What is a Good Family-Sized Trainer Kite?

by Jeremy
(Oregon)

I'm sure you get tired of size questions, but I was curious if any of your review statistics (great job, by the way) included children?

We are planning to get a trainer kite for my wife and 3 kids (pre-teen) to play with, but of course I would love to get one big enough for my boys to even try land-boarding (grassy hills) in a year or two (still < 100lbs). I was wondering if the HQ Rush 250 PRO would be too big for them (the 3rd line is appealing)...

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What is a Good Family-Sized Trainer Kite?

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Apr 24, 2010

2.5 ish...
by: Glen - KiteboardingEvolution.com

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for the question, and I don't get sick of them. Kite sizing is one of the most challenging decision when choosing a kite for kids (and light people like girlfriends, etc...).

I don't think that the Rush PRO 250 is too big. If your kids are under 100 lbs right now, it should still be fun but have a some pull to challenge them.

This all depends on wind though. If you take a Rush 250 out in 20 knots of wind, it will have tonnes of power and probably will pull too hard. If you take it out in 5-10 knots, it won't pull very hard at all. If you're out in 15 knots, it will be challenging for the kids (most likely).

And that brings me to landboarding... a kite that has little pull and is easy to fly for kids probably won't have enough pull to landboard. But, if you take it out in higer winds (20 kt +) it probably will. It all depends on surface though, if you're on soft sand you need more wind and a bigger kite. If you're on a hard packed beach or salt flat, you need less wind or a smaller kite. It's really hard to predict the right kite size without seeing the wind and the location.

A good rule of thumb though is if whoever wants to board can fly the kite without getting pulled around, the kite (or wind) is too small (or too light) to use a board. In this case, you'd have to move up to a bigger kite (or more wind) to get the traction that you need.

E.G - This is the example that I always give, but it's a good one. I was out on a frozen lake in 15 knots of wind with a trainer kite. The kite pulled a bit, but I wasn't overpowered. I strapped on a board and didn't have enough wind to ride anywhere appreciably. I went downwind and that's pretty much all. Now, when I went out in 22 knots of wind with the same kite, I was very overpowered - I had too much power to just fly the kite standing. I was getting pulled and thrown all over the place. But when I strapped on the board, I had just enough power to board on the lake (and it was a blast).

So, to answer your question - the Rush 250 is a great size for kids (and the 3rd line is the safest and easiest choice), but if you want to play with a landboard, you're going to have to find a low-friction surface and more wind than usual in order to land board. It can be done though.

I hope this helps! I have a video that I can show you that one guy has sent me of his kid doing this kind of thing, but I don't yet have permission to upload it. I have uploaded it to a private YouTube account, so if you'd like to see just send me an email and I'll send you the link. Also, post any further questions below if you have any more.

Thanks!

Glen
KiteboardingEvolution.com

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