Hi I just got into this sport a month ago and currently I have a 5m Radsail Pro and a MBS blade mountainboard. (with 9 inch wheels) I know how to get moving across wind on my board but it's a lot of work. Plus it's really slow and not very exciting. The winds in San Francisco average 10mph these past few weeks.

Should a 5m kite be big enough to get me moving at good speeds with my board (on packed sand)? I do try to work the kite but I still lose speed and power. Should I buy a larger kite? Or am I kiting incorrectly?

THX

are you ridding on ocean beach?

your going to need more than 5 meters out there... zloty (hes the guy in red and black, with all the body armor) does the landboarding out there, he seems to do well with 7 meters, i buggy down there and 5 meters is never enough especially if tides are a little higher than normal.......the sand gives alot of resistance.......

Don,

What conditions do you bring your Bullet 7m out to use? I have a 5.5 and it pulls so hard in just 10mph winds. I haven't used it with my buggy yet so maybe thats why I am finding hard uses for it.

Chad

10mph, I'm just starting to hit the top end of the 9m Buster, Usually set on the max lift setting though. Pretty much everyone in the club fights over that kite in the lower winds.

nelson
I do landkitebord on Ocean Beach with my 12m depower kite.As You just started IMO it would be easyer to learn with bigger depower kite in those low winds.I know someone will disagree with me here ,so let me first advise You that You have to have full control over Your kite before You will jump in/on any moving object.Depower will give You more room for mistakes while learning as You can add or loose pulling power.With kite You have and I assume it come with handles or not depowerable bar it will be hard to start as it will produce lots of power that is hard to control on board.I think this kite was design to hit buggy market where if You are overpowered(for eg. by gust) You won't loose balance.However I know people that learn landboard with handles and it's possible,my first run was with 2m in 20+ wind.So to answer Your question-Yes buy new kite with depower system like Sabre or Frenzy or Access.
Please note that kite You have will produce more speed in buggy than on board.Just for a record I do use 4.5-6.5 kites in 10mph wind in buggy

CHADVICKI-

THE 7 METER BULLET ahh a beatuiful kite, I use this kite for buggying at the beach, it can be the crapyest winds and man i still move on the beach..... usually winds 6mph and below, 5meters at ocean beach just dosent cut it, no power and no upwind at all......
zloty knows this beach best as this is his favorite place to go, I run down at shorline where winds are strong and can get out of hand at times....

As far as I know there is no good kite that will move You in buggy on the beach when wind is 6mph or less.I find that it is nothing but waste of time in winds lighter than 8mph.It is ok to fly fast,large kite static but even that is hard work in such low wind.I'm talking steady 8mph not Av 8 with gusts to 10 or 12.Kite need wind and there is minimum necessary to keep kite in air or it will fall because of its weight and gravity.

Wind readings are a fickle thing though, last time out we got readings from around the park, none were any higher than 10mph all day, The weather station about 200ft off shore was reading 20mph all day, Seems there was no wind down low, you could feel the change as soon as the kite got 20 ft off the ground.

But then lines make a huge difference as well, change up from 25m lines to even 30m lines and you'll feel a noticable difference in flying in light winds.

Was at the S.O.B.B. this last week. Saw the Jojo RM 16m (That's a 16m race foil, ladies!!!) That thing pulled like a mother, even in 6mph winds!!!