Could come in handy for backhand snaps but I,m too lazy to find out.

Is backhand where its all at?

Unhooked cross off i reckon works, only caus the waves clean up so board speed is less of an issue - wave kite specific or not

More volume,flatter stick or unhooked specific fins?

Sounds better if u say 'just use a board u would paddle'

I wouldnt paddle any of the kite specific boards i own - lack the litres.

Next stop,new 6'4 stick?

Who kites a 6 plus footer just to unhook in mush

gcdave said..
Sounds better if u say 'just use a board u would paddle'

I wouldnt paddle any of the kite specific boards i own - lack the litres.

Next stop,new 6'4 stick?

Who kites a 6 plus footer just to unhook in mush

I never really kite boards I would paddle and if I do it's just because I don't have anything else. I think one of the best aspects of kiting is being able to use different boards. If it's windy you can practically ride anything, there's no need to kite on a boat haha.

gcdave said..

sir ROWDY said...
If it's windy you can practically ride anything

I do punt in qld

Rarely see someone unhook round these parts in the surf. Never seen anyone unhook strapped - do the even in WA?

It's because they are lazy .

Ryland is from WA and un-hooks pretty much all the time, even lit on a 5m haha. Pretty good to watch in real life when you've been out and know how hard the conditions can be there. I heard Walcott (photographer) say he is probably the best guy he's seen in high wind.

Quick edit from last year, unhooked @ Point Moore in Geraldton, 5m weather, 1.3m swell, cross on conditions, did have some massive hacks in there but the gopro would flick down and be pointing at the board hence not much variation in riding. Don't see many people unhooking in town but I'm sure they will, not just good for little waves but for the big monster bombs on the outer reefs

Unhooked frees up the whole body, with a mixture of unhooking and quickly hooking back in you can do proper roundhouse cutbacks, mix up manoeuvres & lay down moves that require more slack line.

^^^ light winds and slight brain fart will do that

Cheers for the post austin. I reckon i tend to give unhooking a lash when its not blowing tits off. Maybe thats part my issue with it in the mush?

I think theres more to the slack lines/kite position i need to work on too

surfingboye said...
Stop mowing and give it a go gc.

Picked up a few good mowing techniques last trip

Busting to get out, take my helmet off n push some unhooked bliss

Jedibrad said..
Why o why would you remove the ability to lose almost all the kite pull i.e. depower??

This whole freeing up the body is just crap

It gets totally free when you dump the power

Why would you want a high centre of effort continually pulling your body from up near your ear anyways??

Wake up hipsters

Or maybe your all riding undervolumed boards and need that constant pull??

hahaha, good one.

If you think you can't remove the pull when un-hooked you haven't kited enough.

It's not crap, you are never free of the chicken-line hooked-in and as long as the kite is in the air there is pretty much always tension on it, which is tying you up.

Same could be said for - why you would want a line attached at you hip pulling you around by the waist when surfing???...



Most people who hate on un-hooked wave riding are the very people who will never do it properly. It's just like the crowd of old days who hated on boots because they knew they would get served up if they rode them, so they tried to make out like boots were stupid because if they didn't ride boots then people would think they aren't good anymore... It's easy to see why people don't like progression.

I think it's actually the reason why wave-riding is so popular worldwide. It hasn't progressed as much as freestyle so everyone can kind of still relate to it, everyone can still kind of pretend like they are one of the best. If proper un-hooked stuff starts becoming the norm they will lose that ability to relate and pretend, thus I think some people (even sub-consciously) fight against it. (It was the same with riding un-strapped for a long time)

p.s.
Remember how many people used to go to National comps when the level was lower and they all thought they had a chance of winning??? Now there's a few good guys suddenly most people are like "comps suck",... yep, same mentality.

Fishing is fun

But no your wrong

I'd compare it more to cars that have those wings on the back, like the ones on formula 1 cars that make down force

Jedibrad said...
Why o why would you remove the ability to lose almost all the kite pull i.e. depower??

Trim before u unhook?
Load before u pop?

Bare off downwind either way to control line tension

Dave Whettingsteel said..
I ride with straps and love them but the video Austin posted got me thinking... I totally rate him as a brave and gusty wave rider, and him riding unhooked, how far the bar moved away from his body as he was doing turns sort of showed how if you disconnect the power transmission train it changes how you ride. I'm pretty crap, but I can see how it would enhance your style.
So it's not the act of unhooking that matters, but how it mighty enhance your experience that matters.
Still reckon that op video was unreal but. However he did it!

Agreed. Also agree it was a pretty cool video.

Un-hooked (and un-strapped) is all about pushing yourself and pushing the boundaries of what people think is possible.
Logic would tell you that putting straps on your skateboard would be the easiest way to get it off the ground, likewise that taking a helicopter to the top of a mountain would be a far easier way to get there than climbing it... but it's usually not the easiest way that's the most for filling, progressive or enjoyable way to do something.

But seriously, i re watched the vid and then went for a kite yesterday

In the vid his shoulders stayed more or less parallel with the wave and when he wanted to rotate more he had to swap hands

why?…because his body wasn't "freed up"

Turning, well no, a reo as opposed to a carve off the top has to be way more functional under a depowered kite hooked in as the body isn't impeded by your arm pull as much.

"Am I Wrong"