Hi guys firstly a bit of background....started kiting a year ago on a 12m switchblade of a mates and his best spark 140....had lessons then used the above mentioned gear to have fun and progress but never progressed to being able to travel upwind other than maintaining my ground when messing around due to ridiculous work/play time commitments at the time....so still consider myself a greenhorn newbie...ps 15-20+ knot winds on a good day...
Finally told the boss to go shove it as lifes too short to slave away all day long and at the start of the year bought a brand new 2013 13m North Rebel and was given an as new 2011 north Jamie 135...(best mate ever!!! lol) as i now have lots of time to invest in kiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im now 95KG +/- (fit and trim etc...just a big guy) and now even with a slightly larger kite have either lost it all lol or else this board is too small for me (and im leaning towards the latter hopefully....or is the rebel not ideal for a newbie ?) as i struggle alot more now to even stay cruising let alone even attempt to head upwind....and when i am up cruising if i try to edge hard the board just seems to skip alot and is quite hard to hold an edge...does anyone else think these north board rails feel a little too light/thin to really dig it in and hold it there ??
Not much to demo where i live unfortunately but not scared to buy and try but really need some advice plz in regards to buying something that suits me for a while...
* Board Size
* Models
* What boards "feel" a bit more "solid/dense" if ya know what i mean..
Any advice and pointers or even any sellers out there plz dont hesitate to post or pm me as i really am at a standpoint in knowing what to buy ...
cheers
Tim
So I would go a little longer 140+ for that weight... but the skipping you mention is (in my experience) due to combination of angles, and foot hold. To flat = lots of skipping.
So steeper angle, and move heels further down the foot pad toward the water.. the board should create a nice bow wave that sprays out the side and behind you, and if you edge too hard, the chop will start washing up your front leg... which is how you can trim for the sweet spot. If your wearing a wet suit you'll get balloon leg.
hope that helps.
I think you just need to work on the technique.... Both the board and kite are fine for a beginner..and your weight. A slightly larger board will possibly help slightly but it's not critical
Keep Woking on it and it will all click again
to help prevent skipping concentrate on getting your weight on your back foot heel side.
I'm 93kg and ride a 128cm Nobile NHP
I think you have not got your weight enough on your back foot, if the board is skipping etc it sounds like you are squaring up the board to the kite and creating too much drag which is why you are not getting up in the plane. Focus on really pointing your leading leg and keeping it straight and also lift your toes on this foot this should really help you to get a good heel side edge and get up on a plane. Once you are planing then staying there is just practice.
Hi There,
I ride a North Rebel 13m with the Jaime Pro 139
I tried the 135 it felt too short bought the 139, I am 95 kg and 6'4''
this combination for me is the best set up i have ever had so far
ps. I started on a Cabrinha Nitro with an Underground 164 and struggled to edge
holding an edge is 90% technique
my 2 cents worth
Cheers
You also want to make sure you're not flying your kite too high, this can pull you off your edge when powered. It could also be smaller fins that you're not used to, you'd be surprised at the amount of difference a couple of centimeters make when it comes to keeping your edge. This is another factor that can be fixed by keeping your kite low however.
Just keep in mind that board size is also relative to the size kite you're flying and the amount of wind you have. Around 7-8 years ago there was a trend going around where a lot of guys were riding tiny twin tips (I think Marin Vari was riding sometihng around 90cm in some of his vids? Some of the guys here can probably confirm who it was and how short). In the end it turned out that they didn't have the pop of the longer boards hence the reason it fizzled out, but I rode a 118 for about 2 years and loved it although I'm 20kg lighter than you..
I wouldn't go blowing your cash on new gear just yet especially considering you no longer have an income! Double check your technique and if you're certain that's not the issue then start looking at new gear.
