Anybody knowledgable want to suggest a 3 kite 2010 Crossbow quiver for an experienced 80kg rider, and why.

I'm thinking 11-9-7.

My thoughts:

11-9-7

Pro
- good bottom end
- biggest kite is still small enough to be fast and fun
- 11 has enough top end to be fun well powered.
- 9 has enough overlap between 11 and 7 to handle stronger summer sea breeze days without being over or under powered.
- larger size kites are small enough to be fun on an unstrapped surfboard.
- relatively close sizes spreads the wear and tear and reduces problems in choosing the wrong size kite
- 7 has enough top end for those ridiculously strong days and has decent bottom end.

Con
- Lose a few knots of bottom end

13-10-7

Pro
- More bottom end
- Using a bigger kite in light winds with a TT is easier than trying to mess around with a surfboard.

Con
- Big kite has truckier handling
- More chance of wind building and being overpowered on a big kite.
- Bit more of a gap between sizes makes kite choice more critical

You're either a gangster, you have no wife, or you bought fortescue when it floated for $0.02 and sold it for six bucks. That's gonna cost you a small fortune.

Gorgo, I've got an 09 Xbow 9m IDS and that sucker can pull. I weigh 90kg and my biggest kite is a 12m Xbow IDS. The dealer told me that the 11m Xbow has a better low-end than the 12m Switchy but the Switchy handles better in the surf. You should be fine with the 11-9-7 quiver.

i think 7 9 11

gorgo, at 80kg you are about 5 kg less than me. I havent ridden the xbow's,(have sb3's)but understand the xbow has a better bottom end. I doubt that u would need a kite as big as the 13 unless you kite alot in 10knot territory. The 11m should be big enough for you. If you are worried about the bottom end, a specialist lightwind board like a ss glide or a underground zepher would be probably better with the 11m, than the 13 and your normal tt.the lightwind board will also cost u less the 50% of the price of the 13m.
As for the smaller kites, it's a pity they don't make an 8m, that would be perfect!. I personally think the 9m is too much of an overlap with the 11m. I disagree with u, I think having kite sizes too close together makes it harder to choose the right sized kite. I would choose the 7m. U could use the 11m from 10-20knots, the 7m from 20-35knots. There is about a 5-7knot overlap between the kites. Thats plently. Using 2 or 3 different sized boards really helps consolidate your riding options.
Anyway its food for thought.

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dutchy1985 said...

You're either a gangster, you have no wife, or you bought fortescue when it floated for $0.02 and sold it for six bucks. That's gonna cost you a small fortune.

ah dutchy, you're still new around here eh? there's a lovely bloke in china who sells crossbows on e-bay for next to nothing. no small fortune required.

My 2c worth

13-10-7

Pro
- More bottom end on the 13, its less trucky this year, but still has a wind range of 10-20+
- Using a bigger kite in light winds with a TT is easier than trying to mess around with a surfboard.
So true, 2 boards withat quiver and you can go from 9/10 knots to 35+, with easy overlaps and big safety wind range margin.

Con
- Big kite has truckier handling, yeah to a smaller degree that any previous version
- More chance of wind building and being overpowered on a big kite, there's always a "chance" on any size kite, but the CB ISX 13 will be easily safe to handle up to 22-25 for you, and its easy to self land and/or depower.
- Bit more of a gap between sizes makes kite choice more critical. Not really any more difficult that the closer space quiver, but the 10M is the sweet spot kite and the one you will likely use the most. The 9m will lack a bit of bottom end on a lot of days, and then you would be having to ride the bigger and truckier 13M.

The 10M is the kite to base your quiver around.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

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djdojo said...

dutchy1985 said...

You're either a gangster, you have no wife, or you bought fortescue when it floated for $0.02 and sold it for six bucks. That's gonna cost you a small fortune.

ah dutchy, you're still new around here eh? there's a lovely bloke in china who sells crossbows on e-bay for next to nothing. no small fortune required.

haha im just jealous. I'd love to have 3 brand newies!!!! or even better a mate that has 3 newies

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dutchy1985 said...

You're either a gangster, you have no wife, or you bought fortescue when it floated for $0.02 and sold it for six bucks. That's gonna cost you a small fortune.

True enough but ...
- I kite ... a lot.
- Based on the use I get it costs between $10-15/hour to kite. That's cheaper than just about anything that is fun (and way cheaper than the cost of taking time off to go play.) Certainly cheaper than paying a shrink and buying drugs to keep me happy.
- I estimate I've got about 20 odd years before I get too old to have this kind of fun so there's no time to waste dicking around with crap kites.
- You only get one go to have a load of fun and you're dead a long time.

Kites like the crossbow have a huge wind range so you dont normaly need a 3 kite quiver, with the 11,9,7 quiver you would be down the beach thinking which one should i use in 19-25kts it could be any one of them. Then you would just end up with a favourite kite that would get all of the use when you cant realy make up your mind probably the 9m. That said you need to stretch out the quiver and get the maximum windrange you can like the 13,10,7. then the choice is a lot more easy to make normal day 10m light day 13m and heavy day 7m you would still have enougth overlap to pick a biger kite if you know the wind will be easing or a smaller one if the forcast is to build, then get a big and small board and you will never be the one sitting on the beach.
Last season i ran with 3kites 15m rev,12,8m bandit dos and used boards from 129 lunacy, 134 nobile 666, 137 nobile 555 and a nobile skim plus the trusty surf board and if there was wind i was there and had more time on the water than anyone. was so glad i had such a large wind range.
So i definatly recomend the 13,10,7 you will be glad you did if you go the other way drop the 9m and just get the 11,7m and buy a couple of new boards.

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waxman said...
.... and buy a couple of new boards.

I'm very happy with my board quiver. I'm looking forward to trying out a race board. I think cruising around chasing yachts on a warm light wind day would be magic.

I also have a hankering for a mutant. Sometimes the surf is a tad gnarly and I don't want to risk going over big sets riding toe side on a strapped surfboard. It would be nice to have a mutant to carve around on waves but still do half decent TT things.

13-10-7 ordered.

Underground will be releasing a race board soon.

Regards

Steve

Just a quick follow up. Picked up the Crossbow 13-10-7 quiver a couple of weeks ago.

The Crossbows take a little getting used to after the Switchblades. The turning is more centre spin than a carve around the tips. Once I adpated to that all is fine. The 13 does feel a bit like a Kenworth but it works really well. The 10 is nice and sporty and the 7 is just a 7m kite. Small and fast.

The overall impression for all the kites is smoooooth.

Physically handling the higher aspect kites is also different. Just turning the kite over on the beach takes a little more effort than the SB. Launchers have commented on how big the 13 feels. On the other hand, it's much easier to pump the kite without unfolding. My old SBs used to twist along the LE where the XB neatly unwraps itself.

In the air the 13 is like a hang glider. Amazing lift, glide and float. It's so easy to fly through the air then throw in a loop transition for the hell of it.

The top end of all the kites is excellent. We've had the 13s out in over 25 knots and not had to pull in the trimmer. The 10 is very comfortable in 30 knots and the 7 comfey well over 35 knots.

The different turning made the bottom end feel a little odd. The kites prefer to be flown in curving arcs rather than diving hard down and up strokes. Once I mastered the technique it was all good. According to the local weather station we are riding comfortably in 10-14 knots which as 3-4 knots lower than before. On several occasions I have been the only kiter out (but that was often the case with the SB12). It feels like I have more bottom end (and huge endless top end!!!!)

Launching is typical Cabrinha, although the higher aspect causes the tip to get stuck a little during light wind launching. Walking further upwind helps and reverse launches are very clean and neat. Powered launches are easy. Relaunch has been easy but I've only plonked the kites onto the water a couple of times. No fully fledged crashes or inversions yet.

Landing with IDS is so fantastically simple and safe and easy. Far easier than all the other kites I have used (and I've used a lot).

The bar is great and it's lovely to ride with just a single smooth plastic tube going through the bar. After these I would not consider other kites with 2-3 bare ropes passing through the bar.

The swivel on the IDS doesn't seem to do much so I have chosen to be more concientious in doing reverse spins and loops from time to time to keep it looking neat. I don't think a few twists are a problem and I have not thrown a kite onto the safety system in years. It's still nice to have the IDS permanently engaged rather than having to choose to go for Oh ****! loops.

The bags are nice and neat and they're fine for an obsessive like me who likes to neatly pack the kite into the bag each time. The bag for the 13 is a bit of a tight squeeze. There's no extention for leaving struts packed. The bars fit into the bag although it takes a little bit of jiggling to get them in there.

I once packed the wet kite into the bag and it was easy to get the kite out at home and hang it to dry so once you adapt it's probably easier to just pack the kite away wet and sandy and deal with it at home. It might be a good idea to take a big plastic bag or tub for kiting at beaches with no packup area.

BTW The upwind performance is excellent. I did my usual 3km upwind run in 20 minutes instead of the usual 30+.