What is the ideal trainer kite size?

by Nat
(Vancouver, Canada)

I want to learn to fly a training kite, but I'm not sure what the the best size of kite is for me. I don't want to get pulled too much and I weigh around 115 pounds.

Any suggestions?

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What is the ideal trainer kite size?

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May 10, 2009

The Ideal Trainer Kite Size Depends on Weight, Wind, and You.
by: Glen - KiteboardingEvolution.com

Hi Nat,

Thanks for the question - and what a great one too!

In my experience, this is a very common question for people looking at getting into kiteboarding. We all want a kite that will be fun, yet one that is not too large and will help us learn all of the skills we need to learn quickly and safely.

Choosing an ideally sized kite depends on three things:

Your weight.

The wind conditions that you will be flying it in.

and, what exactly YOU want to get out of your kite.

Your ideal kite size will change depending on where you fall on this scale.

To give you an idea of what might work for you (from my knowledge of the average weather in the Vancouver area, your weight, and from what my ongoing trainer kite reviews are showing (more on this below)), you will probably be well suited with:

a 1.5 - 2.5 m2 trainer kite, UNLESS you really want to use the trainer to try snowkiting or landboarding. In that case you might like a 3-3.5 m2 kite (but be aware that a kite this size is extremely powerful and can easily overpower you in 10 knots of wind or more).

This is a very tough question to answer given the variables, but it is one of the main questions that I am seeking an answer to in the trainer kite reviews that I am currently doing.

What I'm doing is taking many different people of different weights and having them fly kites of all sizes in all wind ranges. I'm then having them rank each kite in terms of power and safety, and from this I'm going to be able to determine which kite size is best suited for each weight range.

It's from these tests that the answer I gave you comes from, but without more information it's impossible to give a 100% concrete answer.

If you are interested, this page has more information on the trainer kite reviews.

Thanks for the question and I hope this helps!

Glen

Oct 04, 2009

3m
by: Mathias

Hi! I would recommend a 3m2 kite. if you buy a smaller one it's fun at the beginning but later you will have no use for it else then showing it to some other guys who want to practice. as said in the comment above a 3m2 you can already use for snowkiting for example, you can use a mountainboard too and have a lot of fun ;) Hope that helps.

Cheers

Mathias
Welovetokite.com Kiteboarding News

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