kiteboarding

I have never done it, but there are some spots I surf in the summer that have kiteboarders everywhere. It looks SUPER fun, but really complicated, and to really get good turns and actual surfing out of it, you need a solid swell and you need the waves to break pretty far off shore. Most guys get up a good 100 yards of speed and then go launch off a wave or start surfing it from behind, so you have to have enough room on the inside, to ride through a section, do some turns, and then have enough space to turn back around and face out to sea and then launch back off the waves. . It is super tough, and sometimes I see guys go down into the ocean like 2 miles off shore and it takes them a while to get their **it back together. Thats how that guy in FL got eaten this past year. He was kiteboarding and went down a mile or 2 offshore.

I could see getting into it if I knew a bunch of guys who could help, but it is a sketchy, dangerous kind of setup just as an onlooker.

I would like to give it try sometime, but it seems like too much work to me really.

 

I kite every now and again.

Get yourself a trainer kite and practice with that on the beach until you can fly it without looking at it. When you are in the water you wont be looking at the kite. It takes a little bit to get used to. But, once you get it dialed it's like anything else.

 

Where to start... well... start with a LOT of money. Just a kite can cost you over a $1,000.

Then, get a training kite. It's a mini kiteboard kite that you stand on the beach (or anywhere) with and just learn how to handle the kite. From there, you pretty much get in the water with a real kite, and just drag around behind it, learning how to handle the the full size and power of the kite, and learning how to pick it up out of the water when it goes down. From there, you strap yourself in to a kiteboard and go out in flat water, just learning how to jibe and tack and get used to the speed. Then you go out in waves. Then you go strapless.

My brother-in-law is big into it. Surfer turned sailboarder, turned kite surfer. He lives in Cape May County and has fun on even small days with good wind. He goes offshore to shoals where he says there is good (enough) waves whenever there's good wind. We've been modifying surfboards specifically for kite surfing... reinforcing with carbon fiber, adding hardware... He says it blows surfing away in terms of speed and power.

 

it is extremely fun and super easy to learn i bet any shortboarder could be up and riding in a few hours, just approach the big kites with a lot of respect its not like surfing where you wipe out and the wave energy eventually dissipates, a kite can stay powered up and work you/others around you really bad so know your limits and definitely get proper instruction if you have no idea what you're doing it'll save $ and prob hospital visits. in 15kts of wind and flat water you can have a blast...hard to say that about surfing, windsurfing, or basically any other water sport

 

x-treme

There are a lot of ways to pretend your're surfing when it's flat. Another is riding your surfboard behind a boat like a water skier. We used to call it wake surfing but now I think they call it wave "skating". I think there's even a pro wake-skating tour or something.

 

since you asked......I've been kiting ( and surfing ) the local waves for years. You can use just about any kind of board to kite ( wake,skim, surfboard,twin tip), but I use a standard short board ( 6'3" flyer ) 95% of the time. It turns a crappy day of surfing into an epic day of riding waves. And those 30knt noreasters that blow for 3 days.........you'd be surprised at how big, smooth and great those outside waves are.
I'm one of those kiters that knows that when surfers are around to ALWAYS give right of way on waves, I even ride up and tell everyone in the line up, to go on any waves they want, and if I'm on it, I'll kick out. But usually, if the wind is light enough to keep the waves clean and fun, I'm surfing anyway, but as soon as it starts to get choppy when those thermals kick in, I'm pumping up.
There is a huge saftey aspect that needs to be followed to keep others and yourself from getting hurt, and learning is a pain in the ass, especially in deep water ( ocean ).
Local kiting vid, Ocean City area, no music, just some commentary on the conditions and gear ,
Wave Rides Editors Cut
and a cool kite cam vid of me kiting some waves in PR on my Rusty T2
Sea Life , PR Kitesurfing

 

Nice Vids Spleeft!

Thanks for the links!
I really appreciate the PR footage and it's cool
to see a rider rip like that with a modded twin tip!

 

ya ya kiting is sickkk. you go so fast and so high .it definitely allows for more gnardays. i'm more into the wakestyle than riding waves lately.

its recommended that you get lessons to start out. if you dont know a few things about flying the kite, you can get worked pretty hard, and end up hurting yourself or other people. that has led to certain towns/areas banning kiting, like island beach state park

the one bad part about the sport is that theres so many goddamn unstylin kooks out there. they're called danglers. you should check out www.kitescoop.com to see the real deal

 

look up ben wilson for some nice strapless wave kiting

 

I kiteboarded down in florida, paid a grand for a kite and ripped it to shreds. This was in 2k3 and I think kites are better built and easier to handle now. I learned down in caberete in the DR and it took a week of lessons to get really dialed into it. The thing they really stressed was how dangerous it could be. I was told stories of kites wrapping around cars and spinning them around as well as guys getting flown into to road signs and getting really cut up. But its sweet. If you can do inverts on a wakeboard then you can do it, easier, on a kite.

 

how did you rip the kite to shreds?

kites are much safer now...back in 03 they only had c kites which basically have no depower, and are harder to learn on. c kites are now considered performance kites for wakestyle and kitelooping. (as opposed to bridled kites)

caberete is legit...arguably the biggest kiting spot in the world

kites wrapping around cars? idk about that... and why would u launch near a road sign.

i would not say that railys, what i assume you are calling inverts, are any easier on a kite. unhooked tricks take some balls

 

latest kite cam vid...local waves. Riding an Al Merrick 6'3" Flyer II in the "strapless board" clips.
Kite Kam Vid, Delmarva

 

I thought about that when I was down in frisco and there was a flat spell. Our house was right on the pamlico sound. I thought about buying a kite and just cruise around the sound on my surfboard. until i realize it cost so much just for a kite. I have other things to spend 1000 dollars on..

 

spleeft, awesome kite surfing, but the rotating framing and the cheesy "metal" guitar solo make the vid 10x better.

 

Dean that Kite Cam vid is awesome! I see these guys out all the time while working and it is really fun to watch. They go out on days that no surfer would consider and make it look fun. I wish I wasn't such a klutz and had the time to try it. Spleeft has the best, most challenging SUP I have ever seen.

 

Zippy, camper rental dude?
Thanks for the vid props!
The Pocket Rocket has been workin great these past few swells!

 

Yup that's me .