Hey Seabreezers, I have a Slingshot Link 12m as my second kite (just bought a new Rebel 09 12m) and was thinking of taking the Link to a sail maker and looking at cutting it down to 9m. Reasons being a second hannd 9m anything would be more then i would get for the link, thats if i could sell it. Main problems i can see would be getting the bridles in the right spot.
If any ones got a 9m link would be great if they could get me some measurements.
Look forward to seeing what you all think.
Thanks
Shane
Just cut a few big holes in the 12m Link.
But seriously, that's a silly idea. This is the kite that you want to fly when it's really blowing. You don't want to be flying Frankenstein's monster. Sell the Link to another poor unsuspecting beginner, and keep your eye out for a better second hand 9m anything. When you get a nice small kite it'll quickly become your favourite.
The effort to thrill ratio of this enterprise is just too high!
Not only do you have to get the kite cut down, you have to buy new bladders to put into the smaller struts and leading edge. This smacks of money not to mention effort. I suspect the first time you take it out it will do two things:
1. Self destruct
2. Go into deathloops, kill you, crash and then inexplicably burst into flames.
Such a freak of nature is not meant to live.
"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."
Just save the money you would have spent "chop shopping" your 12m and go and buy a 9m you tight@rse!
Hi Shane,
I think it's doable and forget what the doubters say. If at the end of the day it's a total dog, you wouldn't be out much cash and it would have been a great learning experience.
There's a website where a guy puts up plans for inflatables that you can build at home, but I can't find it at the moment, but I'll keep looking and see what comes up.
This link has a whole bunch of stuff on the theory of kite design and might give you a few pointers: http://kitesurfingschool.org/kite.htm
Good luck,
Gorilla
Edit: Just saw lostinlondon's post above and disagree that you would have to get new bladders. If you have a look at how the bladders are put in some kites, they are too long and the ends rolled up to get them to the right length. If the rolled up bit is too big, cut it shorter and seal the cut with an iron.
Building Frankenstein stuff is fun, but bear in mind that things can go wron, so be ready to bail at the first sign 
If ss couldn't get this kite to fly from brand new what chance do you have with trying to replicate a 9m and getting it to work.
There's a guy on these forums called "Stabber". Send him a PM, he will tell you exactly how to do it.
(Please share his reply with us here).
My first thought was that it is not do-able and is a crazy idea.
But thinking about it further, it might work if you chop out a rectangular slice from the middle of the kite. You would cut off centreline (twice) from leading edge (tube) to trailing edge and then rejoin. You would lose the centre strut and bring the next two in pretty close.
Not sure if you could lose 3m2 this way as you would stuff up the leading arc when you start to cut too much and bring the next struts too close. You could always move the struts out, but this is tricky if it is a one-pump kite.
You really need to scale the kite down in all 3 dimensions and this is only doing it in 1. But you would roughly maintain the balance between the kite's centre of lift and the bridle connections. By getting the sailmaker to add some more bridle connection points to the tube you could play around with it.
Having said all of this, I still think its a waste of time and effort for the likely result. You could probably buy a dodgy old-skool 9m for the same cash outlay and get a much better result.
I'm fairly skilled with a sewing machine and I also know a bit about seam shaping and aerodynamics and the thought of getting a 12 down to an even slightly functional 9 is just straight-up hilarious. Tweaking a seam here or there if you know what effect you're after, maybe, but a whole kite reduction is just nightmarish.
Sure some board design developments have happened through folk just chopping off nose or tail sections cos they were damaged or the person felt like it, but the three dimensional and dynamic elements of kite performance are a lot more complex than that.
If it was me I'd use the link as a tarp and spend $500 on a 2007 or so 9m in ok condition.
On the other hand, no one wants a link so financially you have nothing to lose if you do the work yourself. Just be sure to have someone filming and an ambulance at the ready when you take your first outing on the re-incarnated mongrel.
oh, and fleurieu, take heart because at least you know that the lines on the front of a kite are a bridle (noun) and are not bridal (adjective) unless they were a wedding gift or they were also used to restrain the bride. perhaps this is a clue that you may have the smarts to succeed at this unlikely venture. chop chop!
