Good work Daniel_Y.

A jumps a jump. I'm sure it was fun anyway, if not the body dragging to get your board back after the landing...

Current challenge: Going toe side.

Any tips? I think I'm taking too long to 'switch' and losing power out of the kite (due to it being too far round the wind window....).

Not sure if this will help with your kite Kazan, maybe you need to try to steer it sooner? My C4 in 15kts will fall out of the sky if I don't anticipate the moves it needs to make. It's 11m and I am 85kg and I can JUST get upwind on a 15kt day... so not sure why yours is misbehaving.

As for once you're up in light winds, I found it easier to make smaller more subtle kite movements in light wind once up and riding, rather than just diving it aggressively. So give it a good dive to begin (but remember that you need to steer it up sooner than in strong winds, it's slow as hell!), but then aim to make it more and more subtle otherwise you just get pulled off your line and end up downwind with your weight over the board.

With the board, I had better results getting my weight off the board sooner than in strong winds, otherwise you just sink it in the light wind. So leaning back and trying to head upwind as soon as possible to move my weight away from the board (but not too far back and upwind that you dig a rail and fall in). It also helps for me to try and stay "stiffer" in my stance. It's a balancing act and I am only just starting to get the hang of it.

Thanks Jason, thanks Zarb. That was great tips.

On a totally different topic (forum should have a NonKiting section), check out in YouTube 'great gig in the sky sam brown' and compare it with 'great gig in the sky aussie or britfloyd floyd'. You tell me which one nails it the most! Go Aussies!

vkay89 said...
Have had my first lesson and got some second hand gear from a close mate! so syked to finally get on the water!

Only problem is Im having a small operation next week which means ill be fish outa water for about 4-5 weeks because of the healing

Rest assured the weeks of recovery will be re viewings of the progression DVD's

Then hopefully after the recovery ill be getting some good experience

EDIT: Thing I learned from my first lesson is easy does it with the bar. Also Dont freak out!! The first couple of kite crashes I had I panicked and couldn't get the kite back up. I calmed down took a good couple of breaths and patiently maneuvered the kite to pick up some wind.

Goo don you, Vkay... keep it up (your efforts and the kite). In due course, keeping your kite under control will be second nature, and should you dunk it in the water, it will be a mild annoyance at best. You've got to go through these cycles of dropping and recovering your kite so you know what to do when you're 500m off shore and it happens! It's all valuable learning.

Yeop, easy with the bar and remember, the kite should pull you out of the water though your harness, and *not* you pulling yourself up on the bar. If you do this, you'll power up the kite, and it will send you flying. Believe me!

yewww, good on ya! you'll keep progressing quickly now.
when are you back up here?

Did my first 'sort-of' toeside on sat. Switched the board on the spot... went more or less direct downwind.

Note to self, must practice toeside stance (despite getting ridiculed by the girlfriend... although to be fair, doing it in a busy park using an oval's barrier as my pretend bar does invite such ridicule!).

SuperPoop said...
Does or did anyone else have a fear of launching and landing? If so how did you get over it?

I've just had an hour lesson purely focusing on launching/landing and self launching/self landing.

Hopefully I can get out tomorrow to see if its made me feel any better about the process.

If you have an ozone bar, a great way to gain confidence with kite handling is to get a 4m inflatable trainer: ozonekites.com/products/water-kites/uno

Being a 4-line inflatable, it launches/lands/flies and feels just like a real kite, and works with a standard harness and ozone bar. The only real difference between the Uno and a standard 4m kite is that the Uno is stable at lower windspeeds - down to 15 knots.

Between 15 and 20 knots, it generates enough power to give you a similar feel to a real kite while still being reasonably safe on the beach (unless you're very light). Find a spot away from others so that you don't hit anyone and just have some fun. Practice self-launching, self-landing, keeping the kite stable in all clock positions, controlling the kite with one hand, swapping hands with a board in your other hand, flying with the kite in only your peripheral vision, water-relaunching with the kite on the edge of the water, using the quick-release. Keep doing all these things over and over until you hardly have to think about the kite.

In 20-25 knots, it's also great for practicing downwind body dragging (try sining the kite to generate more power), water-relaunching, self-rescue. Upwind body dragging is doable but more work because of the kite's lowish aspect ratio and depending on your weight, you may not have enough grunt with a 4m kite to make much progress.

Don't waste your time with a 3-line foil trainer - they don't launch/land or feel like a real kite and only end up teaching you bad habits.

zarb said...
Landed my first backroll today Also came very very close on several other tries. Now I just need to get it dialed and maybe try it without a little wave to give me a boost.

Also was working on my popping jumps today. I find them way more fun than big floaty airs. Can almost get about a metre out of the water now with pops.

Kiteboarding kicks ass!

Hey Zarb you got the progression vids?

Zarb, have you seen Kiteboarding 101?

It's a different pace to the Progression DVDs, but def worth a watch in conjunction with the progression DVD.

Together they give you different takes on the same thing...

zarb said...
No, I havn't seen that DVD. I may have to track it down. What kind of level does it cover?

This weekend I want to start getting some rotations in my pops. Depending on the crowds, I might try unhooking as well and see the difference it makes on the jumping. Fully prepared for it to hurt a lot...

It assumes you have at least the competencies of Progression DVD1 and maybe half of DVD2 I.e. you're comfortable jumping, maybe even unhooking.

It probably covers stance (out of the water)more than progression, (so that bit seems slow) but then it races along and crams in ** load of stuff in minutes.

If it were me (and maybe this is because I'm slow), I'd watch kiteboarding 101, find the first trick you want to do. Watch the 1min where it covers it, compare the same thing on Progression DVD2 and practice and practice until you've nailed it then move on.

I thought I might as well put this in here also.

Howdy,

I'm looking for some kiting buddies in Brisbane, my usual haunt is Brighton/Sandgate.

I've had my lessons and I've just picked up my own gear, so I'm wanting to get out as much as possible.

Get in contact.

Hey Superpoop,

During the season there are plenty of people down at Brighton/Sandgate. If you are a feeling a little unsure on your launch/lands just let whoever you ask for a launch know that you feel this way and most of the guys will ensure that you are in the right place before releasing the kite.

At mid-low/low tide there is heaps of room on the flats so you will have plenty of room to move away from the grassed areas and away from obstacles.

When I first started I let the guys know that I was a newbie and for them to feel free to tell me if I wasn't in the right place for my launches, they also took it nice and slow and waited till I was ready.

You will get more confident with it as you progress.

My god what were you trying to do? There wasn't anything above a red arrow for the entire day!

Ha ok my bad :)