Posted on 07/18/2010 7:28:42 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
Take wakeboarding, ditch the boat, add a parabolic kite tethered by 100-foot lines, toss in some wind, and you get kiteboarding, a sport born in the late 1990s that is currently exploding in popularity. Despite the extreme show put on by experienced kiters—who can handle 1000 pounds of force, reach speeds topping 50 mph and fly 50 feet above the water—the sport is surprisingly easy to learn. Most people pick it up after just a couple days of lessons. Here are the skills and gear you need to get started.
1 Land Lesson
"Ninety percent of kiteboarding is kite control," Markus Schale, owner of Kiteboarding School of Maui, says. Beach-based lessons allow beginners to practice with special training kites that have short, easy-to-control lines. The key is to keep an eye on the 180-degree arc in the sky that the kite flies in, called the "wind window."
2 Body Dragging
Before strapping on a board, you'll practice controlling the kite as it drags your body—face-first—through the water. Fly the kite close to the water while keeping your head down and legs together. This turns your torso into a rudder, dragging you upwind—an essential skill if you hope to retrieve a lost board. (Kiters don't use leashes; the slingshot effect can be skull-cracking.)
3 Water Start
Start out your run with the board pointed about 45 degrees downwind toward the kite—there will be less resistance than with a sideways board and it'll be easier to get up. While keeping the kite hovering at the neutral noon position, carefully slip your feet into the board's foot straps. Aim the board slightly downwind, and then dive the kite hard while driving your weight through your hips, legs and feet. Once you're standing upright, dive the kite again to accelerate and get your board planing. Now lean back at a 45-degree angle and, depending on which direction you're riding, park the kite at either the 11 o'clock or 2 o'clock position. "Keep your body in a straight line," Laurel Eastman, a former pro kiter, says. "Push your hips forward and shoulders to the sea."
4 Riding Upwind
Riding upwind returns you to the beach at the same spot you entered the water. To do this, fly the kite low and maintain even power. While edging against the kite, lean back, then swivel your hips and upper body in the direction you want to tack. Push down on your back foot to keep your edge from slipping down-wind. "Always look over your shoulder, facing where you want to end up," Schale says.
John Kerry was in Vietnam
Glad you posted this. Bump for later read
Fun time all round:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8zTftLV0NQ
That was fake video. Anyway, I’ve seen the speed the kite surfers can attain and it is absolutely amazing. Faster than jet skis!
Dang it! You beat me to it.
I know it was fake. I just thought it was funny.
I kitesurf. It’s FUUUUUUUN! Was easy for me to pick it up. I have a long history of windsurfing, sailing, and surfing,it his certainly helped. I don’t think I spent more than an hour practicing flying the kite on the beach before I was ready to go.
What’s really nice about it is the air time you can get to do some pretty nice tricks.
I watched the kite surfing National event just outside Louis Corriea Brazil in a small community “Coconut Beach”
It was neat to see them go and jump, I talked to a couple of the surfers they were saying that that beach and area was one of the best places in the world to do it because of the cross winds out in the cove.
All and all it’s a pretty neat sport
Its hard to learn and dangerous as hell. Very fun to do but not real cheap to start.
Would you say it is the most fun of all the sports you mentioned?
“I kitesurf. It’s FUUUUUUUN! Was easy for me to pick it up. I have a long history of windsurfing, sailing, and surfing,it his certainly helped. I don’t think I spent more than an hour practicing flying the kite on the beach before I was ready to go.”
I doubt it is easy to learn by somebody with ZERO experience surfing, windsailing, sailing, etc.
They are all good, but personally I think a good day with great surf is the most fun. If you want pure speed and jumps, it’s kite surfing.
Saw LOTS of it at the Outer Banks region of N.C.
There was even a hotel devoted to it.
I’d have to say my favorite would have to be sailing my Hobiecat off the beach and trolling for fish at the same time.
You should see how people on the beach trip out when I hit the beach with a stringer full of King Mackeral and Mahi Mahi.
That being said I’m sure my answer would be different if I was still living on Hatteras Island where beach sailing would be way more difficult due to the bigger surf and much more wind.
The friends I left back in Hatteras tell me kitesurfing has taken off big time since I left in ‘95. Been living on the Florida panhandle since. Not so much surf here.
I’d have to say my favorite would have to be sailing my Hobiecat off the beach and trolling for fish at the same time.
You should see how people on the beach trip out when I hit the beach with a stringer full of King Mackeral and Mahi Mahi.
That being said I’m sure my answer would be different if I was still living on Hatteras Island where beach sailing would be way more difficult due to the bigger surf and much more wind.
The friends I left back in Hatteras tell me kitesurfing has taken off big time since I left in ‘95. Been living on the Florida panhandle since. Not so much surf here.
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