Big kites are for 8-17kn with the capability up to the low 20's and having fun while no one else is(although it's getting more well known now) . Any more you might as well switch to your GOTO kite to stay in the sweet spot. Let's stay focused on what it's all about.
I love getting out there in light wind.
The different makes have their strong points that will suit different people.

Pricesely KP. You'd be mad not to take ALL your kites on a trip, and the bigger the better. My biggest is 14mtr which is not considered a 'light wind' kite for someone around 80kg, but it works for me on anything below 18knots and above 14. Of course I am considering winds below 5 beufort to be a light wind. Anything lower and I'll have to pull out my Flysurfers. Yeah!

i rode a 19m cabrinha crossbow LW on a slinshot glide think there 150cm in next to nothin in canada few months ago session saver thats 4 sure. wind was 5-8 knots max. im in mexico atm and rode my 14m RPM on a 142 misfit at about 10-12 knots mowin the lawn tho haha. im lookin at a zephyr or edge to fill the gap.

Loftywinds said..

Pricesely KP. You'd be mad not to take ALL your kites on a trip, and the bigger the better. My biggest is 14mtr which is not considered a 'light wind' kite for someone around 80kg, but it works for me on anything below 18knots and above 14. Of course I am considering winds below 5 beufort to be a light wind. Anything lower and I'll have to pull out my Flysurfers. Yeah!

Haha, yep well thats my job! I have 8 and 14M 2014 Cats, 12M 2014 C4, 10M 2014 Reo, and the Kitepower branded Zephyr, with a giant lawn mover TT the 2014 Cab 1.65 x 48 Stylus, then a 2013 Cab 5'10" Skillet, and the 1.32 Axis 2014 Vanguard, amazing what this van will swallow up, and we still had room for tons of other gear as well as the cook and cuddler!
Heading back to Sydney today, about to have a sneaky look at Old Bar "for lunch" ha! Traffic heading North is insane, pity anyone going that way they are in for some very long snarls on the carpark that is called the Pacific Hwy!

theDoctor loves to ride the fat ladies...

I previously had a 2012 zephyr, the zephyr was a great light wind kite but for me was just too slow to turn to play in the small summer waves here, every other aspect was great but I wanted something a bit different for my local conditions. I've used the zephyr here and Bali, fun but not exactly what I wanted/needed. To each his own.


Finally had a decent session on the 17m griffin trx today in 9-13 knots, (2.30 to 4. 30 pm see BOM chart aireys inlet vic ) mostly 9 -10 knots with just a hint of white caps on the water, an incoming tide over the reef and channel probably robbed me of 1-2 knots, so now I know it's bottom end (for me ) I'm pretty happy, would be a handful at 18 + knots but I'd downsize at 15 knots anyway so it fits the low wind window I was after.


Stats today - 82 kg rider on a 142 x 40 underground flx double concave bottom. The trx is a 3 strut low aspect, close to a delta style kite. I have no connections with griffin at all, I do have a 7m 09 griffin that is a great little kite, rarely used due to lack of consistent big winds here but fun over 25 knots.


I spent about 2 hrs today on the trx, took a good half hour to get the feel and get some performance, in the end motoring upwind and playing in small reef waves, I don't care about the physics or characteristics of how it turns, but it does turn fast for a 17, suits what i wanted from a big kite, definitely quicker than the zephyr, for me anyway. The zephyr might wind an upwind battle but the trx performs upwind fine for me.


So at the end of the day, I'd rather kite all day on a 7 or 9 m kite but that's just not feasible here, so im very happy with the 17 trx for my kiting and locations, may not be for everyone, Will definitely be taking it to Bali next year.


Only negative would be pretty heavy bar pressure but I might be able to tweak that a bit by trying different knots on the kite rear lines, then again the zephyr was fairly heavy as well and the 2012 had no adjustments on the kite.

Be interesting to see if the bottom end will be much different on my 6' surfboard.

On a side note, yesterday was a nice 20-25 knots, about 20 kites and a dozen pole dancers out, today just me, the trx, sun and fun, why would anyone want a big kite ?

The fact is a smaller kite is far more fun than a big kite which are all slower turning and not as responsive and of course when the wind is light all kites turn slower anyway. I am also not 70kg of pure muscle with pro kiteboarder skills; I am 70kg of pure muscle with 25kg of extra insulation with average kiteboarding skills and my time when I can kite surf is restricted by work and family commitments. Therefore having a light wind kite in my quiver I would say doubles the number of days I can get out on the water. Especially on the sydney northern beaches where the seabreeze is frequently borderline and the currents always unfavourable.

I have the 2014 Cabrihna Contra 17m, which gets me up on going on my twin tip from 12 knots and on a surf board from 8. Main issue being that when the wind is really light the kite does not turn fast enough to generate the extra power to keep my fat ass up and plaining so the extra flotation is essential. Once the wind is stronger the kite turns perfectly quick enough but just generates so much power you really don't need to. The kite goes upwind well and goes great in gusty conditions and is easy enough to self land so that when the wind has finally picked up you can quickly go in and swap it for you're 12m