3 tips to drastically improve your kitesurfing safety.

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

How Taking Kitesurfing Lessons Will Change Your Life Forever

Kitesurfing Lessons - The Bodydrag

Kitesurfing is the latest water sports craze. With more and more people having kitesurfing lessons and taking up the sport every day. What is it that draws all these people, from all walks of life to this adrenaline packed, fun loving sport? What benefit will you get out of life by taking the plunge and taking your first tenuous steps in a new world and booking your first kitesurfing lessons?

The greatest danger associated with kite surfing is its ability to get under your skin and change your life forever. Such is the addiction that many people give up their 9 to 5 and head to find an alternative existence, an existence dominated by wind, water and an obsession with weather reports. Released from the pressures of the daily grind, life becomes a quest for ride time. These people are not the hippies and junkies that are stereotyped in films and novels but, instead, are people from all walks of life who have given it all up — exchanging flashy cars and expensive mortgages for quality of life, a beach, a board and often just enough money in their pocket to buy their next beer.

For a lot of people the greatest thing about kitesurfing is the fact that it draws you to lots of different and incredible locations all over the globe. Kitesurfing, being a relatively new sport, most of the top locations are still remote…or not even discovered yet! So you have some amazing opportunities to travel the world in search of your ultimate ride. The list of kitesurfing destinations reads like a Lonely Planet top ten list of places you must see before you die…Brazil, S Africa, Kenya, Thailand, Mauritius, Turkey, Ireland, Mexico….you get the picture!

So what are you waiting for get out there and book your first kitesurfing lessons…but be careful where this new lifestyle may take you!

Technorati Tags: Kite surfing lessons, kitesurfing, kitesurfing destinations, Kitesurfing Lessons, kitesurfing sport, kitesurfing travel

Kitesurfing Apps for the iPhone and iPad

Kitesurfing - iPhone and iPad

There are a multitude of apps and games out there available for the iPhone or the iPad based on kitesurfing. There are simple games to instructional apps and others that are just for showing off to your friends (think the lightsaber app). Some of these apps have real value to the wannabe kitesurfer and I’m going to spend a bit of time and a couple of articles looking at some of the better ones. Today I’m looking at Kitesurf Instructor: Beginner. An app designed to help people just breaking in to the sport to progress helping to master first riding upwind, jumps, toe-side riding etc.

The app costs £1.19 in the iStore, it is rather large weighing in at just over 35Mb. Once installed the app opens quickly and is visually pleasing. The menu system is easy to navigate and the information is all available in just a few ‘clicks.’ I was pleasantly surprised by the actual contents of the app. While lacking a certain amount of depth, the tips and advise contained would be useful to anyone progressing through the stages of kitesurfing to which it refers. The app starts at upwind body dragging so assumes a certain level of competence and does recommend that you need kitesurfing lessons with a certified instructor before using the information contained therein. However as something to combine with your kitesurfing lessons or simply with your own development I believe this app would be very useful.

On the downside, as mentioned the app is necessarily a little shallow. It obviously cannot cover every single circumstance and if you’re looking for something to take you by the guide and teach you to kitesurf this is not it, but as an accompaniment to kitesurfing lessons with an instructor or as reference material once you’ve been let loose on your own its it great.

Technorati Tags: how to kitesurf, Ipad, Iphone, Istore, kitesurf ipad, kitesurf iphone, kitesurf istore, Kitesurfing Lessons, learn to kitesurf

Kitesurfing Lessons – Kite Line Length and the Effect on the Performance of the Kite.

25m lines are the average length of kitesurfing lines but some people ride on 20 or even 15m lines…Why?

During your kitesurfing lessons you may well find that you fly kites on a variety of different lengths of lines. Kite lines for learning can vary from 5m to 25m and even when your up and riding some people still prefer to ride on much shorter lines than is usual. As the lines on a kite get longer the power of a kite increases, this is due to 2 different reasons. The first of these is gradient wind, as the wind gets further away from the earth the turbulence caused by objects on the earths surface gets less and so the wind speed increases. In all honesty however the difference in the gradient wind over 25m is generally negligible and this is unlikely to have a huge effect on the power in the kite…notice I say generally, sometimes it can have a marked effect say if there a line of short trees just upwind of where you are flying your kite.

To discover the main reason that a kite with longer lines will generate more power we have to delve slightly into the mechanics of the wind:

Imagine you are sitting in a stationary car sticking your head out of the window and the wind is coming from an angle 90º to the front of the car (the wind is hitting the car side on) you feel the wind on your face in the exact same direction the wind is traveling…obviously! This wind is called the true wind. Now the car starts to move slowly, as the car cuts through the air it generates wind over the body of the car (and your face) in the opposite direction to the direction of travel. This wind is the induced wind. The problem here is that the wind cannot come from two different places at the same time so a third wind, the apparent wind is the actual wind you feel on your face, this will be somewhere in-between the induced wind and the true wind. As the car moves faster so the apparent wind will veer to an angle closer to the induced wind (the front of the car) and as the car slows down the apparent wind will veer around towards the true wind (as the airflow over the car becomes less). If this is unclear let me know and i’ll try to rephrase it or include a picture or two…you should cover this however in your kitesurfing lessons (where it gives your instructor a chance to show off how clever he/she is!!).

A kite flies on apparent wind so as it moves it generates airflow over the surfaces of the kite thus generating lift…or power. So the faster, and further a kite can move the more potential it has to generate lift. A kite on longer lines has a larger area to move through and thus can move faster and further than a kite on shorter lines and thus can generate more power. Or put in another way longer lines give a larger power zone which means quite clearly more power!

Shorter lines mean less transmission time from the bar to the kite, also any movement of the bar, due to the principles of leverage has a greater effect on the kite (as the bar is a greater percentage of the total length of the lines). So a kite on shorter lines will turn much more quickly than a kite on long lines.

For these reasons shorter lines tend to be favored by wave riders and people who like a quick responsive kite whereas longer lines would be more common in speed sailing or racing or just everyday cruising/freestyle.

Technorati Tags: Kitesurfing Lessons

Kitesurfing Lessons – Kitesurfing Disciplines

At the IKA website (International Kitesurfing Association) we are informed there are 5 main disciplines that make up kitesurfing at a competition level. Wave, Freestyle, Course Racing, Slalom and Speed each of these has various subcategories such as high jump and hang time.  Which of these various disciplines you care to pursue after your kitesurfing lessons is a matter of personal preference and physical ability. Lets break them down and look at each one in a bit more detail, examining what each discipline is and what it demands from the rider, so once you’ve completed your kitesurfing lessons you’ll be perfectly poised to pursue your chosen path.

Wave – Possibly the most spectacular of the disciplines, find a big wave..ride it! With the explosion of wave boards into kitesurfing this is a discipline that is becoming more and more popular and accessible. Many people are now using their old surfboards without footsteps to catch whatever waves they can find, I regularly take out my 7’8″ mini mal on the lighter days. At the top level its a quest, an obsession that sees riders traveling the globe in search of the perfect break (think point break…but with kites and less fighting!) but it can be enjoyed at any level. Take out a big surf board and a little kite and you can be messing around on even the smallest of waves while you brush up your technique. Pursuing this discipline requires a fair amount of patience as you now have to look for waves as-well as wind but if you’ve got a surf board in your quiver it gives you a great light wind option.  at a basic level it doesn’t require a great amount of fitness, but as the waves get bigger and the boards shorter you can find yourself really working and your courage being put to the test more than once! Unless you ride on a lake I would really recommend you getting a surf board and having a go at this, its a great light wind option and will add a whole new dimension to your riding, if the school your learning at has any surf boards you should ask to try one during your kitesurfing lessons so you can feel the difference first hand…believe me you’ll never look back! 

Freestyle – Probably the most popular of the disciplines and the one that people most readily associate with kitesurfing.  Take out a twin tip board and jump, twist, rotate (and crash!) to your hearts content! Almost everybody who kitesurfs will be into freestyle in one way or the other, whether its simply pulling off big jumps or getting into the more advanced rotation and wake style tricks. This is a discipline that can be enjoyed by everyone. Again at its most basic level it can be pretty straightforward, jumping for example requires very little in the way of physical fitness or finesse to achieve, the more advanced powered up moves however can take their pound of flesh so if your going to go for these I would recommend that your fairly fit and prepared to take a bit of a beating initially at least.  You’ll probably get an intro into freestyle during your kitesurfing lessons with all the (unintentional) jumps you pull off…go with it and enjoy its part of the process!!

Course racing and Slalom are both about racing against a load of other riders around a course of buoys. Competitions are held either with all the riders launching together or competing against each other one at a time in time trials. With large fleets of up to 100 riders competing at any one time all hustling for that no 1 spot this can be hugely entertaining for any spectators and quite an adrenaline buzz for the riders themselves! Race boards are becoming more and more common in kitesurfing and many people own one as they make great light wind boards.  Realistically it’ll most likely be a couple of months after your kitesurfing lessons before your ready for one of these disciplines but they can provide a lot of fun. They do however require some organizing and as such are quite difficult to find, if your really interested why not talk to your local club/shop about hosting one in your local spot.

Speed – put up an unrealistically large kite in nuclear winds and try to hold on! Not for the faint hearted or the physically sluggish. Riders can reach speeds of over 50 knots so wipe outs are spectacular and generally painful. Definitely leave this one a while after completing your kitesurfing lessons.  For those interested many companies now do GPS units that will track your speed over a session nod give you detailed reports when you get back off the water.

Technorati Tags: Kitesurfing Lessons