The guy on the 7m Soul is Petko Peychinov. He uses it for big air and loops in Cape Town. He is currently in Los Roques testing new Sonic 3. If you look on FB Kiteboarding group he is fairly active there. Wind was nuking this day (35-50+ knot gusts) - Mike was half trimmed on 7m XR6 and Petko was skiing down the beach before I grabbed him and dragged him into the water! Get some crazy updrafts in gusts at this particular spot which is why many of the Woo records are set here. Kevin Langaree did a KevLog about the biggest jumps he ever did on same day - he was out slightly earlier with Lasse on 8s.
I always felt more comfortable in 7m for big jump in strong wind on flat but I went to Taiwan with 30-40 knots with big kickers, then I struggled so much for the landing with the 7m, way too fast
Probably just your body position being different between the kickers and the flat water. I don't go particularly big but my body position is way tidier when I'm pushing against the wave than when I'm coming off the top of it.
I personally like 8/9/10 XR6 for big air, 7 I find a bit small. I can hold 8 down until gusting 45 knots or so. Only had 3 days this season in Cape Town when was stronger than that and needed 7. I'm 78kg riding 138x42 Torque board. This day was one of those days when was gusting 50+ knots.
