I'm pretty new to kiteboarding (water) and I have a 13m kite which is underpowered most of the time for me here in St Pete, FL. My kite came with 3m line extensions and my instructor told me to remove them since I was brand new which I did.

I have recently been trying to make a go of it on my own but have frequently been underpowered. My question is, will putting these extensions back on give me more power? From what I've found online it appears so but I can't really gauge for sure. Any idea how much more 'power' the extensions will give me or anything else that they will change in regard to performance, steering, reaction?

Yes adding them will give you more power. Shorter lines decrease the power of the kite while increasing the steering response.

YES but not a lot.

Big trick for underpowered is to get a BIG board.

If you are out and underpowered forget about going upwind . Just give in to losing ground and enjoy downwinders. You will still learn a lot.

Quote:

Originally posted by Bladerunner YES but not a lot.

YES but it can be just enough hair-splitting here ... the 21 with and without 6m extensions is the difference between still riding back to starting spot when others are walking, and me being the first to walk.

IMHO your first board purchase should be what you plan to use as your lightwind board for the next few years ...

That's why I'm in the market for a bigger board. I'm about 200lbs and I have a 142 x 42x board. I would like something 150ish + by 46 as our summers are pretty light here.
I actually got out on Saturday and killed it on my buddies LF Proof 151. The wind was decent 15-20knots and with the bigger board I was cutting up wind.
Oh - and I did put on the extensions. It seemed to give me a little more low end power but DEF slowed my steering input. Took a little bit getting used to. Still my best session yet!