Help with Kite Position

[rider1200]

I got out Monday night for an hour for the 1st time a while. I brought my Boost drysuit partially because I like to be warm and partially because I just bought the thing, I'm going to get some use out of it! It was 65 out so I figured I'd try just wearing shorts & a t-shirt under it & hope not to sweat. I put it on at the car & left the shoulder zipper open so I'd stay cool pumping the kite up. I promised myself I'd remember to zipper it and I did...right after I sat down in 3 feet of water to put the board on. The kite was already up in the air and I'm sure I gave the people in the houses on the beach a good laugh struggling for 5 min to zip it myself!

I did get it though and got on the board with no problems but I feel like the kite traveled faster than I did; so I acted as a pivot point and allowed the kite to go too far into the wind, thus losing power. Is this classic for underpowered conditions or do I just need to keep working on my kite skills? I did try to sign-wave the kite to the point where it was pretty much going staight up and straight down, but that didn't seem to generate much power. I was using my 08 15m waroo in 10-15mph winds according to Charlotte pier (I don't think I saw 15 very often though!) As a general rule I assumed you want the kite directly in front of you, not ahead of or behind you...is that right?

Any new guys reading this I also kept my hands closer together on the bar. I usually keep them at the ends but bringing them in made for a smoother ride with less effort (learned that watching youtube).

I wore my drysuit home b/c it was easier to dry than my clothes would have been and I walked in the house giggling away at my ankles shloshing when my wife said "what is that noise? And why are you in my living room making it?!"

[David]

I would say you had 2 problems. One you were underpowered, plain and simple just did not have enough wind. Second, in light wind you can't worry about heading upwind until you are fully on plane and moving. If you have just enough power to get up, point downwind, plane, and then set an edge. Most times you will be sining the kite alternating edge pressure with bearing off to keep apparent wind pulling the kite. Your kite flying has got to be seriously good and you have to feel the edge of your board progressively resist the kite or it will fly to the edge of the window and you will sink. I have 2 light wind boards and they are made just for Light wind (135x45 and a skim board), getting one would help your light wind cause but it would be better to invest in a light wind (powerful) kite, waroos are not good for light wind. I can be up riding, pulling back roll kite loops in steady 8mph, only because I have my light wind quiver dialed in. In south padre island I was riding in 6 but that was completely flat water and a smooth breeze.

[rider1200]

Thanks for the tips! Kind of what I figured and it all makes sense. Wow, you have a whole quiver for light wind? Any suggestions on a 1st light wind kite? We seem to get a lot of light wind around here. Right now I just have an 08 11m Waroo, 08 15m Waroo, your 06 12m Waroo with Best's 09 (I think) bar & lines (I think).

[David]

Your quiver could definitely be dialed in a little better for the conditions around here. I AM a firm believer in trying new gear which is why I am constantly upgrading. Some kites, board, sails, etc are prefect in one particular size. The 07' waroo pro 11m, 07' GK trix 15m, 08' waroo 7m, 10' cabrinha crossbow 10m (which I don't own) are in my opinion the best kites in their class for that year and my budget. Waroos in general are good kites, easy to tune and fly but they lack grunt, they have no low end power in the bigger sizes compared to some other brands. In other words your 15 waroo is not the same as my 15 Trix even though they are the same m2 size. Some kites have boatloads of power and I mean boatloads. Naish in particular make kites that pull like trains I have a 6 and 9m 07' boxers, and a 13.5m cult that pull about 1 - 2m bigger than their size suggests. I would never put up the 6m boxer in 35mph but I would be eager to put up my 7m waroo because I'd be dialed in and pulling massive airs comfortably. My 13.5 cult is more powerful by far than the 08' 15m waroo, I have flown them same day same session, very obvious when you do that. The key to a quiver is balance so you have overlap. kite size, aspect ratio, board size, line length all come into play; spend some time figuring it out and you will be out there when nobody else is.

Check out this thread I posted awhile ago on building a quiver.

rochwindsports.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=70

[waterauthorityrick]

"The key to a quiver is balance so you have overlap. kite size, aspect ratio, board size, line length all come into play; "

David/David,

Luv you man and I will be looking to you for knowledge and instruction when I put my kites to use (the dark side)

I find it a bit comical on your recent post above. When we post on the battles between windsurfing & kiting in the past: such as gear and simplicity I had to chuckle a bit with your statement above. Seems a bit complicated to me, did I do wrong with buying just 2 kites and one set of lines Granted you left out fin length with board size whether 1.75" would work better than 1.62" but that is besides the point.

Yeah yeah perhaps it is easier to pack your car with the kites than with windsurfing stuff but I would like to see either of us pack our stuff fully rigged into the car. That is why I am taking up "soccer" (football) all I need to do is pack the ball and a few thousand horns.

Anyways Scorza & I sailed the Webster side of the of the bay on Thursday it was his first time in almost a year so he neglected to pack his harness (silly man) See my reasoning for soccer. We were on 6.3s till the last kite was off the water at Durand (red in color)

Dan sailed out to the horizon which is not typical of him but he was moving along on his dads 131 carve. I mentioned to Dan after slogging out of our jibes that we were about 1.5 miles off shore and he said yes he knew. While sailing in a little further we came upon a small deer swimming on her way to Toronto now that's something you don't see every day. I attempted to turn her around toward shore but she was a much better swimmer up wind than I was sailing. (should have had my four 1.75" fins on the flight deck)
There is much more to this story but in short she didn't make it I did everything I could.

On the brighter side things around here will be getting a bit cooler in temperature so that typically spells W I N D. What are we to expect this week, anyone got any ideas?

H2O Rick

[David]

I am literally laughing out loud here Rick because I was doing the same thing reading back. However, in my defense I made the same post about windsurfing sail quivers. Basically if you want the most bang for your buck then you need to buy smart. You can sail or kite 80% of the time with 2 sails or 2 kites but you might not be dialed in to the exact conditions. A feeling I think we all crave is that perfect carve on a wave using only board speed but then a quick sheet in on either the boom or the bar and you accelerate away from the wash and set up for the next one. IMO an easy way to do that is to have multiple rigging options so you can set yourself up for the perfect ride. My car is getting fixed today but I might ride my motorcycle with all my kiting gear up to Durand later if it turns more N. More about the deer...