Landboarding Lightweight Kite Size

by Carol
(Blacksburg, VA, USA)

I'm about 120 lbs and want to get a trainer kite to learn the basics, but also to potentially use for landboarding. The Rush III pro series looks appealing, but I'm debating if the 250 would be powerful enough and if the 300 would drag me around too much. There's an Ozone one that is between the two too that I was considering. Up here at school windy days are very windy and erratic, but not too windy at home. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

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Landboarding Lightweight Kite Size

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Mar 19, 2010

It all depends on the variables...
by: Glen - KiteboardingEvolution.com

Hi Carol,

Thanks for the question. It's a tough one to answer because there are so many variables to consider.

Overall, I think the Rush 250 would be too small to landboard with (unless it was very windy and you were on a low friction surface). The 300 would be ok (again wind dependent), and the 350 would get you even closer (again wind dependent).

To give an example of what it takes to ride with a kite, here's an example: While using a Rush 350 and a snowboard on a frozen lake with about 4 inches of snow, I was able to do the following -

15 - 18 knots - Ride downwind only.
19 - 22 knots - Ride across the wind.
22 knots + - Ride upwind.

I weighed 150 lbs at the time. The one thing that has a big impact on kite size is the resistance of the land you will be riding on. On the lake with packed snow and ice, I had very low friction and didn't need a very big kite (but still needed quite a bit of wind).

For you with a landboard, the equivalent of the lake would probably be hard packed sand. Anything else (like grass, soft sand, softer dirt) would require more power to ride on. It also depends on your wind. If you get 30 knots (eek!), then you won't need a very large kite.

So, I don't think that a Rush 250 will give you enough power to landboard, but you probably could handle it just fine.

If you went bigger, you would have a better chance of playing with your landboard, but the kite would have more power on those 'recreational' flying days.

For my girlfriend (106 lbs), a Rush 300 is beyond her comfort zone in 12 + knot winds, but it would do OK in a snowkiting situation like the one above. (But she doesn't kiteboard, so this isn't really a good example).

I know this doesn't really give you a concrete answer, but I hope the examples help you figure out which kite size will make you happy.

Good Luck!

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Mar 19, 2010
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Submitted by: Glen - KiteboardingEvolution.com

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Hi Carol, Thanks for the question. It's a tough one to answer because there are so many variables to consider. Overall, I think the Rush 250 would be too small to landboard with (unless it was very windy and you were on a low friction surface). The 300 would be ok (again wind dependent), and the 350 would get you even closer (again wind dependent). To give an example of what it takes to ride with a kite, here's an example: While using a Rush 350 and a snowboard on a frozen lake with about 4 inches of snow, I was able to do the following - 15 - 18 knots - Ride downwind only. 19 - 22 knots - Ride across the wind. 22 knots + - Ride upwind. I weighed 150 lbs at the time. The one thing that has a big impact on kite size is the resistance of the land you will be riding on. On the lake with packed snow and ice, I had very low friction and didn't need a very big kite (but still needed quite a bit of wind). For you with a landboard, the equivalent of the lake would probably be hard packed sand. Anything else (like grass, soft sand, softer dirt) would require more power to ride on. It also depends on your wind. If you get 30 knots (eek!), then you won't need a very large kite. So, I don't think that a Rush 250 will give you enough power to landboard, but you probably could handle it just fine. If you went bigger, you would have a better chance of playing with your landboard, but the kite would have more power on those 'recreational' flying days. For my girlfriend (106 lbs), a Rush 300 is beyond her comfort zone in 12 + knot winds, but it would do OK in a snowkiting situation like the one above. (But she doesn't kiteboard, so this isn't really a good example). I know this doesn't really give you a concrete answer, but I hope the examples help you figure out which kite size will make you happy. Good Luck!

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Apr 01, 2010

thanks!
by: Carol

Yeah, since I asked that I've figured bigger would be better. I think mainly I want a trainer to fly, but potentially strong enough to pull me around a bit if I wanted. My primary goal is to learn how to fly a kite for kiteboarding anyway. I think I'll order the 300 soon. Thanks again!

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