Top 10 kitesurfing brands & series of 2014

What were in 2014 the most popular brands and series on KiteFinder.com? What did you, visitors on kitefinder, view the most? Here a 2014 list of the top 10 kitesurfing brands and its most popular kite series.

1. Brand: North kiteboarding - Serie: Rebel 2014 - made for: all-round
2. Brand: Naish Kiteboarding - Serie: Park 2014 made for: all-round
3. Brand: Cabrinha Kiteboarding - Serie: Drifter 2014 made for: wave
4. Brand: Slingshot kiteboarding - Serie: RPM 2012 made for: freestyle
5. Brand: Best Kiteboarding - Serie: TS 2014 made for: all-round
   
6. Brand: Ozone kiteboarding - Serie: Chrono 2015 made for: Lightwind/speed/snowkite
   
7. Brand: F-one kiteboarding - Serie: Bandit7 2014 made for: all-round
   
8. Brand: Airush kiteboarding - Serie: DNA 2014 made for: beginners
   
9. Brand: Liqiud Force kiteboarding - Serie: Envy 2012 made for: all-round
   
10. Brand: Core Kiteboarding - Serie: GTS3 2015 made for: Freestyle/wave

 If you like to see an extra list, just ask below and we'll dive into the kite data brainwave we all create.
Source: http://www.kitefinder.com/en/kites/blog/1443/top-10-kitesurfing-brands-en-series-of-2014

How to choose your wave kite

I'm always looking for kitesurfing gear that corresponds with my skills, riding style and spotcircumstances. I know its a quest that never ends and I love this lifetime journey! Here's my KiteFinder blogpost about how to choose your most suitable wave kite
Last week we tested the Cabrinha Drifter 2015 and the Best Cabo 2015. Both described as wave kites, both totally different kitefeel made for totally different waveriding styles. So what would be the best choice for you? Well, that's easy. Follow the 3 steps bellow and you'll find the wavekite you are looking for.

 

Step 1.   Make a storyboard
Make a short story about your riding skills, how and when you like to use your wave kite.

For example:

I am a mellow strapless rider. My local beach has mostly clean mid size waves :-), with side shore wind between 15 - 25 knots. In my quiver I already have a 9m with a pretty bad high end and 13m sized kite with a great low end. I like to make strapless down winders in midsize surf, my local spot has a lot off current so a kite with good up wind performance would be nice and I had some kitemares so I like to be in control all the time. No funny stuff, steady and safe please!

 

Step 2.   Pick out keywords
Now its time to pick out the kite related keywords. Sometimes the kite characteristics are already in the storyboard. Sometimes you'll have to translate them into kite characteristics. I'll use the storyboard example from above to pick out the keywords.

My keywords are:

• mellow strapless rider - kite with soft power characteristics like boost, lift and pop
  
• already a 9 and 12m - kite that connect its bad high end 9m. So a small kite with good scoring low-end wind range
  
• strapless down winders - kite with great drift characteristic
  
• lot off current - kite with a high scoring up wind characteristic
  
• steady and safe please - again the mellow surfer who likes to have control. Good stability, feedback, soft power building and great safety system
  

The perfect wave kite for you would be a combination of these different characteristics.
So rank your characteristics.

1. Stability
   
2. Mellow boost, lift and pop
   
3. Total de-power
   
4. Good feedback
   
5. Easy to use safety system
   
6. Easy up wind performance
   

Problems picking out the keywords? Just send me your short storyboard and I'll help you to pick out the right characteristics.

 

Step 3.   Test
Always test before buying
So now you know your most prominent kite characteristics! The next step would be using the kitefinder advanced - Pro search tool to filter out which kites to test.
I hope you'll find this information useful and please leave a question or comment if you can't find the right kitesurfing gear.

Source: http://www.kitefinder.com/en/kites/blog/1437/how-to-choose-your-wave-kite

Antixapp, your kitesurf gamification

For gamers who love to play outsideSometimes I like to play virtual games, but mostly I like to play with the elements! Use my senses!
I want to feel the wind, get tired and smudge the salt, sand or snow out of my eyes. I like to see the world as a playground. Give me the tools and I will learn by doing. Develop skills, gain knowledge and show my friends a new and improved me. Recognize this?
Well there is a new app, the antixapp. Now its possible to be a virtual kitesurfer and gain points by recording your skills.
Go out with your Gopro and play around. Compete with your friends and learn.

I can’t wait that the first 1.000 points will be rewarded with a free beer in my local surf club or to see a big smile from the first hero who hits the 10.000 and earns a well deserved  sponsorship.
The app is pretty basic, but we all impove and this is a great start! I believe the future looks bright for kitesurfers and other outdoor gamers who love to play outside!
More info: https://www.antixapp.com/signin

Source: http://www.kitefinder.com/en/kites/blog/1436/gamification

Proven & Promising

I like to be practical, I believe in usability and I like to help. Presenting you some well tuned products that have proven to be awesome toys! Products that make you a better kitesurfer or give you that 'Can't wait, I have to go, feeling.

Well check out the Liquid Force Solo. A innovate single strut design. The Solo came out in the beginning of this season and will run further in 2015. Here is a great Tech Talk about the Solo. If you like to view a review? Realwatersport made a great clip review about this single strut allrounder.

Another 2014 surprise was the new Ozone Chrono.
An all terrain kite we tested head to head with the Flysurfer Speed 4. The Chrone is a high performance foil with a wide usability range. Great for light wind kitesurfing or snowkite gliding, but also a proven price winning race kite.
Proven, out there. That's where you find KiteFinder. Between waves and mountains, on and offline. The real kiteworld on a digital platform and you can help by sharing your product experiences. Don't know how? Follow these steps, it will help you to find your personal best kite or writing a short review.
In the meantime I will pick out some 2015 pearls for you. Like this versatile airliner, maybe a more aggressive evolution or do you like the softer Hawaiian touch? It's all up to you, know what you are looking for and test! It will help you to assemble the best possible kitesurfing quiver.

What would be the best kitesurfing kites for kids?

KiteFinder tested 5 different kitesurfing kites and we were really surprised by the results.


In our school we see a lot of parents bringing along their children to show them the magic of kitesurfing. But what is a good kite for children between 8 and 12 years old? Which flying characteristics are important? To find some answers, we tested five small tubekites in the windrange from 10 to 15 knots:

• Ozone Reo 6m 2014
• North Buzz 5.5m 2014
• Naish Ride 6m 2015
• F-one Bandit 6m 2014
• Ozone Uno 4m
• North Neo 4m

What we found out!
No doubt fun & safety are the most important factors in choosing the right kite for kids. A kite's safety mainly lies in the powercontrol you have over it, so we are looking for kites with gradual power, great stability in the lower windrange (10 and 15 knots) and good feedback.
Also important are good de-powering characteristics with a short de-power stroke since a child at that age has shorter arms. Besides safety, kids like to play around and get a feel for it.
They require the ability to explore what they can manage within an open and save learning structure. In this special blog we tested 5 small kites in search for the right kite characteristics for kids.

Conclusion

When we started out this series of tests we were thinking about kites especially designed for kids. After the tests our opinion changed.
A good small kite from daddy can just as well be a great learning- and kitesurfing kite for the children. The F-one Bandit 6 2014 came out great. The Bandit6 had overall great allround characteristics, fast, stable and good control. The Naish Ride 6m 2015 was a favorite too, the most stable one in its low end. Clean sheet & go handling. The Ozone Reo 6m 2014 had the lightest bar feel, asks for a bit more technique to control the kite in 10 knots. The Reo would be great for the more advanced kids above 13 knots. The North Buzz is an kite serie North has been using for a long time.. In our school we only use the Buzz model in strong winds. Under 14 knots the Buzz is easy to restart, but hard to handle, a bit heavy on the bar with a big turning circle and slow in reaction speed. Better to use the Buzz 5.5m above 14 knots, as a 'storm kite' for kids. The safety system is the best part of this kite. The Ozone Uno 4m was a big surprise, this was the smallest kite (4m) in the test, but had great power, is very stable and easy to handle. The UNO is fast, but not too fast and really nice to play with. Another nice thing is the easy setup. The UNO is a basic one strut design with all the right characteristics for young riders to learn & develop themselves in the basic skills of Kitesurfing.
The new North Neo 4m from 2015 was a bit too small. It didn't have the stability & power in light winds. This is a small kite that performs in higher winds.

We hope this blog will help you to find the best kite for your kids. If you have any comments don't hesitate to leave a message or write down your own kids kite experience.

Source: http://www.kitefinder.com/en/kites/blog/1412/kids-kitetest

How do you choose your best light wind kite?

How do you choose your best light wind kite?

As most experienced riders know it depends from lots of different factors. For example; homespot conditions, your level, quiver and riding style.
If we translate this into kite characteristics, you'll have to find out which are your 5 most important LW kite characteristics. Check out how:

 

Step 1.   Make a storyboard
Make a short story how and when you want to use your light wind quiver.
For example: I live at a big lake with good thermal winds. My light wind kite has to be playful from 8 knots (14km/h) and needs to have a good low end, Lift but mostly a good glide. I'm 92 kg and like strapless light wind riding. I like a kite with a good low-end, but especially in +12 knots.

 

Step 2.   Pick out the keywords
Picking out keywords will help you to find the right kite characteristics.
Sometimes the characteristics are already in the storyboard. Sometimes you'll have to translate them into kite characteristics. My storyboard is somewhat easy. As an example, I already underlined the keywords

My keywords are:
Playful (fast steering, short turning),  +12 knots (high-end),  Glide,  Lift,  Low-end,  Strapless (riding strapless so I don't want to much downloop boost)
The perfect kite would be a combination of these different characteristics, but we all know that's not always easy to find.
Rank your characteristics. The first 3 are the most important characteristics which have to be great in your new kite.

1. fast steering
2. wide windrange (good low-end and high end)
3. glide
4. less boost
5. lift

 * As your kite experience will grow, your list of important characteristics will be longer to define your perfect kite.

 

Step 3.   Test
Now you know what you are looking for, go out and feel. Gather information. Ask your friends at the beach or walk into a local shop for a test kite.
Share your user experience
Feel free to interact with us. Use the DISQUS tool or share your equipment experience on KiteFinder.com
If you like to know more about choosing the right equipment. Different schools, shops & travel organizations embedded similar concepts into their programs.
We hope you find this information useful. Enjoy kitesurfing with your personal best equipment.
Thanks & Good luck!

Source: http://www.kitefinder.com/en/kites/blog/1366/how-to-find-your-best-light-wind-kite

10 points we discovered about light wind foil kites

Gathering up your best Kitesurfing kit is a process of many years. At the end you want to ride as much as possible. If so, you really need to think about a light wind Foil kite as the biggest kite in your kite quiver. We tested hundreds of kites, foils and tubes. They all different, but going from a tube to a foil kite is a big leap for most riders. Well, we won't push you, make your own choice. Feel & test it actually serves to assemble the most complete kite surfing quiver.

What we discovered

1. If you like to ride under 8 knots, nothing works better than an 18m foil kite with a big board (example 150x45 twin tip)
2. Adapt your technique and you will, slide, jump & glide between 5 and 8 knots
3. The 18m foils are like wings with a great glide!
4. The multiple functions, land, snow and water, works!
5. Water relaunch your kite as fast as you can
6. Foils are effective kites, maybe a bit slower turning than the most 18m tubes, but these 18m kites are all about early planning without steering
7. Yes the foils have good depower, but the high-end range is smaller than most LW tube kites we tested
8. First Foil? The Flysurfer Speed4 18m is easier to ride than the Ozone Chrono 18m
9. The Flysurfer is the all-round and most stable Foil we tested
10. The Ozone Chrono 18m is a foil for advanced foil riders with great race characteristics like upwind & acceleration

Don’t hesitate to give notes, suggestions or make your own review. Help us and others collecting knowledge about kitesurfing equipment.
Other 2014 LW kite models we tested:
Blade Fat Lady  - Ocean Rodeo Flite 17m  -  Core Riot XR3 17m  -  Cabrinha Contra 17m

Source: http://www.kitefinder.com/en/kites/blog/1378/10-points-we-discovered-about-lw-foil-kites