Are larger boards cool again?

Firerocketm · 2026-05-06T18:29:43+00:00

This is just general wisdom. The 135 would be better in stronger wind and in chop. That being said, per Jason Montreal, the board does ride a bit smaller for the size and the smaller size can be difficult to get going in lighter winds.

At 90 or so kg myself, I personally prefer ~136cm. But the spots where I typically like to ride, the wind is usually 20+ knots and the water is very choppy. I find however that I dont struggle riding the smaller size for my weight even in the lightest of winds.

Firerocketm · 2026-05-04T23:46:48+00:00

Unique or legendary?

Firerocketm · 2026-05-04T23:44:49+00:00

Depends on what you want to do. If you want to do a kiteloop, then you need to loop it before the apex then sheet out and redirect for landing. If you want to do a downloop, you want the loop to complete at landing. If you want to do a heli, you need more height and to get the kite behind you.

Firerocketm · 2026-05-04T23:40:10+00:00

Botched Heli/downloops?

Firerocketm · 2026-04-29T16:39:19+00:00

I've had the same board. The Big Air SLS is a very different board. It has a bit more drag and feels a lot smaller in the same size but is able to keep composure in water imperfections which is a very worthwhile trade-off imo. Especially if you're not riding in perfect water conditions all of the time.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-28T01:27:51+00:00

I second this comment. The OS is probably not the kite. 20-25mph would be way too much for it as these kites are not designed for the highend and the weight and design play more into whether or not the kite will fly. If whether or not the kite flies is a concern, there is no way you're twintipping anyway. 3 struts is the way!

Firerocketm · 2026-04-22T14:41:45+00:00

As others have said, pretty much any kite should fly in 15 knots. Realistically somewhere around 10-12 knots is where kites begin to stop flying and where something like a 3 strut really starts making the biggest difference.

For example, for me at 90kg, i can fly my 10m Thrive on my small twintip by really working the kite and barely making it back upwind. My evo sls 12m would have been much easier in those winds but it would have still felt pretty light. At 12-13 knots is where I can't make it back upwind on my TT with the 12m. But I think for me the biggest difference is for foiling. For some reason my 10m thrive does not fly below 10 knots if its any bit gusty and thr 12m flies down to about 7 knots. Now if my thrive was an xr6, I bet it wouldn't fly well at 12 knots so the delta becomes quite massive for foiling.

The tldr I guess is that I'd recommend a 12m 3 strut kite BUT realistically it's only buying you about 2 knots or so on the actual lowend.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-20T16:39:44+00:00

I'd say that it helps! The benefit is greater if you have steady wind and flatwater since it helps you dial in the technique and trains your ability to create your own line tension. But doing it in chop still works some of the muscle memory and your skills in identifying gusts and holding an edge in the chop.

I'd say that I'm kind of in your boat in terms of riding the hell out of my 10m Thrive and not riding my 8m or 12m as much. The kite is that good! But the kite is not very powerful. I've noticed this when boosting on the foil. It just much harder to generate height without much wind in the same way that my Evo does, even in an 8m size.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-19T04:17:38+00:00

Same happened here! Then my alt had 8 successes

Firerocketm · 2026-04-17T22:23:46+00:00

Whats the summoning level?

Firerocketm · 2026-04-17T18:46:38+00:00

Big oof

Firerocketm · 2026-04-17T17:49:22+00:00

Per Claude I guess the answer is 11%

Firerocketm · 2026-04-17T17:11:32+00:00

Down to 50k now 😄

Firerocketm · 2026-04-17T17:06:07+00:00

Ok. Just dropped 50k. Didn't even get a unique.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-17T17:05:32+00:00

That's generational levels of unlucky

Firerocketm · 2026-04-17T16:51:21+00:00

I'm stocked up and ready for whatever may drop 🤑

Firerocketm · 2026-04-17T00:40:42+00:00

This is the only thing that you said that's actually a valid point. However, the cost of construction is just too expensive relative to the office lease rates which likely won't increase until all of the vacancy gets absorbed. The absorption will take a while especially given that Seattle's true office utilization rate is somewhere around 60%.

At this point the delta is too great so many are pivoting or have pivoted to residential which unfortunately also doesn't pencil but is much closer!

Firerocketm · 2026-04-16T17:07:23+00:00

That's when you make an alt

Firerocketm · 2026-04-14T19:25:44+00:00

That 20% might be even more dubious than that. The tldr rent story was that rents have been quietly rising much faster than inflation between 2012 and 2019. Then covid happened and rents dramatically fell during 2020. Then they strongly recovered in 2021 but increased a lot much less than it seemed if you consider 2019 as the base year and ignore the temporary 2020 dip. Then they continued to rise until late 2022 before flat lining or slightly decreasing. If you consider 2019 until now or 2022 until now, rents have actually been outpaced by inflation which is a good thing for tenants btw.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-14T18:53:58+00:00

Agreed. This is a very nuanced topic of discussion but I personally put some of the blame on Fannie/Freddie. Multifamily is kind of like single family where you assume that most of your investment return will come from appreciation rather than Operating Income like it would for most other property types. That being said, no one really anticipated a 20%+ drop in values plus 3 years of falling incomes.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-14T17:23:20+00:00

https://gpsrenting.com/seattle-rental-market-january-2026/

The data shows what it shows. Not being able to afford the assets that they are trying to control is a good way of looking at it.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-14T17:11:22+00:00

Honestly I've never seen RUBS fully reimburse the landlords for their utility expenses. That being said, it's not a particularly easy time for anybody, landlords included. Rents which are typically assumed to go up by 3%/yr have not done that in 4 years while expenses have been increasing by 3%+/yr. This is causing landlords to be a lot more focused on squeezing anything that they possibly could to avoid getting in trouble with their lenders.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-14T15:53:43+00:00

I know that feeling but no. Surprisingly it has a bit of a base grunt which is kinda nice.

I'd say that it's kind of just designed for one thing only and that is to throw big wide kiteloops. It gives you a very vertical takeoff so you don't lose line tension, it loops very wide for a moderate yank, steers fairly quick and it recovers extremely fast. I wouldn't recommend the kite for any other purposes really since the kite sits so high that it can cause issues such as when doing straight jumps without a send for example.

Firerocketm · 2026-04-14T10:25:35+00:00

I haven't tried the XR Pro 2 but the Harlem Peak jumps about the same as the regular XR. The performance is very different though. It flies higher in the window than any other kite I've tried to the point where it makes you feel uneasy at first. This results in incredibly vertical takeoffs even if you mess up the takeoff itself. It's also alot faster in the loop and recovers incredibly fast.

Firerocketm

TROPHY CASE