He guys.

I was out kiting today and almost lost my board upwind of me. Thank god I could get it back but it was a close call. Bodydragging upwind is not as easy in 22 knot winds as I thought.

I am getting very mixed opinions from people. some say it's great for when u are a beginner because you won;t be doing any big jumps yet so it wont whip back at ya.

Some people say not to get it at all cause it can whip at ya no matter what.

Any suggestions anyone?

rickwindt said...
Bodydragging upwind is not as easy in 22 knot winds as I thought.

----

Any suggestions anyone?

You need more practice upwind body dragging. You see anyone else wearing a leash?

take the time learn how to body drag in all conditions.

at the end of the day its better to loose a board than any head injury.

in 03 i was kiting with a leash. board hit me in the face fractured eye socket and broke my nose, nearly lost an eye, nearly lost my hearing, nearly lost teeth. still have nerve damage in my face. cost me a deposit on a house through the expense of a medivac from PNG to australia for surgery.

i was kiting with a 16m in 15 knots.

JayP said...

take the time learn how to body drag in all conditions.

at the end of the day its better to loose a board than any head injury.

in 03 i was kiting with a leash. board hit me in the face fractured eye socket and broke my nose, nearly lost an eye, nearly lost my hearing, nearly lost teeth. still have nerve damage in my face. cost me a deposit on a house through the expense of a medivac from PNG to australia for surgery.

i was kiting with a 16m in 15 knots.

**** dude that is a serious story. Thanks for the input. I think the brought me over the line not to get one..

... change that to, have you ever seen anybody who knows how to kite using a reel leash?

If losing your board is a real problem for you there's a simple and cheap solution. Go to a boating shop and buy a couple of 6" styrene floats for abot $9 each.

http://www.biasboating.com.au/product_p/2602.htm

Tie one on each side of the board handle between the handle and the strap. They're small enough to not be in the way, but big enough to hold your board up to make it visible. They look less dorky than the Go Joe thing and are less than a 1/4 the price.

And another one......



If your technique is OK, Id suggest your kite is too big for the conditions, It is hard to bodydrag upwind when overpowered. Try depowering your kite and doing things slow, especially when changing directions. Bodydrag one way for about 20secs, looking at your board every 5 secs, change direction very slowly and you should be at your board in 3 tacks.

BTW, I think this was Lancellin, not me, I wish I had that much hair

chicks dig scars

Cheers dude, due to apparent wind theory, the slower you go the more upwind you can get, hold the bar with your rear hand and use your front hand as a rudder, as I said 3 tacks and keep looking at the board every 5 secs or so and its as easy as pie

Try heel straps. When I was learning they were invaluable. You can still come out of them at times, but I reckon they keep the board on your feet when you stack about 75% of the time. You can buy cheap rubber ones for less than $10, but they split after a while. I tracked down some heavy duty neoprene ones from Dakine for about $30, well worth the money and they can't put a gash in your head Can't remember where from but was in WA.

Hopey said...

Your call.....be aware of the risks!
http://www.kiteboardleash.com/index.php?page=testimonials

Im in one of those pics.........can you guess which one

Weird thing is I have no idea how they got the photo.........even weirder the injury was NOT as a result of wearing a board leash but from a Thundercat crash.

I did wear a board leash for my first 2 sessions many years ago. Shock Horror the surfboard leash style.

Not only are board leashes exceptionally dangerous................... you look like a total kook wearing one .......they just scream "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING"

For those having trouble body draging upwind a few tips....

make long tacks/drags - ie: at least 10-20 meters ( you lose ground everytime you change direction.
make the first drag the longest
fly your kite higher rather than lower
use one arm as a rudder/keel and stretch it out in front of you ... a bit like digging in an edge.

once you have the technique dialled it should only take you 2 tacks 3 max to get back to your board.

Think of Body dragging as punishment for not doing a trick, flying your kite correctly. It will make you learn faster from your mistakes if you keep losing your board and have to drag to it.

NickT said...

Think of Body dragging as punishment for not doing a trick, flying your kite correctly. It will make you learn faster from your mistakes if you keep losing your board and have to drag to it.

I'm not sure that's true, but getting creamed by your board and needing 3+ weeks off the water isn't going to help learn new tricks either...

No probs with q's rick. The Dakine straps have, from memory, 3 holes on each side for varying foot sizes. All you need is to put your binding bolt through the hole and you're done. It can be a bit tricky though. My bolts were just the right length for the job already, so it was a bit of work to screw them in with the heelstraps as well. It would have been easier if the bolts were a bit longer. Quick trip the local bolt shop would have done the trick. The tyre tubes will work, as will cheaper rubber straps, but the Dakine have been on my board for a few years now, a mate who is learning now uses the board. Before that, I replaced the rubber ones 3 times.

Fair point. I've had a few occasions when the board has dug in and one foot stayed in place. I felt some stress but nothing lasting. I remembered my wife's board also has the straps so I checked, they are called Dakine Raptors.

rickwindt said...

BurkeyBoy said...

Fair point. I've had a few occasions when the board has dug in and one foot stayed in place. I felt some stress but nothing lasting. I remembered my wife's board also has the straps so I checked, they are called Dakine Raptors.

thanks for all your input mate! heel straps it is for me.. Just have to find them somewhere now haha

Oceanaddicts on the QLD sunny coast have them:

http://www.oceanaddicts.com.au/Dakine%20Raptor%20Heelpad%202011

I saw a guy do a tightarse, Go joe (an inflatable thingy that goes around your handle. He used a small strut, tied it in a knot around his handle and blew it up. Sure it looked like a big condom, but like condoms they work (well most of the time).. An instructors tip# When teaching someone to bodydrag, after they have got reasonably good, Id throw a board 10m upwind of them and make sure they are competent to get back to the board, before ever thinking about teaching them the waterstart. The IKO is a great lesson guide, but you can modify it slightly to make it more competency based for what a bodydrag is all about. Of course write your name and phone number on your board. It only costs you a carton to get it back, a pretty good investment on a $700-$1000 board.