Living were I do now, I have to fly larger than normal kites. 15 to 19m kites are the norm. I have been using 25m lines for almost all my kites, but some of my kites turn so slow that they almost get to the ground before they are pointed the right direction after a loop. I'm just curious as to what line lengths other people are using for kites in this size range. My 19m Fuel is quick but my Waroos and my Hifi are much slower. I have even done the bridal mod for the waroo but its still fairly slow.

For the riding I do if I'm on a big kite (foils, 15-19m) I'm generally on longer lines. I'm looking to get more power vs being able to throw the kite around.

Some kite companies such as Slingshot have different line lengths depending on bar size. Their largest bar comes with 27m lines. Their smaller bars come with slightly shorter lines. Not sure the reasoning behind this, but just an observation.

For my 8 -12m Foils I usually fly 27m or 30m lines to give me turning space for the big wings. The last few weeks I have been experimenting with 40m lines to get up over the ground noise but that length really shrinks the field quickly, all the more-so when there are other users [soccer & football] on the space.

Be careful of those power lines. We don't want you on the news for the wrong reasons. I use whatever the kite comes with. I just pull some line to encourage loops in low wind.

I have used 15m lines on my 8m foil when bugging . It was so different and challenging at same point. Wind window is so much smaller and you are loosing a lots of power from kite . There was LEI kite on market few years ago that was designed for short line flying , but I think it was discontinued after a year or so. I think there is a reason why no one is selling kites with lines shorter then 20m

kober i think you might be referring to the SS line set, i have a short the setup.

its a fun novelty setup, compliments a fly style with lots of loops and pop overs, in reduced powered sessions effect.

makes for showy kite and rider action things are closer together kite is zipping around , easy mega loops at reduced height. bar length seems a critical choice, it comes short and makes for very busy bar work , a larger bar in general i think would make me use it more.

mostly it expands the range of a larger kite while maintaining fly action in heavier conditions

not for everybody, fun in flat , fatiguing in wave but kite really keeps up.

tubes around 23-25m anything too different really effects performance

ARCS around 27m +3-5m may feel better for light but sloooow.

DEPOWER foils maybe +3-5m , but i always go back to stock around 21m

I tend to just work around my line lengths on my bigger kites. On my 19m Speed 3 I often have to just reach up and grab a brake line to get it to turn around tight enough for me. That is pretty normal for the really big stuff. Most of those larger sized kites prefer to park and ride, so you wouldn't often loop them anyway.

My stock linesets for the bigger kites are 28m. Seems to be about the right mix for catching wind, looping, and still fitting in the field. On the smaller kites I actually like a smaller lineset, and I'm curious to shrink from something like a 25m lineset to a 20m lineset on my small arcs to see how that might affect high wind riding. I don't really have a lineset smaller than 25m atm.

All my line sets except for one are 25m the other is 20 which I hardly ever use. I just bought a 5m extension to give a try on my 19m V2's bringing it out to 30m. Just trying to find that perfect line length for the narrow and long fields we have around here. Plus we have tons of trees that give a nasty wind shadow, so getting up above that is a plus too.

The longer the lines, the lower the top end of the windrange for the kite. Ive seen a guy on 18 meter lines on a phantom1 18 because he liked his kites to be big in harder winds. The rest was flying 15 and 13 meter arcs that day.

Doing the opposite..longer lines..you will reduce the top end of the windrange. I believe there was a mathematics for it. Correct me if i am wrong.

3 meters of linelength will increase or decrease 1 knot of the windrange. Therefore adding 6 meters means decreasing the top end with 2 knots. Shortening lines by 6 meters will add 2 knots to the top end.
Something like this.

Maybe anyone can do the exact math but this is what I learned years ago..

loosing top end from adding line length makes no sense to me...im not challenging math
i just dont get that...:dunno:

always wondered if we would be just as well off with 1 kite and 3 line sets. Wouldn't be near as fun as multiple kites though. today gusting 30's. Maybe i should put short line to the test on the 6m peak if i can sneak away from work

Quote: Originally posted by abkayak

loosing top end from adding line length makes no sense to me...im not challenging math i just dont get that...:dunno:

I'm not sure it's actually losing top end, but being up in potentially more wind, for part of it. I've always thought of it this way... We gain bottom end, ie more power, from adding line length, ignoring that part of that is the cleaner air/wind higher up, it's also stronger wind. That extra power exists when you're at the top of the wind range, down on the ground too, so it means potentially packing up that kite sooner anyway. I'm guessing places with really clean wind, say an ocean beach, that the loss of top end isn't as noticeable/extreme, but I know from paragliding friends, or hot air balloonists (there's a ton of them here), that there's often a lot more wind the higher you go. In the order of about 1.25-1.5x 20ft winds at 40 ft for us often.

yes...more wind up high and also longer power strokes...so i thought longer lines enable you to go faster.....to a pt...and then would be fall off for any and all the other reasons

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

always wondered if we would be just as well off with 1 kite and 3 line sets. Wouldn't be near as fun as multiple kites though. today gusting 30's. Maybe i should put short line to the test on the 6m peak if i can sneak away from work

I played around with some 5m extensions on my 12m P2 this summer to eek out a little more power on light wind days. I believe the stock lines are 20m so this would be a 25% increase in line length. It most certainly increased the grunt of the kite for buggying.

This power increase came with two costs, viz., slower turning (mostly just an irritation) and decreased run lengths on the small fields I have for most of my inland buggying. This second issue is a real killer if space is limited and obstacles abound (like lights, bleachers, etc.).