Be in the know before you go
Deciding to Kite
Congratulations on deciding to be a kiteboarder. You are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Kiting means excitement. The world is now your playground and the size of your family can’t be counted. You have joined an elite group of healthy, active friends, young and old, who welcome you.
Learning to harness the power of the kite and ride the board is your first step. Working with a kite school is the safest bet to a good clean start here. Should you not be staying in paradise, look on line for a school near you to assist in continued learning, purchasing gear and making friends.
Learning to harness the power of the kite and ride the board is your first step. Working with a kite school is the safest bet to a good clean start here. Should you not be staying in paradise, look on line for a school near you to assist in continued learning, purchasing gear and making friends.
Be Friendly
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Talk to people upon arrival about the beach. They will respect you for it and support you. Walk right up to other kiters, wait a moment to be acknowledged and introduce yourself. Explain that you are a new kiter or new to this beach. Simply ask, “What do I need to know about kiting here?” You will be hard pressed to find a kiter who doesn’t respond well to this gesture. |
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Kite community is a team; a family of sorts. Typically people are very friendly and extremely willing to offer support. If you decide to go it alone, consider the dilemma you create for the other kiters. They know nothing about you or your skill level so they may not even realize you need assistance until it’s too late.
The Basics
DO NOT kite in off shore wind. Off shore wind can only take you away from the safety of land. We know a solid million reasons that no one should ever kite in an off shore wind. As a beginner, you don’t yet know what you don’t know. So just trust that off shore can only lead you into trouble and possibly death.
An excellent way to prove this rule is to run a test. Toward the end of a great session of kiting in on shore wind, stop in deep water. Make sure you are far enough away from shore to perform a convincing test, but not so far that you are alone or can’t get your feet on the ground in a reasonable amount of time.
Perform a self rescue. This means use your chicken loop and let the bar flag out leaving the kite powerless. Wrap your lines on the bar while treading water and then turn your kite onto its back when you reach it. Flipping the kite can be a challenge in itself, but now notice how far you are from shore. You have likely drifted quite a distance during the time it took to accomplish a standard self rescue. Now attempt to swim out to sea. After a grand effort, you are likely to be on shore before long.
Try this exercise at the beginning of a session before you are fatigued and you will still end up on shore. Swimming against the wind with a kite and board in your arms would prove difficult for an olympic swimmer. When you add the fact that the tide might be receding or that you might be injured, it’s impossible. What if your kite is damaged and the leading edge has deflated? It’s even heavier and harder to move in addition to the fact that you now have lines to contend with in your swimming stroke.
Please just don’t kite in off shore wind. When one kiter makes a mistake, we all pay. Communities all over the world as struggling to adjust to sharing beaches with kiters and many beaches have been closed to kiting all together. Be safe.
An excellent way to prove this rule is to run a test. Toward the end of a great session of kiting in on shore wind, stop in deep water. Make sure you are far enough away from shore to perform a convincing test, but not so far that you are alone or can’t get your feet on the ground in a reasonable amount of time.
Perform a self rescue. This means use your chicken loop and let the bar flag out leaving the kite powerless. Wrap your lines on the bar while treading water and then turn your kite onto its back when you reach it. Flipping the kite can be a challenge in itself, but now notice how far you are from shore. You have likely drifted quite a distance during the time it took to accomplish a standard self rescue. Now attempt to swim out to sea. After a grand effort, you are likely to be on shore before long.
Try this exercise at the beginning of a session before you are fatigued and you will still end up on shore. Swimming against the wind with a kite and board in your arms would prove difficult for an olympic swimmer. When you add the fact that the tide might be receding or that you might be injured, it’s impossible. What if your kite is damaged and the leading edge has deflated? It’s even heavier and harder to move in addition to the fact that you now have lines to contend with in your swimming stroke.
Please just don’t kite in off shore wind. When one kiter makes a mistake, we all pay. Communities all over the world as struggling to adjust to sharing beaches with kiters and many beaches have been closed to kiting all together. Be safe.
On shore wind can be dangerous for new kiters because it's hard to get away from the beach while the wind is pushing you directly to the beach with shore break and shallow water. Even if you don't mind the struggle, we are obligated to make sure pedestrians are not nervous about their safety. Eventually, when you can control your direction of travel better, on shore wind is fine.
The best wind direction to kite in is side shore. This direction blows parallel with the beach and allows the kiter to move down wind never getting too far from land or too far out to sea.
Always make certain you have a safe exit point. This is called the down wind out.
What could go wrong?
Not all bad ideas begin with the statement, “Watch this. Hold my beer.”
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For safety sake
To keep you safe, kiters have established a right of way pattern that can be extremely helpful when kiting in popular locations.
Kiters exiting the beach have the right of way. It’s never safe to stand on the beach with a launched kite. You should get into the water as quickly as safely possible. Therefore, kiters in the water need to allow space for those exiting the beach.
When passing another kiter and your right shoulder is forward you have the right of way. When your left shoulder forward, you give way. This means that the up-wind kiter keeps kite high while downwind kiter lowers their kite. But, it also means be courteous.
Get out of the way if you don’t have the right of way.
A Great Finish
Do a check of the sand before you leave the beach. Every kiter has left expensive gear at some point. Preform a mental inventory as you load the car. Are the leash the knife still with your harness? Have you packed both booties? Kites, board and pump seem easy enough to remember, but you would be surprised to know how many have simply been left behind. Lots of things are left hanging to dry or dropped on the walk to the car — wet suit, impact vest/floatation vest, gloves, glasses, hat, helmet, towel.
Food for thought
Take your time to purchase gear carefully. Often your instructor can advise you on what is the best equipment for your level and style of kiting at the best value. Many folks who sell equipment online are honest, but be wary and ask plenty of questions.
Learn to be an independent kiter. Under supervision of an instructor or other experienced kiters, practice self-rescue techniques, body dragging, board dragging, board capture, self-launching and landing. These skills are invaluable when you need them, but you need time and these skills require practice. Don’t wait until no one is on the beach to learn self launch. Ask kiters to assist you in learning and then practice. When you need the skill, you will be safe.
Wind your lines carefully for easier set up next time. Run your fingers between the lines as you make your figure eights on the bar. Lots of time is often wasted walking lines that were put away too quickly.
Dry your gear thoroughly especially if you used it in rain or fresh water. Fresh water will mold and ruin your gear.
Listen well to other kiters. They have invaluable information and entertaining stories you will learn from.
All of these conversations are designed for beginners. Play and evolve, but be smart as you go. Take lessons until
you are comfortable, a safe kiter.
Reading the wind
The arrow in the image points in the direction the wind is blowing, however, the wind is named for the direction from which it comes. A Southwest wind or a Southeast wind is great for a south facing beach.
Saturday begins with no wind but builds until there is enough to kite with a big kite at 13:00 through 16:00
hours. But, then it drops. Where will you be when this happens? If you forgot to check for a storm, a fog
bank combined with the direction change could leave you headed for the open ocean. Thunder and
lightening might just accompany a rain storm. It’s important to look at the big picture and kite when the
window of opportunity assures your success.
hours. But, then it drops. Where will you be when this happens? If you forgot to check for a storm, a fog
bank combined with the direction change could leave you headed for the open ocean. Thunder and
lightening might just accompany a rain storm. It’s important to look at the big picture and kite when the
window of opportunity assures your success.
The wind often drops while changing direction which can trick you into pumping the wrong size kite for the next bump of wind. If you begin your day in a Southwest wind, can you still kite at the same beach when it changes to Northwest? A jump from 21 knots to 37 knots is dangerous for all kiters. These models are not exact. They are a helpful tool but that’s it. No guarantees.
Wednesday’s wind direction looks steady enough, but is the variance in strength is beyond 10 knots and
changes from a safe 19 knots to dangerous 44 knots. Even if this wind didn’t pick you up and drop you like a
tea bag in hot water, you would very likely hurt yourself and others trying to land.
This isn’t a good day to kite for a beginner or intermediate kiter. Even the sand on the beach is flying at these speeds. It’s impossible to keep out of your eyes and it’s painful.
changes from a safe 19 knots to dangerous 44 knots. Even if this wind didn’t pick you up and drop you like a
tea bag in hot water, you would very likely hurt yourself and others trying to land.
This isn’t a good day to kite for a beginner or intermediate kiter. Even the sand on the beach is flying at these speeds. It’s impossible to keep out of your eyes and it’s painful.
