Rider: 75kg
Level: ok, but want to get much better
Style: want to go in the wake direction
Weather: 15 - 25 knots. gusty and inconsistent
ahoy all, just a 1 sessions away from landing a handle pass, so I want to go down that direction of kiteboarding.
I have been doing some research on "c kites" and like the idea. problem is that no one rides ckites where I live and the nearest kite shop is 6 hours away so have nowhere in my town to try these sort of kites. my dilemma is that the wind is often gusty and inconsistent where I live. How do these kites perform with ****ty winds. I have a fantastic flat water spot but crappy wind.
any info would be fantastic.
cheers, peace out!!
Hi Kemp
If you are asking how well a C will handle gusts compared to what you are using you need to let us know, what you are currently using or what you want to compare it to as not all C's are created equal.
However as a general rule a C will react quicker to gusts than a delta or bow hybrid, but you have to good board skills. The chicken loop does not have so much effect on depower as it does with a delta or hybrid bow. Also in the lulls the C can be worked harder to generate more power.
So IMO with good board and kite skills you can get better performance in gusts from a C than a delta or bow hybrid.
Sweet, well I ride a 11m north rebel and a 9m fone bandit 6., with a fone acid 132,. I guess what I'm after is more pop and slack line. So what your saying with the chickenloop depowering doesn't do much, can you still trim it so it doesn't rip your arms off when you unhook? Or have I miss understood that?
Had the 8m C4 2011 out today in 20 to 30 knots gusty as buggery it did alright but I gotta say first time using a kite under 10m so it's a new experience for me lol. One thing ill mention kite is extremely light on the bar
c kites are overhyped as to the amount of power they deliver and the "unforgivingness". If you are attempting passes go for it! You won't look back
Try a vegas maybe - good depower easy handling, torch ok too except you gotta depower to set it perfect for unhooking which is dumb. fuel has less depower. switch combat sort of in between a fuel and torch - its slower across sizes which is great for unhooking but sucks if you want to waveride with bigger sizes. Still havnt found my perfect c kite - gonna try the 2014 Liquid Force soon - kind of want more of an allround kite - totally cant stand the marketing of kites towards one particular style of riding. I don't reckon c kites are the realm of the ultimate freestyle kite any more as hybrid kites are so much better than they were - i am sticking with c kites though, i just don't trust bridles and pulleys not to ruin my session - stuck in my ways maybe...
Select to expand quotekemp90 said..
Sweet, well I ride a 11m north rebel and a 9m fone bandit 6., with a fone acid 132,. I guess what I'm after is more pop and slack line. So what your saying with the chickenloop depowering doesn't do much, can you still trim it so it doesn't rip your arms off when you unhook? Or have I miss understood that?
Ha Ha. no wonder you arms are getting pulled off when you unhook if your using a Rebel and a Bandit.
Mate you are doing so well if you are getting close to making a pass with those kites.
As Big ezzeee said don't be put off by the reputation of a C.
Modern C's are not the scary beast they used to be. Once you get a C it will be so much easier to make the pass. Pop hard and the slack will come, and yes you can trim them.
I too need lots of slack cos of my old arthritic joints, and use a Torch, but others that have very good slack are, Razor, Hadlow Pro, HifiX and Fuel.
Go for it, you will improve heaps 
Haha cheers for all the support, I was out today it tying to pass on my rebel and getting closer but so little slack. I'm thinking of getting the switch kite combat, anybody like this kite? It has a 5th line, not a real fan of the 5th line but might be different with c kites. Only looking at switch kites because of the affordability.
Select to expand quoteiandvnt said..
Try a vegas maybe - good depower easy handling, torch ok too except you gotta depower to set it perfect for unhooking which is dumb. fuel has less depower. switch combat sort of in between a fuel and torch - its slower across sizes which is great for unhooking but sucks if you want to waveride with bigger sizes. Still havnt found my perfect c kite - gonna try the 2014 Liquid Force soon - kind of want more of an allround kite - totally cant stand the marketing of kites towards one particular style of riding. I don't reckon c kites are the realm of the ultimate freestyle kite any more as hybrid kites are so much better than they were - i am sticking with c kites though, i just don't trust bridles and pulleys not to ruin my session - stuck in my ways maybe...
maybe the old torches but the new torches unhook perfect out of the bag
would be stoked if that was the case, torches good for wave riding and freestyle - ill try one to double check, but a friend has 2014 torches and says you still have to depower to completely stop chance of backstalling. My torch 2012. A huge chicken loop would resolve problem I reckon. 2007 fuel was my fave ever kite - 7m / 11m. Switch combat 9m (more like a 9.5/10m really) is best size I reckon and for sure so much more affordable, i'd ride it with a vegas bar and lines if I could afford it (i have borrowed 2013 bar and lines), but probably going to get back into modifying bar and lines custom style like back in the day as am over companies like naish making it so hard to quickly and easily replace depower strap for example (snapped my 2013 one last week)... huge drama.. also prefer 22m to 24m lines which have too much delay for my liking. Naish make an awesome QR safety tho - works really well.
Fact is u need more kites to cover unhooking whatever kite u ride if you want perfectly tuned...cos once unhooked depower does not come into equation at all.
5th line- you take the rough with the smooth - you dont need a 5th with smaller combats. i use one cos i dont like a yank on suicide when bailing (old age) and cos i trust fully fagging 5th line above anything else especially in harsher conditions - light moderate I dont mind riding suicide. If you end up with 5th tied around kite (rare but does happen) - flag out onto 5th line completely - haul in - usually sorts it out. If you bail a trick unhooking do not carry on downwind with hands in air asking yourself why you did not catch bar - dig in rail and stop - reduced chance of kite flipping over/ inside one half of 5th line.
To get good slack do you take off very fast without loading too much, i unhook fly downwind - edge hard untill i have a good amount of tension then pop - i dont get much slack - more riders i see today seem to unhook and be in the air in one microsecond - no loading no nothing.
I'm amazed that you can nearly do a pass on a Rebel. I kite in gusty rubbish too and C kites will surge in gusts so you need to edge hard until the kite reaches the edge of the wind window where the pull will become more controllable. Modern C kites still have pretty wide wind ranges though. The Combat is a nice C kite, lots of slack. The new Switch bar is very customisable. I've gone for dropping onto the fifth line as dragging through the shallows while wearing boots is not much fun.
The only c kite in my area that my crew has is a 08 11m fuel and he hates it
, he recons it is just to hard to get the power in the lulls, but I'm sure the technology has changed since then. After reading all your opinions I think I deffently need to get a c kite to progress in that style of kiting
07-08 fuels are gutless as. 2009 onwards are basically a completely different kite. If you can find a 9 or 11m fuel from 2009 cheap and in good condition you wouldnt look back
I got a vegas for Xmas and love it, and I'm only up to learning jumps. Only difference I found to a normal kite is that I over sheeted it a lot.
i do handle passes on a North Neo, its not a c and it's pretty good.
If its gusty look into "bridled C kites" Youri zoon won the championship on one- Sling**** RPM.
Other bridled kites include: Naish Park, North Dice. But go the Slinghshot , its been a round the longest so you would assume its the most refined.
People that talk about "gutless" kites being bad in my opinion seem odd. If the kite is "gutless" that just means you can ride a bigger kite that turns slower... and for wakestye that's a win - win!
I agree Sir, and I loved my 07-08 fuels for wakestyle stuff. I even used a smaller bar. I live in WA, he lives in Qld. getting a cheap 09 fuel onwards in my humble opinion would be a better option.
