rtz - 10-5-2014 at 08:15 PM
These are great buggy kites for extreme wind conditions.
I buggy with the 1.7m when the wind is blowing in the 30mph range gusting to 40 and above. If you get winds like this; the 1.7 is ideal. It still
feels like a toy kite in these higher winds. It won't yank you out of the buggy; but it has enough power to get you around. I've been 42mph with it
if I remember correctly. I can cruise in the 30mph range with it if the wind is there. The one minor thing about this kite size is if the wind drops
into the 20 range; the upwind ability of it really struggles.
The 2.4m is a great kite for gusty wind in the 20 range with some of the gusts going over 30. It can handle it. Despite being 2.4m; it has less
power than my 2m Octane which is why I use it sometimes.
I just used the 3.3m today for the first time and rode 17 miles with it at about a 1/4 mile stretch at a time. This wind was definitely in my top 3
worst wind I've ever rode in. This kite made the difference between riding and not riding at all. It took it all. It will be interesting to find
out what the upper wind range limit of this kite is. It never once tried to lift me out of the buggy. It's not lifty at all. It never wadded up or
bow tied, or inverted. My only complaint about it; is it seems like a slow kite. Cruises around 15mph and I could never get more than 20mph out of
it, despite being on a lakebed(hard dry clay), on a light buggy, and on barrows. But when the wind is absolutely awful and you just want to ride;
these kites can let you do that.
My wind meter at one point indicated 10-15mph wind with gusts over 20. It sure felt at times of getting slammed with a 30 gusts. Constant surging
wind, up/down all day, all over the place. Not our usual wind. I call this stuff "storm wind".
The last time I had the 2.4m out; I logged 30 miles on the GPS. But it was a windier day and the miles piled on faster.
If would be extremely interesting if a kite of this design could be made in a large model for light winds to deal with the gusts.
Our light winds have two issues that make lightwind riding near impossible at times. Lulls down to zero or nearly zero. Also; freak gusts that are
outside the wind range of the big kite. 4-8mph wind is one thing; until a 12-15 mph gust shows up. Or if it's blowing 8-12 mph.. until a 20 mph gust
hits once and a while.