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Just had a couple of weeks in Donegal and got some good buggying practice in (still fairly new to it)

As ever on the West coast a couple of days the wind was just a bit too strong (23-24 knots and gusting slightly) for my 2.5 metre...maybe I'm just short of confidence but felt like I needed a slightly smaller kite

Seen plenty of 1.7/1.8 metre on the sites...any recommendations?

At what wind speed would you guys fly the various sizes

Cheers

Hootie

Windspeed and kite flown in those winds depend on a number of factors.

Gusty Winds - Make it harder to control the position of the kite accurately and consequently the direction of its power. I.e you might be trying to turn aggressivly but instead the kite (i.e my 3m Buster II) unexpectedly lifted me - leading to a bent back axle and concussion...

Space - In a smaller park with pedestrians losing control or sliding down wind may not be acceptable due to pedestrians or other obsticles. In this case a smaller kite would be more sensible as the consequences of a slip up may be less severe.

Experience - To an extent, plays a role. You may be able to anticipate what you're kite is going to do in those conditions and therefore have better control over it. This affords you the ability to fly a larger kite in those winds. However if you dont feel confident with a kite in any particular winds, it probably means you shouldnt be flying it in those winds, regardless of you're experience.

Aspect Ratio - Make a difference on the conditions you take it out in. For example a High Aspect ratio (long and skinny) race kite will fly faster through the sky, will probably lift more and would handle gusts badly, meaning you're more likely to loose control and it will have more severe consequences when control is lost. Whereas a low aspect ratio learner kite such as a buster will be nicer with gusts and probably not lift AS much, however they can still catch you out, just not as easily.


I wont go into Depowerable kites as you're talking about small kite sizes and i dont think there are any small depowerables, ULTIMATELY consider the following two points, after reading the above.

1. Can i keep control of this kite in those conditions?
2. Are my surroundings sufficient to allow me to recover safely If i do get dragged downwind / lifted / spun / let go of the kite?

To finish my reply. A small century or Buzz would be a good place to look. Just remember as always to start in a relatively light wind untill you find the maximum you can handle any particular kite in. You will find that through time the kite you use in any given windspeed will increase as you're demands for speed / lift / upwind performance increase...

thought a century was a race kite and so high aspect?????
a small ozone imp, pkd buster or peter lynn pepper would suffice - there are many other small `trainer` style kites out there and not much between them in the air.

of course for the ultimate high wind kite then a 6m peter lynn phantom beats everything once you have learned about depower.

Ye, I wouldnt recommend a Century. Something along the lines of a PKD Buster, Ozone Imp Quatro, or Flexifoil Buzz.
There is also a new PKD kite coming out soon which could become a good high wind kite.
More info about this kite soon.

O.

Yeap KH - it is a high aspect ratio kite. However If you have a bit of experience then the smaller ones are lovely in higher winds, simply because they recover better than their bigger brothers (IMHO). But consideration to my comments on Gusts and stability would still stand and as such would still need to be considered.

O - Im all ears about this new kite - PLEASE let it be depowerable .

Nope, not a depowerable, just smaller kites. Since the smallest Buster is a 2m and at times it would be good to have a smaller one.

O.