3 tips to drastically improve your kitesurfing safety.

Posted under Kitesurfing Lessons

Great reading for those of you who need a bit of a refresher on kitesurfing safety after your kitesurfing lessons.

1. The position in which a kite lands on the water has a big effect on how it eventually flags out. If it lands on its leading edge with the nose of the kite facing you, you may not have a problem regardless of the safety system you have, because the kite is not in a position to regain any power. The kite can however quite easily spin itself around and in any case the true test of your de-power system is when the kite is in the “smiley” position in the middle of the window, it needs to roll over COMPLETELY on its back.

2. When you do flag out, ensure you keep tension in your safety line as you pull yourself toward the kite. Use the safety line to haul yourself towards your kite this way you have to keep tension in it. DON’T run or swim towards your kite because this will make your safety line loose, canceling the de-power effect of the safety line’s tension and possibly resulting in your kite taking off again… and again… Whichever safety line you are using, as you pull your way up the safety line(s), make sure that the other lines go completely loose. If the other lines are not completely loose the kite can re-power. Remember the idea here is to have your kite flying on 1 maybe 2 lines that way the kite will act like a flag. Sometimes lines will wrap around the kite tips and require that you wrap the safety line(s) a few extra times to make sure the kite is de-powered. Pulling yourself straight to the kite on your safety line, then wrapping the others after you get to the kite is the quickest way to get to the kite and is called for in some situations where time is of the essence, but those lines floating around can get tangled around your spreader bar hook, neck, or feet, not a pleasant experience. If you have the time, wrap all the other lines together once you’ve disabled the kite so that this doesn’t become a problem. This also makes it easier to sort out the spaghetti after you get to the beach.

3. Know your kitesurfing safety system and how to use it before going on the water. Practice your line-wrap on the beach on a very light or no-wind day, and line the kite up to check out how far your safety system allows the kite to tip over onto its back from the smiley position. Ensure that your kite tips right over, presenting only the LE profile to the wind without the panels catching any wind. In strong wind, even a small amount of panel exposed to the wind can produce enough pull to make it difficult or impossible to pull yourself to the kite.

Remember all, it’s better to have good knowledge of the self-rescue and not need it, than to need it and not have it! (paraphrase from some guy in a movie talking about carrying his gun)

Technorati Tags: kite, kite safety, kitesurf safety, Kitesurfing Lessons, kitesurfing safety

What is Kitesurfing?

Posted under Kite lesson, Trainer Kite

Before you even think about taking Kitesurfing Lessons you probably asked yourself this question. Is an obvious question but one that deserves a bit of attention to answer. Kitesurfing at its most simple is the art of attaching yourself to a high power kite and using a combination of the wind in the kite and the resistance generated by the board to ride across the water. There are many different names for the same sport and it can be referred to as kitesurfing, kiteboarding, fly surfing to name just a few. There are several different styles of kitesurfing mainly freestyle, wake style, wave surfing, and speed, generally different styles require different types of kit and work your body in very different ways. Kitesurfing is presently the fastest growing water-sport in the world and because of this many of the safety aspects of the sport are becoming better and better, led by the change to de-powerable bow style kites.

The idea of using a simple kite as a means of propulsion dates back to the 12th century when the Chinese used kites to pull their canoes across the water. This kitesailing as it was known was then re discovered in the 1800′s by George Pocock who took the basic kite design and by increasing the size was able to pull carts on land and ships on the water. His kites were built with 4 lines and the carts and baots they were pulling could travel upwind and the kites could generate enough power to lift them off the ground and power them for a period of time.

It wasn’t until the 1980′s when Wipika solved the problem suffered by all these earlier kite designs…how to launch it from the water. The Leading Edge inflatable (LEI) kite was born and the rest as they say is history.

Recommended Reading

Learn in Malaysia | – Are you ready Jimmy Jeng-goeess…!? When you’re ready to pick up the sport of kite surfing, we’ll head out with you to our tie-up partner in Leo’s.

Technorati Tags: kite, Kitesurfing Lessons

Kitesurfing Lessons – Flying your Trainer Kite

Posted under Kitesurfing Lessons, Trainer Kite

Basic Flying of the Trainer Kite (you can do this before taking your Kitesurfing Lessons)

First pick out a good field or beach to fly at. The bigger the area the better. Be aware that if there are trees or buildings between you and the wind, the kite will not fly properly. Beware of practising close to obstacles (trees, roads, lamp-posts etc) as they can all get tangled up with the kite, also avoid practising close to high buildings as these can create up-drafts and eddies which will adversely effect the kites performance. If you think of a river running over rocks, those white bits of swirling water just after the rocks are showing exactly the same effect that obstacles have on the wind, causing it to eddy, swirl and generally do nasty things. The bigger the open space you can find the better.

Launching a Trainer Kite

In general, you want to launch your trainer kite where you have enough power to get it off the ground, but not so much power that you get overwhelmed when it launches. This spot will change depending on how much wind you have. The picture below is a bird’s eye view of the flying area showing where you want to launch your trainer kite in different winds

Note: do not try and launch a Leading Edge Inflatable – LEI (any kite you have to blow up) kite like this under any circumstances. You will go through the correct launch technique for these types of kites in your kitesurfing lessons.

Take your trainer kite out of its bag and lay the trainer kite on the ground with the bridle lines facing up and the trailing edge facing the wind. Place sand, dirt or any other non-sharp and fairly weighty object on the trailing edge so the kite does not blow away, or have an assistant hold the back of the kite with both hands making sure the leading edge is facing up into the wind (make sure they do NOT let go). Unwind the lines from the bar, walking into the wind, and then walk between them to the kite to make sure there are no knots or twists prior to launch. Untangle the lines as needed. Go back to the bar and attach your safety leash. Pull firmly on the bar while the assistant lets go and the kite will launch. Flying a trainer kite is just like riding a bicycle; pull left and the kite will turn left, pull right and the kite will turn right. Wherever the leading edge is pointed (like the front wheel of your bike) is where the kite will go. Try to think of your arms as pistons, keep the bar level in front of you and just pull with one arm while pushing with the other. This will avoid twisting and turning with the bar which will lead to problems later on.

So to break it down into action points:

Do the following to launch your kite with a partner:

• Chose the spot you are going to launch from.
• Unpack your kite and have your partner secure it so it doesn’t blow away.
• Lay out your lines and position yourself so you and your kite are in the proper spot of the wind window for your launch (see diagram above).
• Attach your safety leash.
• Have your partner take your kite with both hands by the leading edge and hold it up between their fingers to catch the wind.
• When the kite has filled with wind, indicate to your partner to let go. At the same time pull gently but firmly on the control bar.
• Thats it! The kite should rise gracefully into the sky. If not, reset and try again, this time with the kite further downwind.
• Once up, navigate your kite to the edge of the wind window and you’re ready to start your exercises!

Self Launching

Self-launching is a bit more tricky. To pull this off you will need some loose sand, 4 or 5 smooth rocks, or some small sandbags. With these in hand, do the following:

• Choose the spot you are going to launch from.
• Unpack your kite and lay it on the ground so the underside of the kite faces upwards with the trailing edge into the wind (see the diagrams below).
• Place your rocks, sand, or sandbags on the trailing edge of the kite to hold it down. Make sure it’s secure.
• Is your kite secure? If it is, lay out your lines so you are in the proper location for the launch.
• Attach your safety leash.
• Gently pull on the control bar. The front lines of the kite should begin to pull the leading edge off the ground and into the wind. The kite should begin to fill with wind and get its shape.
• Once the kite has filled with wind, give a firm pull on the control bar to lift it off the ground and into the air. The weights you used slide off the trailing edge and let your kite go free.
• Navigate the kite to the edge of the wind window. You’re ready to rock!

The safety leash

Now that you have your kite in the air, it’s time to learn one of the most important things a beginner must know – how to use your safety system. Assuming that your kite has a safety leash (it should) and that you are wearing it (you absolutely should be) all you need to do is this:

LET GO OF THE BAR!

So why is this a difficult thing to do? It’s the opposite of your natural reaction.

Let’s think about it. You use the safety system when things get out of control; when you get overpowered and don’t have time to react. You’re getting jerked and pulled by the kite and you have more power than you can handle. What do most people do? They instinctively fight back. They flex their muscles, clench the bar, and fight with the kite (whilst thinking ‘oh sh*!’). What they need to do is let go! You cannot wrestle with the full power of these kites and win! You don’t even want to try – it’s a bad habit to get into.

Bottom line: If you get overpowered, don’t fight the kite. Get into the habit of letting go of the bar and using your safety leash.

So here is your task: Fly your kite around and let it catch some power. When you feel the kite begin to pull, let go of the bar. Do this until it feels natural, and keep practicing it so that it always feels natural. I practice letting go of the bar at least once every time I fly my trainer.

Your kite is in the air and you’re ready to go. Great! It’s time to learn about Kitesurfing Lessons – The Wind Window

Technorati Tags: kite, kites, Kitesurfing Lessons, Trainer Kite

Kitesurfing Lessons – kit and what to look for, buying your first kite.

Posted under Kite lesson, Kitesurfing Lessons

Buying kit is a notoriously sticky issue and something I would definately leave until after your kitesurfing lessons. Mainly because there are so many people and companies telling you completely different things, all claiming to know exactly what is good for you and which bit of kit is best. Unfortunately as a beginner you are especially susceptible to this kind of marketing as you don’t have the experience to know what is best for you, or even how you’d recognise it if it came up and clubbed you over the head. So many beginners end up buying a bit of kit because their mate told them to, or because it was the one that had the coolest design on it…sound familiar, that’s what I did and ended up taking a year to learn to go upwind because of it. However there are some simple bits of information which will allow you to navigate the minefield that is buying kit and if you follow them you’ll not only save money but also time and frustration. So we’ll start by talking about arguably the most important bit of kit…the kite.

Contrary to what manufacturers tell you a kite cannot be amazing at everything, it cannot have the most power, turn the fastest, be the most stable and the easiest to relaunch all at the same time.  Why? because a kite is a wing and wing design is based on compromise.  To divulge into a bit of aerodynamic theory, a wing at its most simple (and for all you physicists out there, I know, this is very simple!) can be either long and thin which will generate an awful lot of power or short and fat which will handle a lot easier. A wing cannot be both long and thin and short and fat at the same time, not on planet Earth anyway, it has to be built as a compromise between the two extremes. The same holds true of a kite.  Generally as a beginner you are better off aiming at the short, fat end of the spectrum, these kites will tend to be more forgiving and more responsive, also they are less likely to ping you 20m down the beach if you do something wrong, as they generate less pull. If you think that’s for wimps and your tough enough to handle a long thin one (kite that is!), be my guest, but I’m no slouch (if I do say so myself) and due to a long thin monster of a kite I spent the first year of my kitesurfing career in misery…you have been warned!

As to the whole C vs hybrid vs bow vs delta kite arguments (you probably won’t even know the difference but you’ll hear a lot about them over the coming months) it basically breaks down like this…hybrids, bows and deltas are all different types of bow kites that is they have some form of bridle and de-power a hell of a lot more than a C kite…get one of these, DO NOT…I repeat, DO NOT, buy a C kite, of course you’re your own person and who am I to tell you what to do but bear in mind C kites are much harder to control, kick like a shot of tequila and offer very little in the way of advantages to the beginner rider. In short the bow style kites are infinitely safer, easier and faster to get started on and will most likely be the kites your learning on during your kitesurfing lessons.

Next we look at how much you should be spending on your first set of kitesurfing equipment after taking your kitesurfing lessons.

Technorati Tags: kite, Kitesurfing Lessons