myiW Current Conditions and Forecasts Community Forums Buy and Sell Services
 
Hi guest · myAccount · Log in
 SearchSearch   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   RegisterRegister 
Down the line wave ride- on a kite?!
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Southwest USA, Hawaii, Mexico
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
spanker_jeep



Joined: 15 Mar 2002
Posts: 404
Location: Outer Richmond District.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:35 pm    Post subject: Down the line wave ride- on a kite?! Reply with quote

I am having an ongoing disagreement with two kiters. They say its possible to "down the line" wave ride on a kite. If so what type of wind directions are most suitable. How can you bust an off the lip on a kite that is 20' in front of you? How can you watch what the wave is doing when your watching a bag of trash (kite) and your lines buzzing around?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
flynbri



Joined: 08 May 2004
Posts: 111
Location: Southern Cal

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I both wavesail and kite and there is no question of can you do it. Windsurfing allows radical top and bottom turns, exciting off the lips and radical cutbacks. With a modern bow kite and a surfboard you can completely shut off the power of the kite for pure surfing with the added stability of the kite and turn the back of the kite back on again for radical air. In side-off conditions like San Carlos kitesurfing is so fast,light and exciting it's almost better than sex.

The main difference is how little wind you need for kiting and how much better windsurfing is when it's blowing 4.5 conditions. Very Happy



peter_tube.jpg
 Description:
 Filesize:  50.48 KB
 Viewed:  18613 Time(s)

peter_tube.jpg



519.jpg
 Description:
 Filesize:  33.32 KB
 Viewed:  18613 Time(s)

519.jpg


Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
kurtmagness



Joined: 08 Jul 2006
Posts: 68

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

most guys at that level are not looking at the kite, they are sending it where they want it to be without looking.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
T-Man



Joined: 12 Jun 2001
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 12:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Bag of Trash" Thats Hialrious!!!! that'll piss off some Tea Baggers....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
loopless



Joined: 30 Jun 1997
Posts: 426

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've sailed head-high Carlos a number of times while it was too light for the kiters. Maybe it was the kitemare to fish-camp for two of their buddies that put them off. Carlos is so smooth and so side-off you can squeak out in minimal wind on a floaty wave-board, and still be powered down the line.
Not to sound like a kiter-hater but the awful reality of sailing Carlos when more than 2-3 kites are present is that it generally sucks. With few notable exceptions ( e.g. Kevin) , they have no qualms about powering upwind of you and taking every wave they can - that's just human nature of course - but don't expect windsurfers to like it and want to hug and make up afterwards.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
windoggi



Joined: 22 Feb 2002
Posts: 2743

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know we're all brothers and sisters of the wind...but the term I like is "Dope on a Rope". Hey...they call us "polesurfers" don't they?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
kevinkan



Joined: 07 Jun 2001
Posts: 1660
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

my favorite is "aggressive danglers"... even my kiting buddies think that one's funny.

and yes, it is definitely possible to kite in side-off conditions like san carlos... looks like everybody's happy there!

kev



sancarlos.jpg
 Description:
Jay Conners and Dave Civiello @ The Point PSC September 2005
 Filesize:  88.44 KB
 Viewed:  18461 Time(s)

sancarlos.jpg


Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
pzwinakis



Joined: 03 Aug 2000
Posts: 42
Location: Santa Cruz

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I sail at Wadell (northern California coast), I have for about 18 years, 13 of them on a windsurfer and the rest on a kite. Windsurfing is fun, but I can say from direct experience, comparing one against the other in the surf, there is no comparison. Not even close. Just look at the boards. Small wave board (windsurfing) is what dimensions? My last windsurf wave board was 8'-4" x 20.5" (I am 200+ pounds and was a decent wave-sailor). My current directional kite-surf board is 5'-0" x 15" (It is a mini thruster surfboard with straps). You cannot imagine where you can put the thing in the critical parts of the wave compared to a windsurfer. And when you get good on a kite, you don't even have to think where the kite is. It is so much more controllable and fun to kite-surf in surf than the alternative. Windsurfing is more fun than kiting though when the wind is crazy-gusty and more than 35kts. You can kite in those conditions, the wave riding just isn't that fun.. When the surf is 6-15ft faces and the wind is 15-25kts (side,side-off,onshore,whatever..) however, kiting is ideal. It would be fun to jump (temporarily) on a windsurfer after all these years but I can say that I have had no desire to go back to it, especially when I am in the surf (or flat water). There is a reason 99% of all the good windsurfers where I live jumped ship and never looked back.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
shitan



Joined: 12 Mar 2003
Posts: 271

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There is a reason 99% of all the good windsurfers where I live jumped ship and never looked back.


You probably meant '' the looser windsurfers" not the good ones!!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
pzwinakis



Joined: 03 Aug 2000
Posts: 42
Location: Santa Cruz

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I assure you, they were the best windsurfers (wave-sailors) in this area.. Now, pretty much all kiting 100% of the time. You used to pull up to the beach and there would be 20-30 sails on the beach or in the water. Now on an average day there are (maybe) 5 guys out on windsurfers at Wadell... I am not slamming windsurfing. I had years of fun doing it and look back with fondness on it. I am just saying that for down the line wave sailing, it feels a lot more natural (to me and a LOT of other people that used to windsurf) to be on a kite. Come on over to the dark side... You're already packing your car full of crap when you go to the beach, why not pack some more (different) crap into it..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Southwest USA, Hawaii, Mexico All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
Page 1 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum

myiW | Weather | Community | Membership | Support | Log in
like us on facebook
© Copyright 1999-2007 WeatherFlow, Inc Contact Us Ad Marketplace

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group