VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

My girlfriend wants to start kiting and lives in Penticton. Just wondering what size of kite would be common for her to use on the lake???

Seen alot of guys riding 12M Rises and girls on some 9 or 10M kites.
Want to start looking for a setup for her but not sure what size kite would be the best for the area.



Any input would be great

How big or small is your girlfriend? If she is below 120 lbs I would say buy an 8M Rise, if she is over 140 lbs buy a 10M. If she is in between then you could go either way. This is if the typical kiting wind there is between roughly 12 knots and 20 knots.

You would be best to seek out a relatively local kite school and get her some lessons then take it from there with your instructor's advice regarding kite size. Kiting can be very dangerous and new kiters can be dragged along the beach and seriously injure themselves.

Good Luck

Definately...lessons, then gear....not the other way around.

In my opinion (from personal experience), you would be more likely to turn your girlfriend off of kiteboarding if you teach her, or let her teach herself.

It'll be well worth the money to invest in lessons, and then get direction from the instructor on appropriate gear to buy.

Have fun!

thankgodiatepastafobreaky wrote:How big or small is your girlfriend? If she is below 120 lbs I would say buy an 8M Rise, if she is over 140 lbs buy a 10M. If she is

known as Big Bertha, go for the 16m powerhouse

...and get a new girlfriend

Taking lessons is a necessity. You have to cut upwind to even get off the beach on Skaha so learning there is a no go. Just wanted to start looking, takes a while to find a good setup.

Well here is your hook-up for used Ocean Rodeo Rise kites.

http://www.windance.com/used-kites-c-1229.html

Don't get her an OR Diablo as it is too C shaped for a first kite.

Really recommend that she use the lesson gear (generally supplied with the kiteboard instruction), and then ask the instructor which gear would suit her needs. Leave it to the professionals.

I suggest that you don't get ahead of yourself and go online used gear shopping yet, or you may end up wasting your hard earned dollars on the wrong set-up, and possibly turning your girlfriend off your sport at the get-go.

Have fun and be safe!

you can't go wrong with a RISE unless your instructor is trying to sell a certain brand.

Yes, I'm sure a Rise would be ok.

But, Pasta, I've heard many stories of 'newbies' nearly getting turned off of kiteboarding due to a poor purchase choice at the outset, and if you go online and start looking at the used gear prematurely, then, you may end up with something that is totally wrong for your size/level/skill/local wind conditions, etc.

I stick by what I originally said...leave it to the professionals, or ask the instructor that taught you. Lessons then gear purchase.

Average wind speed for the area is 15 to 20. I have a 10M RISE. Shes average 125. I would like to get her another RISE. Great kite and can handle a pretty big wind range.

Pretty straight forward if you asked me your choices are 6, 8, 12. 12 is huge for a small person like that or big for a beginner. 6 is likely too small for a lake in the interior. Buy the 8. If she finds it's not big enough, give her your 10 and you get the new 8 and buy yourself a 12 to go with it.

Simple stuff

She'll need an 8 or a 10 for the average wind there. Not worth going out on the really light days in the summer, more frustrating than anything if you're trying to learn. Not a great place to learn unless you have a boat every time you go out. If you have a boat launch at kaleden beach for north wind. On hotter lighter days the wind is fluky and light near shore. If she's new, don't kite in South winds close to Penticton as it's onshore, can be strong and you MUST stay out of the approach path of the airport.

Your best plan might be to get a new girlfriend that already kites?!

If you want to keep her, get someone else to teach her. I don't know your gf, but I've seen a recurring pattern! Haha. I think Dean might still teach there and is an OR dealer. Email and ask how to get in touch with Dean from Penticton. If he doesn't teach, he'll know who does. I'll be in kaleden the last week of july and first week of august if you guys want to come down and get some local info and check it out. Feel free to PM me.

Or tell your girl to go to nitinaht for a week to learn:



Both are great instructors, if your girl wants to learn from a girl, marie from elevation would be the one. Girls camp next week. Tell your girl to go. I promise I won't steal her or anything!? Later,
C/

yes there does seem to be a pattern to the 'teach girlfriend to kite' phenomena. Ha Ha Ha - well actually not so funny