Kiting vs Windsurfing in the waves - which is more cool ?

likesitwindy · Joined: 09 Nov 1997 Posts: 49

I did post a question on iwindsurf about the advantages of maybe getting a slotted true ames enduro from the non slots that I own and enjoy. Some windsurf guys had some info about the possibility that one may plane earlier and one may go upwind better ....BUT also some kite guy posted that kiting was better in the waves and just to forget the question and go over to kiting ! So here is my answer "feedback" .... likesitwindy

Ok here is the deal ...no problems with wind here in the bay area ....the coast "crazy windy" and so is the bay or delta ...but the wind does die and then all the speed and skill in the world is needed to get out of dodge before the swim time comes ! I run Sailboards maui boards that are only for waves and so you have to work to get them upwind ...especially in a strong flood tide (3rd or delta for instance) So now I have MORE questions ...does the slot make it better or worse upwind ??? Slow is not good ...but early to plane is more important than being slow ....does the added drag give you this from the slot ??? fast is good and my boards are not ever going to be fast ...too much rocker ( and I do not mean that I have long hair and leather pants ! - for you kiters out there !! ) So the speed is already slow ... so what is better for upwind and earlier planing ??? Life has been good without the slots ....yet my curiosity has gotten the better of me and ...well .... I do not want to sink the $90 + and then have to sell it at a swap for $45 .... As for kiting on /in the waves .... it is a wakeboard sport with all the fixings except the cooler of beer in the boat and the roastbeef sandwich ( the 'move' and the actual sandwich ! ) Kiting has its advantages ....a bit more extreme than alot of light wind sailing ...yet here in the San Francisco bay area ..we get alot of wind ...... also kiting is a big spinaker sail on long strings ....a black hefty bag on kite strings is the halloween costume for a kiter .... alot of power and lift ...but not a "jump" more a float ...like a foat in a parade .... a big underdog float is an advanced 2011 kite ...size 60 m2 ... that is some light wind stuff ...I am going to take kiting extreme and put helium in a buch of small balloons and go flying ....ok so I am just "clowning ya all " Kiting is cool and so is wakeboarding ....it is only jetskis that are not cool OK ...so there ! ...but wait ...now a jetski can take a tow surfer out to the big waves ...that is cool ...hmm . This Kappin on other sports it getting konfusin' Kiting in the waves is different than the windsurfer and the windsurfer must take a bigger beating for a mistake in the waves ...the kite guy looses his board and drags back to shore ....that is not a 'hit' ....the sailboader takes his/her kit in the face ...goes for the wash ...the mast/sail/boom gets a nice mark of wavesailing and you get to go for the long swim to get it ...or what is left of it ! This makes windsurfing more cool (more expensive in the waves...except there seems to be alot of used windsurf stuff sold by kiters ?? NICE ! ) and more EXTREME than kiting ..... I had a kiter tell me that kiting is windsurfing with an added dimension - up ! This is true and yet it is like that one dimension is on slow motion on my VCR ( I am a windsurfer and will never adjust to that new fangeled thing - the DVD ! ) It looks alot like a Chinese Kung Fu movie .... floating and flying ...and yet something says it is not a "real jump !" A kite jump and/or float is like a windsurf jump that Lucas Films had to make more impressive and yet less real ... so I do not get the same sting that I get with a landed (or unlanded) windsurf jump to that kite jump/float ...seems fluffy and soft ...like those new playgrounds with soft stuff on it ....I grew up old school with hard landings as a part of life! Like when I would drop from the treehouse ...wham! and almost get the wind(surf) knocked out of me ! ....and run around desperately trying to get a breath (thoughts of safe sports 'spinning out of control' in my head like maybe flying a kite ! ) and then the air would come back in my lungs and I would return to my senses (censis) and realize that my kite was stuck in a tree anyway up at the schoolyard and kiting was not my calling !

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gregorvass · Joined: 21 Nov 1996 Posts: 1113 Location: Behind You

COOL????????????????????????????????

Go to the gym DUDE there is lot of COOL stuff to do.

SWE106 · Joined: 14 Feb 2005 Posts: 264 Location: San Mateo

Who cares; just have fun. Stop misbehaving on the water, learn the rules, respect eachother, and please spread some aloha. No sport is better than the other and nobody is taking over anything. The ocean isn't mine or yours: it's everybodies; now that's what matter's!

Oh, but if you do care and wanna compare; here is some serious food-for-thought:

http://www.pappasrock.com/ezzy_on_kiting.jpg

aloha,
arnie

rationalnational · Joined: 20 Apr 2001 Posts: 163

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2MLnAz6A1k

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

"Cool" is for show; FUN is REAL. Ya wanna sit in your rocking chair 60 years from now thinking how many people you impressed, or how much FUN you had? Do what ya want -- short of the next guy's nose -- and the hell with what's "cool" (or "hot").

\m/

windoggi · Joined: 22 Feb 2002 Posts: 2743

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588

I have to admit, a lot of thoughts about stuff out in the water. However, you forgot about the surfers in the lineup. We have to think about them too.

Cool is a sense of attitude and style, but performance must be in the mix to bring it across.

Anyway, I like windsurfing too.

dudco · Joined: 05 Jan 1997 Posts: 24

All this talk??? How about a little more action!!

WindsurfUtah · Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 93

For what it matters, I think your post is funny.

I love random humorous thoughts, and this forum could was more of them.

Thanks.

likesitwindy · Joined: 09 Nov 1997 Posts: 49

One could swear that I voiced an opinion on who the true prophet was ...or if there was even one ! As to the meth comment ....ok ...so I did do meth this one time ( in the windsurfing world this is doing some kiting !) This was done in light winds on Oahu .... not exactly like Maui and the wind was light for weeks ...nothing at diamond head or jump city - 'kailua' . I did do the ben hur drag behind the chariot ( the kite ) and I did feel the power and the lift ...but it did not take a grip on me. As to commitment to the sport ...the 313000 miles on my volvo should say that I am willing to put the time/gas/effort in my pursuit of the wind ! This is where kiting has it's advantage ....the wind is light ...comes up to 18 and then back down to 14 ....kiter is ok and I need to get in my car and drive like hell ...OK so that is a fact .... and sometimes I loose and get a rabid skunk hiding in a corner of my trunk and the wind dies in route to my destination. I did have a 5 day in a row of "skunk in my trunk" for the rio vista to San francisco drive in afternoon traffic - 2 seasons ago ...it almost gave me a stroke. To drive and see the numbers fall and be 30 minutes away ...after 1.5 + hr on the road ...you keep driving and see the lake in person ...just to prove to myself that it is not a bed sensor reading ! Still I have not gone over to kiting and actually I did get a brand new motor in my car this year ...so I can wear it out in my chase for good sailing ! So that article that Dave Ezzy posted ( look at SWE comment ) was correct ...the strong survive and drive or ...??... watch a guy fly a kite ...maybe ?? John