Kitesurfing!!

Looks super fun. Keep us posted. My next door neighbor is a Kite Board instructor and a boat captain. He is always asking me to go with him, but I don't have the time. It's not like grabbing a surf board and hitting the waves for an hour. Seems like a lot of work, and I would assume I would need quite the tutorial prior to taking off.

 

Yeah, it seems that the guys around here do it different. They go out a mile or so, and basically gain a bunch of speed and then go and lift up and do big airs and come back down into the flats. That seems, relatively easy, but not of course.

On the west coast, some kiteboarders kill it, but they encorporate the actual waves into it, which can be dangerous for surfers, but most guys that do it were pretty close to pro, but they would go way out to sea, come back in and basically do a huge side turn right on the beach and then aim back at the set waves, they would sometimes turn and ride the wave, but otherwise just use the incoming sets as HUGE launch pads. But the technical side of watching them do that seemed pretty difficult.

I would just not be very pleased, falling from the sky a mile out at sea, having a yard sale in the open ocean, then trying to get my sh** back in order and catch some wind and get going again. I could see some panic in that.

I guess there are probably baby steps though, like NOT going that far out. I think I just need to go down there for a session and suss it out before trying it. I am sure if I watched it a little more I would get a better understanding for it.

But hearing the guys that ride talk about it, they just love it. They all say that they pretty much gave up regular surfing around here for it, because you can just clock SO MUCH MORE time having fun on a kite.

 

Been kiteboarding for about six months now. Mostly wakestyle, just starting to do handle passes. Great sport but not cheap. What kite are you on?

 

( oo )
( ( )
(____)


ok...have fun now! See you out there sprayin your fellow surfers in the lineup!

 

^^c'mon, thats kinda funny right? guys?

 

No. It's NOT "kinda funny"...it's Hilarious. I remember the first time I saw this I watched it 100 times and laughed myself useless. Sincerely hope the guy was ok...but man, trebuchet all day.

 

I know a bunch of guys that do it in Maryland. Looks fun but even when they catch a wave I wouldn't call it surfing, the wave always takes a back seat to the kite. I've been encouraged to try it but have heard tons of horror stories, too many for accident prone me to consider fun.

 

can you back that up? I'll recant my laughs if you can.

 

I've kind of done it..mainly out of 'when life gives you lemons..' reasoning. First year was when I showed up on Hatteras and it was blowing way harder than expected. After an initial lesson I figured that to maximize my time on the water, where I like to be, I should consider expanding my arsenal from kayaks, to SUP to kite, you name it. That way any time I feel like exercising or having fun out there I have a tool for the job.

Kiting is mainly about controlling the kite, once that is figured out board skills come easy. Learning curve is steep but short. Surfing, on the other hand, has in my view the longest and steepest learning curve out there. Mainly because you can't 'pack them in' and there is a lot of down time. And the bar just raises.
That being said, I've sold my kiting gear. At this stage for me it is just too much production. I can see myself cruising and staying in shape on an SUP but kiting is a whole other set of preparations and executions. Mulitple kites (not one does it all), multiple lines, multiple boards..relatively unsafe once you get over intermediate stage. Oddly, I've met several really skillful guys on OBX who are back to windsurfing and done kiting all together.

On a side note..kite boarding must be the dorkiest sport ever. I remember seeing them start wearing trunks outside of wetsuits. WTF..your average salt dog surfer has more cool in his pinky than techno yuppie kiter. And it will never break into general surfing crowd because not many wanna deal with 25 yards of lines and huge kites. Could buy one of those jet ski boards, probably not much more expansive.

 

So, its the dorkiest sport ever, but you purchased all the gear to try it? Or, is it the dorkiest sport ever because you could not master it? Just wondering

 

I purchased all the gear to find out for myself. Do the same.
Resale is awful, too.

Sport itself has actually nothing to do with the practitioners being gear intensive dorks. Of course, I was exaggerating a bit, but that has been my experience. Maybe it has to do with a surf lessons being very cheap and kite lesson being some serious money (boat, or jet ski, etc) and then kite gear being some serious coin. Only for most beginners to find it tough to break through the learning phase.


Like anything else when done masterfully it could be good fun, but there is a lot more going than putting a board under your arm. Importance is to pick a process where learning it is addicting fun.

 

They're always out at matunuck in RI. So annoying, they come so close to you and you think you're gonna get hit and you never know where they're going.

 

Fair enough. It's a very cool sport to watch when the guys are really good! But, I was never interested emough to buy or try. I also agree with ya, learning should be fun with some slight frustration for drive. I'll stick with the surfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, etc.

 

i would like to pick up windsurfing but its expensive and i have no money for the geer.

 

windsurfing, kitesurfing has been cancelled

 

kitesurfing, windsurfing, all that crap

 

Most people will never get into kiting for a few reasons, its dangerous, its expensive and its hard to learn. That is what makes it different than surfing and keeps the people who aren't totally into it out (kooks).

For these reasons it will never be as popular or as mainstream as surfing. Kiting takes at very least 2-3 professional lessons + 2 weeks of practice before you are able to safely(relative) kite without supervision.

I've been kiting for about 2 1/2 years and love it. That being said I have been put into some really dangerous positions and situations. When stuff goes bad kiting, it goes really bad and you are on your own and responsible for getting yourself out of the situation.

The best things about kiting are the consistency, freedom and exploration. The past 5 days we have had SW wind 15-25 every day, in those past 5 days its been knee high or less. Hurricane swells cause a new reason for excitement, that day before the cleanup day is going to be all time kiting conditions. Your water time will triple, everyday if you add SUPing, you will be fit and ready to surf when we do get real waves. You will explore and travel all over your island/spot and surf new sandbars and inlets that you never would have looked at if you just surfed.

A few weeks ago me and a few friends did a 22 mile downwinder from folly beach to sullivans island. We crossed inlets and harbors that would be inaccessible and dangerous with even a boat. This is the reason I kite and will continue to kite. The risk for the reward is great but its worth it when it all works out and no one gets hurt.

check it out
http://youtu.be/2YngZbU7GDs?list=UUDLf-jciQodMBdkeuW3qUBg