I don't mean to be sarcastic in any way) is to get LIGHTER! I remember when I lost 15 pounds. Holly cow! that made a difference in my kite size selection. another incentive to lose weight for summer