newbie needs advise

shastadogs2 · Since 28 Mar 2005 336 Posts Obsessed

heya,
i am new to the forum and have been kiting since may 04, took 3 lessons w/smitty at sw in hr, then spent a couple of days with will down at floras, where i finally started to get some board time. it seemed like every time i went out in hr i got snake-bit: too much kite, rerig, then too gusty, then up and down and up and down and finally up and then downwind like a banshee. will got me straighted out pretty good.

i was in holbox in january and met some dutch kiters that could rock! i noticed that when they rigged their kites, they could just park them at 9 (or at 3) and walk upwind (on light wind days-usually they were blasting back upwind under sail), anyway, they could walk about with their kites parked, even with their hands free of the bars-cool!

when i have the kite parked in neutral, man, its all over the place, and i wouldnt think of letting the bar go.

can anyone help me with my bar set up. i have a ss surefire bar and am still trying to establish better control of the kite, especially while launching and getting into the straps. also, could you advise about how to set up my board so my feet will stay in the dam straps. when it is choppy, my leading foot sometimes gets blasted out of the strap.

finally, how do i stay upwind-i have read how everyone struggles ieth this at first, and with all due respect to my kiting brothers, most people cannot explain how they learned it, its just "keep trying", etc, which is cool, i will 'cause kiting is the center of the known universe and all, but damn, i am getting tired of the awalk of shame.
any help-cool!
thanks
jaa

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

jaa -
On the rigging, first thing is to make sure your front lines are both even with each other, best way is to find something sturdy you can hook them to and then stretch em out and really put your weight on them (lean back.) If they look even, give them each a good pluck to make sure the tension is even on each. Then repeat for back lines.

After you do all that next time you fly your kite, see how well it flies straight above you without applying any bar pressure (best to do this in the water.) If it always drifts to one side, then your kite is probably a little unbalanced. There's no good fix for this, but you can try attaching different pigtails to favor one side or the other.

Getting upwind? Well if you really want to do some reading, go over to kiteforum.com and do a search for it. You will find hundreds of posts.

The best I can describe is it, is to make sure you are keeping yourself powered up, really use the kite to get yourself up to speed, you can't go upwind slow (unless your really overpowered.) Then when you are moving at a good clip, focus on your edging, pick a point on the horizon that's a little bit upwind of you, and try to edge your way to it. It really helps to point your hips while doing this.

Kind of a lame description I know, but once you get it, its cake! Usually its fairly easy in the Columbia because you got the current helping you out (except east wind days.) Don't worry too much if you have trouble with it at Floras, I have seen the best guys doing walks there...

Hope that helps! Wave