Hi all
Just another newby trying to get my head around the many choices of TT and what size for my 6"1 95/100 kg ??.Ive just baught a 2013 BWS noise 10 m and in the long run am keen to get into the waves but in the mean time just trying to get up and out of the water,hold an edge etc.I have a history of surfing wakeboarding snowboarding since i was young growing up in Newcastle Im now in Gove NT and with very limited kiters around [one that i know of]so its hard to ask old mate setting up next to you,The wind here in the dry is normally about 12 to 20 knots it can be more and it can be less but thats about the average .I have an old 136 TT but its only 36 wide and am havin a F$#k of a time so im thinking the board is letting me down .As soon as i dive the kite it pulls me up and out of the water but then all power disapears and i sink,Ive tried getting up and then digging my rail in ,tried going downwind etc but always the same thing, I SINK after enitial take off .No i havent taken any lessons as there is no one within 1000Km and a $1000 plane fare to get them,I did in fact get hold of a training kite well a 5M foil and lernt pretty quickly how much power the wind has as it had 2 handles and not a bar with no depower and as a result found myself with grass burns to most of the front of my body and missing a couple of mm off my elbows I have researched and reserched and watched all the beginner vids watched u tube how toos ,I also Got the one kiter in town to take me down the beach the first time i got the kite out and in the air and he went through all the stuff he lernt body drags self rescue double check your set up and check again just in case.Yeah hes a newby too so it was still pretty fresh in his head.since then ive flown the kite probably 20 times and done all the exercises 11 oclock to 3 oclock 1 o clock to 9 oclock and no there isnt much chance of hurting someone except myself as there is no one around on the beaches up here to hurt except mabey the odd local who are few and far between .Anyway the water is usually pretty smooth and ill probably be keen on a few jumps etc when i get the hang of it ,any advice would be apreciated
Cheers in advance

95-100 kg 10m kite ? 12-20 knots there's your problem your gonna need a seriously big board ,you should of got a 12-14m for your weight in those winds to learn on ,basically your seriously underpowered for your weight as a Lerner ,down the track the 10m should be a good 16-28+ knot kite but for now your gonna struggle.

At 36 wide the board is a waste of time I'd be looking for something around the mid 140's long and 44-46 wide.
I'm fairly close to your weight and use a 142x43 as my light winder but in 10-18 I'm usually on a 14-17 m kite so there's a big difference to the 10m.

Maybe I should just jump on my surfboard then and try and learn on that.the reason I got a bws noise 10 m was that they are ment to be the equivalent of a 12 m?? And that was the size everyone I talked to said I would need for my weight.I talked to someone from a kite shop about buying a 12 m bws and they reckoned way to big ,like driving a truck???go the 10....:(:(:(

Are you still in the Northern Territory ? If so bad advice. Those winds don't have a lot of punch. Yeh man go strapless straight away I say!!

Surfboard strapless is gonna be a long road TT to start is def gonna be easier ,but your weight in tropical 12-20 average your gonna struggle I dont doubt the Bws is grunty for it's size there are a lot of 10 m kites that are grunty for their size, if the 12 is a truck then look for a 14 of a diff brand use it to get going on then once you have the skills then you can go the 10 down the track personally I'd say you've been misinformed on the size of kite you should of started on,we have a colder climate here so wind is denser and if someone came to me at 95-100 kg wanting to learn in 12-20 I would recommend a 14m minimum with a board 138-144 x 42-46 .

"As soon as i dive the kite it pulls me up and out of the water but then all power disapears and i sink"

Once you are up on the board you have to bring your kite back up to 12 as quick as possible - this stroke is what keeps you up on the plane and moving.

That said, for your size you seem to be well underpowered. My largest kite is a 12 m and that doesn't really get me going until it's blowing 18-20. 12 knots? Drink beer instead.

Hey farNT. I'd say radman4 has nailed it. I'm more than 10 kg lighter than you and I learnt on a 10m kite in 20-25 knots. That seemed to be a good fit. If your sinking you definately dont have enough power. Below 18 knots is tricky for everyone, more so for learning. A bigger TT will definately help but I'd say you'd be still be up against it unless you get a larger kite. No need to sell the 10m. That will keep for higher wind.

Even with a bigger board your gonna be well underpowered, especially if your a beginner as lightwind riding takes some finness especially being a big bloke, if you were a mate id tell you to get a big kite like the zephyr or equivelent, ride your surfboard in 12 to 15 then the tt up to low 20 s

Select to expand quote

lostinlondon said..

"As soon as i dive the kite it pulls me up and out of the water but then all power disapears and i sink"

Once you are up on the board you have to bring your kite back up to 12 as quick as possible - this stroke is what keeps you up on the plane and moving.




...to add as you bring the kite up, slightly sheet out to give the kite speed (upstroke can provide just as much oommph as the down stroke if done correctly), also come off your rail and head downwind slightly, then kite down, slightly sheet in, lean into the rail, repeat until kite locks off, then just slight adjustments with rail and sheet.

But you won't get there on that kite unless is very strong in those northern winds.

Zephyr would be ideal actually.

The Darwin crew have their 14m as there high wind kites! the zephyr as their all round kite then I kno the big fella has a 18m dyno for the lighter stuff. or just get a 19m edge (later on) and be done with it!

Agree with Eppo.

Glad you have survived the self learning process

I am 85 kg - intermediate / advanced - learnt in Darwin - Gove is windier than here - so you have ended up in a better place and I believe some waves

Unfortunately you will have put the 12 m and the TT away for the wet season or the windier dry season days . They will have a use but not bread and butter

My go to kite is 14m rebel or evo and now 17m zephyr which I suspect will become the go to . I use a nugget and sb mostly .

Suggest 14-17m and a bigger TT to begin with . When you are up and running then you will know whether to go down the 19 m edge path . Just would be concerned about having the ability to hold down the big kite safely in the upper end of the wind range while learning although I have seen Tony(similar weight to you) out on the edge in 22-25 kts when I was on a 12m . He's more committed to power than me .
Drink beer too .

Speak to Geoff at Fun Supply in Darwin - he knows the conditions well and will give good service and advice

If you are in Darwin search us out along the Casuarina coastline . Heinekin opens all sorts of doors in the journey

PM me if you like

Select to expand quote

[b]eddiemorgs said..[/b

I am 85 kg -

Not sure if I would believe Eddie , he has just returned from Bali and must be more than 85 kg.
Joking, his reply is on the money.

Thanks Ian ...
Have returned with no weight gain. Had hoped for some loss to amount of time on the water but bin tang and nasi goreng may have held me back.

As your query was about TT size, to give you some calibration, I started on a 137x42.

I'm 85kg, and I use a 9m Lithium above 20knots, and 12m Switchblade from ~15-20 knots. This is in Perth so wind temp/moisture/density probably somewhat different, but it's a data point for you. If you are riding a 136 TT with a 10m kite sounds like you are underpowered as all the other posts suggest.

Solutions to being underpowered are (in no particular order) a) Bigger Kite, b) Bigger board, c) Better technique. Option C only gets you so far. As you already have the 10m kite, and a 136 board, getting a bigger TT board for your weight isn't going to do it for you given the kite, so you step into option A. So while you asked about TT size, pretty much everyone here has responded with kite size discussion (outside of SB/Directional stuff). If you are building a quiver, then you don't want gaps above 3-4m between them, so building on your 10m kite, your in the land of 13m & 16m, or 14m & 18m. I'm putting that in cos you'll likely go buy the bigger one first (16/17/18m), but will soon find yourself with a gap. Helps to think about it in advance!

Good luck!

cheers for all the info lads looks like im gonna have to see the minister for finance again, petty sure she wont be impressed, 19 m out in 25knots f#$k id love to see that,, where in darwin do you kite?? do you use chain mail instead of wetsuit or just carry a powerhead ???lol

Nah those northern winds are pussy man, no probs on a 19m edge at all.

Lots of good advice here.
Honestly farNT you are going nowhere on that gear.
Bigger kite for sure etc etc. The thing no-one has explained fully is about board size. Its mentioned a few times as a 136 - which may sound only a little undersize for your weight (once you are skilled).
BUT you say 136x36. This is WAY way way undersize as well as obviously being a really old board - they come much wider these days.
Consider this:
A shapers rule many quote is 1cm extra width = 4cm extra length.
At 95kgs+ a reasonable 'right size' board would be around the 136>138x44 area. (some like bigger some like smaller - trying for an average here)
Comparing a modern day 137x44 to your 36cm wide skinny-mini you would need to add 32cm to the length making your 'right size' board; at 36 wide; a 168x36 !!!!
Dude - if nothing else you have to ditch that board - it will never ever work for you.
And take the big kite advise as well. Customers in Broome - more & thicker wind than where you are - have quivers starting at about 14m for your weight.

PS (BWS dealer)
The 10M Noise = about what most expect of an 11M - not really 12M.
IMO even the 12M Noise (13M other) would be too small to make things easy for you to get started in the tropics.
The 12M Noise = about what most expect of an 13M.
12M or 13M (maybe 10/11M?) may be your small kite once you are skilled up & on a surfboard.

there is a cabrina chopstics 154x45 on the buy and sell for $300, to big ??????

... might be too late here but 154 x 45 would be good. And when you get more experienced, it will double as your light wind board as you will out grow this one soon enough.

Gone are the days where smaller is better. It used to be, ride the biggest kite and smallest board. At my super heavy weight of 120 kg, I rode a 20m North Rhino and a 128cm x 39cm years ago, now I ride 14 or 17m and 144 x 46cm TT.

A bigger board doesn't necessarily mean its a handful either, and will also allow you to ride our skinny gutless tropical winds with an average size kite. Unless your small dude, 10 - 12m are just a little small, 14m is good, especially with a bigger board like the Chopstick.

Anyway, good luck and watch out for them big swimming gecko's!

cheers,

Robbie

p.s. saw the biggest hammer head shark of my life out the front of Gove years ago, Darwin's got nothing on Gove, real wildman country there!

Cheers puetz for the info have bought a 15 m liquid force edge and a 145 x43 vanhunks bucca and in cairns at the mo having a crack at getting them sorted :):) buy the way don't Eva try getting a 15 m LF edge relaunched out of the water in under 15 knots f$&@?ng hard work. Lol
Cheers
Don

I battled to get up on the board it took me ages and when l did l got pulled over the board and faceplanted or sunk back into the water.
To get the jist of how much kite power you need tie a piece of rope at roughly 45degrees to where you are going to stand to a post or tree and attach it to your speader bar hook.
Lean back at 45degrees with the correct stance let the rope take your weight so you get an idea of how much tension is on your harness.
Remember you are not balancing on the board like surfers do you are edging against the kite so you have to lean back.
When you launch your kite and park it at +-45 degrees the kite must have almost the same amount of pull.
If you are overpowered you will find the kite will keep picking up speed until you wipe out unless you can edge enough to keep your board speed under control.LEAN back if this happens point your hips and look upwind put as much weight on your back heelside foot as possible.
If you are not looking upwind you will find it hard to go upwind.
Keep your body as straight as you can no bending at the waist and shoulders back.
Good luck.
Des.

Ocean Rodeo Origin 142x47

Easy, smooth riding do-anything board - I love it! Bloody good price too...