A standard test protocol for comparing kites

[kitechick]

It happens every year when the season is over...the lack of wind makes kiters get...uhm...busy with funny ideas...this year it is Science :shock:

ps: Yuri uses a board similar to the glide in light wind and he is light too. I can keep upwind the same or better with my 13m (I am heavier than Yuri) and old lightwind board (a classic "Manta" but I got girlpower too)...

The weekend could be good! Seeya at the beach - Sylvia

[dewey]

Wow, what's the deal, is Yuri the person to keep up with in light wind?

[lmontejo]

There are a few of us who have been on the bleeding edge of lightwind kiteboarding in Alameda, mostly through the realization that it's not only the kite that counts, but rather, that the board, of course along with the rider, are an integral part of the equation.

The Slingshot Glide is all what the ad says it does (for real!) and Yuri went out and made his own clone, currently coined The Glid after too many walks up the beach... He made it slightly longer, slightly wider I believe, and with more rocker. Yuri, his 12m Crossbow, and the Glid seem to be an act hard to follow on lightwind days, although I can come pretty close with my Rhino 14 and my SS Glide. I have noticed that bigger kites are not necessarily better since they lack the agility to generate their own power that the smaller ones have. (I say this subjectively.)

And therefore, the start of this whole discussion, which is that there is much hype about kites out there and little objective information on how to compare them. Of course, another chapter in this saga is boards...

I will try to summarize in another post what I believe are the salient points of this thread so far. Some very good ideas have been submitted!

I'm off the Crowne Beach. It's supposed to be good this afternoon - and not courtesy of ikitesurf.com... They have been hitting the forecast for us some 25% of the time.

I have a magic coin, and when I flip it, it gives me the correct forecast with an accuracy of 50%. I paid 25 cents for it, and it easily fits in my pocket. Access fees to the internet are zero!

More on weather reporting for kiting later... This subject, in fact, deserves a thread of its own!

Leo

[lmontejo]

Yesterday, October 15, ended up being a nice day to kite at Alameda. Very few people showed up for the party, and a few of us kited for several hours in light winds, 10-14 mph.

The big surprise for me was that Patrick, a newcomer to kiting, was out on a 9m Crossbow staying upwind with the rest of us! He was riding a small Jaime Pro board.

My medical acumen, tells me he weighs some 135-140 lbs.

So, a 9m kite and a small board on a light wind day (granted Patrick is light...), while the rest of us were on 14's (or bigger), riding bigger boards or on a surfboard... I asked Jeff Ruoss, if he had ever since this before - kiting in low winds on a 9m and he confirmed that this was something new to the sport.

If you think bow kites are not changing the sport, think again!

Leo

[sceptical]

Leo - I would not attribute light wind performance to "bow" kites specifically....I'm glad you are stoked on them. For newcomers to the sport, they do have a lot to offer.

As a point of reference, my wife is light compared to me (she would kill me if I Posted her weight publically). There are many days when she is riding a 7m kite in the delta, when others are on 12/14/16m kites. It has to do w/kite flying skills and being able to create enough apparent wind in your kite. Smaller kites, have much more speed, and in the hands of a skilled operator, can do amazing things. Having good board skills, knowing how to keep it flat and use the surface of the board until you have good speed to edge, helps quite a bit as well.

The Jaime S is a very flat rocker board, which helps in light winds.

Glad everyone had fun yesterday!!!!!

Good winds + waves, Zeev.

[sflinux]

I'm not surprised by the 9M xbow jaime combo does well in light winds. The 9M xbow has the same projected area as a 11M traditional lei. I've been out on days on my 11M fuel when guys my size were on 16M leis. Flying a smaller kite only means flying it more aggresively to get the same power as someone with a bigger kite who just parks it in a certain part of the wind window. Boards make all the difference. I was on my light wind weapon going more upwind than people on bigger kites. IMO, you only need a kite big enough to get you up and planning (and obviously a heavier rider will need more kite to get up and planning). Once you are up and planning, a flat & wide board will help you maintain that plane. Bear in mind that the power generated from a kite is (1 / wind speed squared), so there does come a point where I can no longer get enough power to get up and planning on my 11M lei (based on my weight). That for me, is when bigger kites come in, so I have enough power to be up and planning in light winds (8 k).
As far as the Glid, performing better than the Glide, makes sense to me too. For a light wind board, having more surface area (i.e. wider and/or longer) will assist in maintaining a plane. Rocker takes away from the amount of surface area on the water. And imo, when you edge your back foot with a rockered board, you are effectively putting the brakes on your momentum. But if you weight your front foot and try not to edge too much thereby keeping your board nice and flat, you can maintain an effective plane, in low winds. And for me, going upwind in light winds is all about speed and momentum.