Take your riding to the next level.

Learn What kiteboarding specific exercises you can do when you are waiting for wind.

I even did a dorky video to give you an idea of what it might be like. Unfortunately I only had some old video for the intros and just did my first edit so..Embarrassed

The Clinic will be roughly an hour followed by a breakfast at local the Boatyard bar and grill. We will introduce you to a proper kiteboarding breakfast. Fuel up, meet other local kiters, and then go hit the water at one of the local kiting spots.

Seating is limited. $35per kiter and that includes a breakfast.

http://ospreykitesports.com/calendar.html hit this link for details

Thanks

Bill

Report by : Weston

Here’s the start of my report on exuma so far. we got the 630 am American Airlines flight into miami on the 18th, then had about a 5 hour layover to the american eagle flight to georgetown, which was slightly delayed.

Got here around 4pm and immediately noticed it was blowing about 20, so i backpacked a kite and just started walking to see if i could find a beach before it got dark. no such luck, but when i was walking back, gary just happened to see me and give me a ride to an ocean spot, where there was a 4 or 5 foot swell coming in past the barrier reefs and side-onshore wind. i rigged the 12 and headed out.

I got a good hour or so before i crashed the shockwave on a downloop. This turned out to be my first real kitemare, as the bridal had wrapped around 1 wingtip and it started to loop out of control. Stupidly, i had the leash hooked to the chicken loop. I managed to unclip it and clip into the frontline safety ring in that second or too, then pull the emergency. After that, it was fine, i just swam to the kite holding the front line and sat on it. The lines looked like hell in the swell, so i just wrapped them in a bundle and started to swim back to shore (that tangle took about an hour and 1/2 to undo).

A word about the 06′ Naish Shockwave’s canopy: it sucks, its so thin that even its own bridal tore a large hole in it. I taped it enough to use for the rest of this trip, then im going to get rid of it. The bridal is too long anyway, it should never wrap aroudn the kite. (so anybody want a cheap kite??)

Nonetheless, i went to bed very happy that night. Gary invited me to hitch a ride to once of his lessons in the morning, so we left at 9 for a flat water spot. The wind was stronger out of the north east again (20-30), so i finally got to break out my 9m fuel. this was the first time i’ve really gotten out with c-kites in the water. I love it. at first i was afraid of its power and quick movements compared to the shockwave, but after an hour of getting the sheeting right, its an amazing kite.

next day, the wind went more east/south. we met gary giving a lesson at a beautiful flat water spot with 15-20 sideshore. unfortunately, the tide was going out quickly, so i must have gotten about 30 minutes of riding before i started running aground.

Overall, I have been here for 9 days, and kited 7 of them, pretty damn good. I think for 3 days, I was on my 9m Fuel, 3 days on the 12m Naish, and 1 day demo-ing Gary’s 11m 2008 T2. I demo-ed a whole bunch of gear for him, i’ll post the write-ups on those in the “Gear” section.

When I got here, I was catching the tail end of the north-east front, so I got one more day of wind before it dropped off and started to clock around. The wind here always moves clockwise, and about when it makes the switch from southeast to southwest, you know your going to have a strong 20-30knts out of the north the next day, and probably at least 3 days following that.

I caught the remaining wind as it shifted east to southeast at a spot Gary told us about called South Side http://tinyurl.com/2hu8y5 . The wind was side-shore on this shallow tidal-zone, about ankle to knee deep everywhere. You’ll want to catch it with the high tide though, otherwise you will be walking out on the sand for a long time until you hit water. I caught it as the tide was going out, and scored about an hour session on the 12m. It was amazing for flat water speed and jumps, and the coral around it made for the best pics (shown before). After the tide went out, it exposed about a 1/2 mile of sand, so we walked that. We found quite a few giant starfish.

The next day it has shifted to a permanent south-east and I headed back to the South Side to teach my dad in about 10-14knts on the 12m. He got a pretty good feel for it, was able to body drag, relaunch, and try some water starts–he’s game for learning to ride, so maybe we’ll see him at Terrapin soon!

No wind on the next day < 10 knts. We went canoeing and snorkeling out of Hoopers Bay, right across the street from where we were staying. Gary joined us for dinner at our condo and we planned out a kiteventure without the wind for tomorrow.

Woke up and headed to Georgetown around 10am, where we met Gary and his carolina skiff. We hiked up Stocking Island to this concrete tower sort of thing, they are all over the outer reefs. An older sailor hiking up told us that apparently they were used in WWII as a type of lighthouse, there used to be red beacons on the top.

Next we motored around the cays and explored the inlets. Gary showed us the spots they normally go to for kiteventures. The beaches all around Exuma are gorgeous, and most of the sand is this light powder that feels amazingly soft on your feet.
So then we motored out to a spot on the reef and snorkeled off of there, the water was pretty much crystal clear even without the sun. Lots of fish, and a fairly large barracuda checking us out. It was cloudy that day and when we got back it rained on and off for a few hours.
There was a 4 boat sunfish regatta/races going on in downtown georgetown behind some restaurants, so we watched that until about 530, then set off for South Side once again, banking on the forecast being right about 18knts around 6pm. (for wind, I used the iKitesurf link in the contacts section of gary’s website, it seemed better than the rest).
When we got there at 6, the wind was about a steady 14knts out of the south east, but I rigged anyway to see if my dad wanted to fly some more. At about 630 the 18knts hit, and i was lit on the 12m. I came in around 715 due to an oncoming squall line. We threw everything in the car just in time. This black line of clouds passed over us then the wind picked up to about 20-25, probably gusting higher and pouring down rain. The neon blue/green water looks strange as hell with dark clouds and rain falling on it.

video- shot and edited by me, feat. Gary, Eric, and Norman

I woke up the next day to what felt like 20-25knts out of the north and overcast. Gary stopped by the house and invited me on the Crystal kiteventure (i think thats what its called). God bless my parents for paying for all this shit, otherwise i’d be a poor man Twisted Evil . When we got into Georgetown the harbor was whipped into white water, but it was incredibly steady. I brought my 9m and my 130cm, and Gary brought a 9m rev and a 7m rev, and i think the 129cm lunacy. We met 3 other kiters in Georgetown; Norman, Eric, and Tanya of Aerosport Canada (i think thats right). They live in the Magdalin Islands of eastern Canada in the summer, and exuma in the winter. Very cool people, and all excellent kiters.
The boat ride there was basically underwater, the skiff was helpless against the waves and the wind, but we all had foul weather gear. Finally, after making it through the cut at high tide, we reached the protection of the cays, and arrived at the Crystal beach. No rain, but the wind was howling so much that my feet were getting constantly sandblasted.

Norman was the first one out on an 8m flysurfer foil. I cautiously rigged my 9m fuel and took off upwind after him. the fuel was loving the wind and i was 100% powered, overpowered in the puffs, but the 5th line took care of that. Next out was eric, on a 10m Best HP, rigged with 15m lines. it looked goofy on the jumps, but it depowered him enough. The three of us went way up wind and played in the rollers produced by the shallows for a good while. Gary soon joined us on a 9m rev.
He had a good crash once he got out there. Gary likes to use those fancy allinone harness bars with the donkey dick as a small rod that locks the chickenloop in place. In his excitement to get out, he neglected to flip that rod down, so when he went inverted about 15 feet up, he fell out head first. Luckily he was all right after that head first impact, but the kite’s bridal was offended about being released onto the safely so high up, so it took a while and some help from Norman to straighten itself out.

Shortly after, the same thing happened to me. I came out of a jump, not knowing that my donkey dick had detached from the chicken loop and left for good some time ago. I became unhooked and got lofted to about 10 feet (managed to ditch my board) before i released onto the 5th line. The fuel didnt like that either and apparently inverted at some point. I didn’t see, I was too busy falling. I got it to relaunch, and followed norman back to the beach to straighten out my lines. Everybody decided that was a good time for a break, so we had a wonderful lunch hiding behind a dune.
The sun started to peek out at that point, and eric switched to a 7m Flexifoil ion with normal line lengths. I took my video camera and newly made splashproof case out to the shallows to film, then headed back out myself to practice unhooked moves and maybe get the balls to try a kiteloop (my one attempt slammed into the water hard). In the mean time, Tanya switched to the 7m ion and had a blast.

Gary packed up the boat but Norman wanted to do a downwinder all the way back to Georgetown (4 miles i think?). I figured if he could do it, so could i, so we set off ahead of Gary into what turned out to be an upwinder that killed my legs and left me feeling pathetic as Norman killed me going up wind. He was pretty much sailing circles around me. We met Chris, a local that Exuma Kitesurfing sponsers, and his friend kiting at a sandbar. Chris was launching some huge jumps.
We made it back to the dock around 530 (we left at 10), and Gary joined us for dinner again.

I passed out around 8 that night and woke up to a solid 15-20 out of the north east. We headed to Runaway Bay around noon and i demo-ed the 9m rev and 129cm lunacy (see Gear Section).
Eric, Norman, Tanya, and Gary arrived around 2 and we kited for a good 2 hours, me slightly underpowerd on the fuel, still riding the lunacy. I was so shellshocked from the other day that i forgot the 12m, which would have been better. We hung out at the beach until dark, then both ended up at Ida Bowe’s, a local restaurant.

Today i woke up early and headed to Gary’s base for an ocean side session. Gary let me demo his 11m T2 and a 136 misfit. The wind was in the upper teens, lower 20’s, and i was perfectly powered, Gary was on his 11m rev. We kited out to a sand bar break that was breaking 3-5 footers. I tried to learn all i could in the surf, then we headed back in around 1130. When I left, Eric, Norman, & Tanya were looking at a 15 mile down winder.

Now I’m sitting in the airport with a 3 hour delay, which is why i bothered to write all this shit

in conclusion, exuma was a complete success, and a kiter’s paradise. Hopefully i’ll be back.

I met Dean Mikulla (Spleeft on forums) a few years ago on one of my first trips to Assateague. At that time he had the heavy metal kiter look. Long hair, c-kite, an entire armada of boards with him (mutants,  surfboards, twin tips). We didn’t spent too much time chatting since it was windy but I had time to see him riding. He made things look so easy. Since then we kite together a lot at Terrapin,  Assateague and Dewey. Always fun to hang out with him and I learned a lot just watching him. Because he makes us happy while we are stuck in our offices with his movies here is an interview with him. By the way, he still looks like a heavy metal kiter.

Hi Dean, how did you get into kiteboarding?

Well, I’ve always been into board sports. I was building skateboard ramps in the late 70’s and  had a Dog Town jim Muir skate deck. I grew up in Pittsburgh so i was land locked. I got into snowboarding before it was allowed at Seven Springs and still ride to this day. I started to make family vacation trips to Ocean City , Md in the early 80’s and realized the Ocean was the place for me. I would body board the entire week I was there and savor every minute in the ocean. I started surfing around  93′ when I could make more trips to the beach from the Burg on my own. But when I moved to Maryland 10 years ago, I started surfing a lot more. When I saw kiteboarding on TV one day in 2001 I was immediately sold. I flew trainer kite for a few months then took a water lesson. 

What are your other favorite sports? Which one do  you prefer the most?

I was a jock in high school,( with long hair!). I played all the sports, basketball and volleyball where the main ones. I still love a good game of sand volleyball.

Who do you ride with?

When i first started kiting around the Chesapeake in 02′ , there were only a couple guys to kite with. Most have moved away but there are one or two left and we still kite together  a lot.  We like to look for new spots to kite and some days we’ll drive around for hours searching. Comes in handy now that there are so many new kiters! These days, it’s kinda like,” I get it when its on”! If there is a swell on the horizon and good wind, I just go for it. I usually make a few calls, on my way, to see who’ll be around . Most of the time the usual kiters are there anyway. Mike Littlejohn, Steve Sabia, and Greg Morrison are guys I like to ride with, always progressing and trying new things. Thats how I learn, by watching guys like them .

When did you start filming?  

Well, I started  filming  about five years ago. My interest in editing started around 94′ when my band made some videos for the local cable access station.

When I got my first video cam, i just started filming my friends doing all the crazy shit we like to do! Surfing, lots of snowboarding, and now kiting. I love showing people videos of themselves rippin’ it up. Its still just a hobbie, and its fun learning about movie making. Some of my movies are here, My Space Videos Link

Why do you use the name Marshall in your movies?

Marshall is my dogs name! Yes I’m a dog person! I named him after the guitar amp….!  

What’s up with Spleeft – user name?

It was available.

Worst kitemare?

Too many to count!  When first started kiting the ocean, in fact THE first time, I ended up in a situation where the kite was down and getting mauled by a 5 foot wave. I had the lines tangled around my bar and kite leash, and my board leash was wrapped around my ankles. The wave was pulling the kite and me all stretched out while the board was nose diving stretching my body out and holding me just below the surface for 10 or 15 seconds. I used to be 6′ tall, now I’m 6′2″! Ya, board leashes dont work for me!

What do like the most? Flat water or waves? Why?

I love it all, thats the great thing about kiting, there are so many disciplines. i do go through phases, right now i cant get enough of those waves. But I’m in the middle of a freestyle/flat water mini phase too! The limits of old age are creeping up on me though. When I’m in my 60’s I dont see myself doing kiteloop handlepasses, but I do see myself  slicing the top off of a seven foot peeler! So I never pass up a good wave session.

 ] 

What is in your quiver these days? Why?

I have all North Vegas kites. I like to ride underpowered or should I say perfect powered. C kites just have that sweet spot that makes flying the kite so much easier. A fully depowered kite just doesn’t turn as good. Also, this is crucial to unhooked riding while doing wake style tricks or rippin’ down a wave. I havent been able to find a bow kite yet that has that sweet spot like a C. Yes they have all that depower for major gusts but if you need that , you need a smaller kite. 

It seams you and Littlejohn spent a lot of time together? When was this love affair started? Does Safety ever get jealous?

Safety is soooo jealous!! But seriously, Mike and I met a few years ago when we started jamming together. Most dont know it, but along with being one the best kiters and surfers north of Hatteras, hes a killer drummer. When I’m down in Dewey, the typical day is surf and kite all day then rock out after dinner. There’s always a good jam session with the local musicians happening at Mikes house.

Any new cool video projects?

I just got a new camera and I’m updating all my editing gear. I want to do a “pro” looking video with all the local kiters this summer. So if you see me shooting, dont just keep tacking back and forth. Thrown down!!!! Even if your crashing , that makes great video.

by Todd JB

I got the chance to demo 11M and 9M T3 prototypes…WOOHOO!!!! …I’m guessing the production kites will be the same, but SS has the option to tweak things based on initial feedback I guess. ? Whatever, I liked ‘em, here’s my first impression;

The wind was about 18-22mph when I was on the 11M and 22-26mph when I was on the 9M. The gusts may have been stronger, tough to say. I was comfortable on either kite in pretty similar wind. I suppose towards the end I had about 6 inches of depower pulled in on the 11M and it looked like the wind might build up more, so I took the opportunity to try the 9M. I rode the 9M fully powered with *plenty* of juice to spare. hmmm…maybe I could do a two kite 9/14 quiver of T3s? (nah, that 11M is too sweet to skip! …but you could do it.) Anyway, on with the review…

The kite flies pretty similar to the T2. So, if you like the T2, you’ll like this. If you didn’t like the T3, its probably worth trying the 1:1 bar setting before you write it off. (The T3 comes rigged 2:1 out of the bag, which was the only option on the T2). It seemed to fly a little more forward in the wind window…I’m not sure what that means, better upwind performance maybe? Anyway, it was very nice and it just chewed up the gusts. Jumping seemed comparable to the T2. In short, if I loaded up the lines I’d get launched higher than I wanted …which is a good problem to have. But, I haven’t been out in a couple months so I took it easy.

The bridle is much shorter which I like, a lot. On the T2 I found that the long bridle could get caught on a wingtip when you were launching and it was also troublesome when you had to self rescue, but, the T3 has a more compact bridle, like the REV. The pulley which used to be hanging with the bridle near the kite, is now attached to the kite. It is a single pulley instead of a double block.

The bar is also much improved. I never took a close look at the REV bar, but I think the rigging is similar and the bar itself is new. It has a different grip and different metal cutout. The T3 has a center below the bar leash point (thank you!) which is probably the feature I’ll like the most over the T2. It is nice to have a short leash that is out of the way. If you release to the safety (leash) the kite floats down without spinning around the leash. Thus, you can retrieve the bar and relaunch the kite. (I did not get to try this today, but I’m trusting Warren’s review of the 14M T3, and I know that it works on the REV)

The feature I am most looking forward to, I did not get to try. That is the option to fly the kite in 1:1 mode. 1:1 should fly similar to SLE kites with less bar pressure and more of a C kite feel possibly. That will also mean less depower, but still better than a standard C kite. The conversion from 2:1 to 1:1 involves an adjustment at the kite and one at the bar. The conversion design seems very well thought out. You make adjustments to line lengths with provided line (stays with kite) and you also change the bridle attachment points at the kite. I look forward to trying this, but this session…well, I was just too excited to kite and didn’t want to spend any more time on the beach then I had to!

I did not closely inspect the kite, but I did notice some construction improvements when packing up the kite. There is some white material behind the struts and in a couple places on the inside of the canopy (behind LE scuff guards) that I suppose are there to make these points more durable. Other than this, I didn’t notice anything striking. But again, I didn’t really look.

They did not, however, give us a bigger pump this year. WTF? Do they get so much wind at the gorge that nobody knows what its like to blow up a kite bigger than 11M with that dinky little pump! Give us a tall one SS! There is also a neoprene cover for the pulley that is attached to the kite. I did not pull the cover down and got sand in the pulley. Something to keep your eye on if you own one.

In short, I REALLY liked the kite. They took a successful kite design from 2007 and didn’t break it! SS just tweaked it and added some well thought out features. The more I think about my first rides on the T3, the more I want to get on that bad boy again soon!

T3 11M

-todd

FYI - Wind graph while I was out;

By Warren E. Fuller

As a precursor, let me state that you should not try these self launching or self landing techniques unless you have a safety margin of at least 200’ downwind of you and no obstacles to contend with, i.e. signs, poles, chairs, etc. It would also be a good idea to have someone ready to catch your kite in the event that something goes wrong.*** Since self launching is easier than self landing, I’ll start with that first.

Launching

Inflate the bladders as you normally would and position the kite so that it’s facing into the wind. Secure the kite with something to hold it down, like sand or a sand bag. Separate the bridle so that there are no tangles and double check your pulleys.
Run you lines out so that they extend from the back of the kite….downwind.Be sure to flip your bar so that the left hand side is on the right and the right hand side is on the left. After you’ve separated your flying lines, attach them to the pig tails on the bridle. They should be color coded, so, red to red and white to white if those are your colors.

At this point in time, you should have your harness on and be ready to fly the kite. As a double check, go back to your bar and pick it up. Put a little tension on the lines. There should be NO lines crossing one another.
Now, you need to turn the bar over so that the left hand side is in your left hand and the right hand side is in your right hand. Let’s assume that your kite is facing North and that you’ll be standing facing West during the launch, you would then rotate the bar from right to left. Now, you want to walk towards your kite with the bar, ensuring that your lines don’t snag on anything, like sticks, rocks, etc. Put the bar down and position/slide the kite for self launching. This is done by removing whatever you used to secure the kite to the ground and rotating the kite off of the wind and away from the
bar, so that the downwind wing starts to flutter in the wind.

The windier it is, the less you need to rotate the kite.

Assuming that you’ll be trying this for the first time in light to moderate wind, the rotation will be around 30°. Pick up your bar, hook in to the chicken loop and fasten your safety leash. You also want to double check that the left hand side of the bar is in your left hand. Start walking away from the kite to the position where you’ll be standing for the launch. While you’re walking away from the kite, keep an eye on your lines to ensure that they do NOT get tangled with anything. As the lines start to tension up, continue walking away from the kite and a bit upwind.

The lines will become tight, and the kite will start to slide a bit downwind. Keep everything tight and continue at a slow pace.

As the kite starts to rotate, more air will fill the kite and the upwind side will start to lift off of the ground. Pull on the downwind steering line (if you’re walking right, pull the steering line on the left hand side of the bar) to help in the rotation, keep tension on this line while continuing to walk upwind, do NOT let go of this line until the kite starts to lift completely off of the ground, and then release it gingerly. Now bring the kite to the 12 o’clock position.

Landing

Again, you want to have a minimum of 200’ downwind clearance as your safety margin, and no obstacles to contend with. Having someone to grab your kite if things go awry is also a excellent idea. Pick your landing spot so that you have a margin for error and you should also be able to walk upwind once the kite initially touches down on the ground (walking upwind is the key ingredient). Before initiating the landing, ensure that your safety leash is connected properly and that you’ve used your de-power strap to de-power the kite a bit.

Bring the kite down as if you were landing it to a person. Once the one edge of the kite is on the ground, keep it there, you do not want that edge lifting up. Once the kite is stable, reach out and grab the center line that is connected to the top wing (further most from the ground) and briskly walk upwind while pulling on that center line and keeping downward pressure on the line, so that the edge of the kite that is touching the ground does not lift up.

At this point, you are not holding on to the bar and you should be using the hand over hand technique to gather in the line. The upper wing of the kite will fall over into the wind and the kite will rotate a bit into the wind as well. Once the kite is down and facing into the wind, advance to the kite to secure it with sand, your board or something suitable. If the kite starts to get away from you during the landing, it is best to release everything and allow the kite to go back up in the air.

It’s a tough call as to when to abort the landing and allow the kite to go back up, which is why you want to practice this in light to moderate wind. If you don’t feel comfortable trying any of this on your own and you see me at the beach, don’t hesitate to ask for a demo.

*** Disclaimer of Liability: With respect to this document, kiteboarding is a dangerous sport and I shall not be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained herein and assume no responsibility for anyone’s use of the information. In no event shall I be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this information. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury, including but not limited to those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record.

Miami is the greatest place on earth  I remember David J talking about kiting the flats with the Kitehouse and after talking to Bruno about it I knew I had to check it out. I got into Miami around 10am and was on the dock at around 12:30pm.
The greatest thing about kiting with the kitehouse is that they pump your kite, run your lines and basically hand you the bar and you are off.

The wind was great solid 18-25. I rigged my 11m TD2 and really had an ideal set up for the conditions.

The flats are incredible!!! It is only about a foot deep and super slick. The deep water around the flats was choppy and what you would expect with decent wind, but I can’t even describe how glassy the flats were.

Ty Luckett showed up and was boosting airs over his boat…

Miami Kiteboarding the flats

Miami Kiteboarding the flats 2

Miami Kiteboarding the flats 3

Miami Kiteboarding the flats 4

Miami Kiteboarding the flats 5

Miami Kiteboarding the flats 6

Miami Kiteboarding the flats 7

I kited for about 4hours straight. When it was time to pack it up, I jokingly asked if I could ride a downwinder (actually an upwinder) back to Miami (7.5miles) thinking the answer would be no…My suprise, he said “go ahead.”

I think this may have been one of the best sessions I have ever had!!!

The kitehouse offers a water taxi service and kite valet service. They also do supported downwinders if there is enough interest.I think access is an issue in Miami as alot of the waterfront is ultradeveloped and private. Also you have to pay to kite in places like Crandon and a couple of the locals were indicating that other spots could become very regulated soon. Having a boat in Miami would be great so you could ride any wind direction.

I think the Keys have some very similiar flats. We better get down there fast

Mehdy Rad

You can check the store HERE

If you boys and girls want to void the shipping send me an order and we will try to deliver at a beach near you. (delmarva)

When: April 13th 2008

Time: 8-12

Where: FESTIVAL AT RIVA ANNAPOLIS MD.

Sponsor of this event: EAST OF MAUI ANNAPOLIS

Come with a cup of Joe and enjoy a morning with like minded wind NUTZ. Bring all your used gear to sell for COLD HARD CASH. Hey no SPAMMERS, sell in person. Tell your friends and anyone else interested in selling last seasons gear. Osprey will coordinate all kiteboarding participants. If you can not make it to the swap and would still like to have your gear sold, contact Bill at Osprey kitesports. I will be happy to sell any equipment for you. After the Swap all kiters will head out to Mayo OR Terrapin for a afternoon of kiting.

Note: Please make sure you mind how much space you use when displaying your kites for sale. Make sure there is enough room for everyone.

by Todd JB

It’s late January. The five of us are hunkered down in the marginal wind block we created by parking our trucks nose to nose on the beach. We just left a friend’s Virginia beach cottage where snow was falling. I’m wearing a borrowed rubber suit that two men larger than me have previously sweated in profusely due to its lack of ventilation. Yes. We’re going kiteboarding. Three years ago there was a 100% chance that I would be snowboarding on this day. What the hell happened?

I’ve had this article in my mind for four years, since I started kiting. It changes every month, based on new experiences, but it’s always been geared towards the new guy. Hopefully that’s you. This is for the guy or girl reading their first kite articles and wondering if they should invest in learning this crazy sport. You should.

I live in suburban D.C., northwest of the capital. I am closer to mediocre snowboarding and mountain biking than I am to kiteable water. I’ve been flying kites since I was a little kid. That was the treat every summer vacation growing up, running to the kite shop and picking out a new “one liner” for the week. Some time in college somebody handed me a two line stunt kite and I was hooked on those for a few years. Good fun.

The first kiteboarder I saw was in Duck, NC. I think it was 1994. I was finishing up a summer of work at the local sailing center, Nor’Banks, when I saw the craziest thing ever. You know the sight, that’s why you’re here. It’s the first time you see a sport that you did not even know existed. Here in front of me someone had combined all of my favorite sports…sailing, snowboarding, and kite flying. I was amazed.

Fast forward from my boyish enthusiasm to a few years ago. The past Fall I had taken a half day kiteboarding lesson that promised to make me a kite hero in four hours. It didn’t, but it did plant a seed. I’m back in D.C. and when I brought up the sport to sailing friends they all told me it was a ridiculous idea in our area. They preached this for a number of excuses that all centered around me not living at the beach. Not only could I not talk any of my wind or snow sport friends into trying this with me, most tried to convince me not to try it as well. I was about to give in to the posse when I found a local Yahoo group of kiters that won me over. (MAKA)

The local forum crew had been living where I do and loving the sport since the late 90s. All it took was a browse of their posts and a few emails to this group to realize the sport was worth it. Well worth it. In our area it’s an hour drive to marginal kiting conditions, a couple hours to very good conditions, and Hatteras is a half day drive which makes weekend road trips an option. It was finally clear to me, these drives to good wind were no different than those I’d been taking to go snowboarding for years. And since I lived in Maryland, it was a lot easier to get a good wind forecast than a good snow forecast. A LOT easier. I was sold.

So book that trip or sign up for that lesson! It’s not so much where you live as it is how much you want to learn. If you are lucky enough to live near a nice kite beach and you have a lot of time on your hands, you’ll be an intermediate kiter in a month or two. For most of us in the DC area, with beltway traffic between us and a session, it takes most people about a year to be comfortably self sufficient. If you live even further, book yourself a two week vacation to a windy place, kite every day, and go home stoked. If you want to learn, I can guarantee you’ll have more fun learning this sport than any you’ve tried before.

There are of course a few things to know before you pick up this sport.

1) You’re going to swim. A lot.

2) There will be days when your brand new bar with four 60 meter lines will look like a ball of yarn. You will become very good at untangling knots.

3) Until you learn to stay upwind, which takes time, you will spend more time walking back to your car than you actually will kiting.

You won’t care, though, because those 15 minutes of riding will have you smiling for the entire 30 minute walk back to your car and halfway through the hour you’ll spend untangling your bar. This sport is that fun. It is why the sport changes so many lives. If you have that much fun in 15 minutes of getting your ass handed to you under a kite, imagine riding for hours and only coming in when those two sticks of jello you used to call legs have thrown in the towel. And one day, when board short season hasn’t given you enough, you’ll find yourself borrowing a friend’s drysuit.

lens: Todd JB

lens: Todd JB

lens: Todd JB

lens: Todd JB

lens: Todd JB

rider Adam, lens Todd JB

rider: Jason, lens Todd JB

lens Todd JB

lens Todd JB

This brings me back to that freezing cold day in Virginia last January. I was with some of those same local guys who had been kiting since the late 90s who invited me on this daytrip. While I felt honored just to get invited out with this seasoned crew, they were amazed they were able to talk someone else into kiting on this bitter cold January day. (That is “group think”; if all of us want to go, then it must be worth going. Right?) After we methodically all got blown off our own gear, the six us up ended up sharing one 8M demo kite and loving every minute of it. We drove three hours to get there, froze our tails off for three hours on the beach, drove another three hours back home, and I’m still talking about it. We all are. It was a great day.*

I still haven’t managed to talk any of my “pre-kiteboarding” friends into trying this sport. They continue to be a little more tempted, every summer one of them promises that they’ll learn, but there’s always an excuse. They’re good excuses, mind you, and one day I know one of them will join me on the water. I’ve met a lot of new friends to kite with, but once a winter I’m sitting on top of a mountain looking down a fresh powder field with an old friend and I’m asked, “Is kiteboarding better than this?” And I have to honestly explain to them that it is a lot easier to put myself under perfect wind than it is to be sitting above this beautiful untouched powder. And then I try to describe the feeling of kiting a slick and having “fresh tracks” all day long.

So if you want to learn to kite, do it. Now! You’re only getting older sitting there reading this article. Don’t let anyone other than your immediate family talk you out of it (and I have my reservations about their opinions as well.) If you can get to kiteable water within a day, the sport is worth learning. You will love it, you will make some great friends, and you will have more fun than you ever thought possible.

*The local kiters who invited me on their day trip were Adam C, Dave O, Geoff S, Jason M, and Scott L. The 8M demo was a sweet Slingshot Octane loaned to us by Dave Loop, which Adam has since bought. The beach cottage was Scott’s, and the crappy cold day is still epic in my mind, one year later.

Jacques Burre, or JB-007 on EastKB,  just put together a book about our community of kitesurfers. The author called the book “The Unknown Kiters” and then the subtitle “kitesurfing on the East Coast of the United States, the story about a community”. It is on sale online for US$ 31 - plus shipping. This is a 76 pages book and contain many nice pictures taken by the author and others photographers in our area. Check what Jacques has to say in our forum and you can also order the book here