Kiteboarding anyone?

S

suprPHREAK

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It looks like fun, and I would live to get into the sport. I'm not a huge fan of water (I suck at the swim), but I think snowkiteing looks amazing.

Anyone here do it? Have any advice for a newbie?

I've read up about as much as I can, and it seems agreed I need a trainer kite, so I can learn and not fly away unintentionally. Any advice on which is best? Reviews I have read seem to come down to the HQ Rush IV or Ozone Imp III, with some bias towards the Imp.

I'm thinking a 3m to 3.5m kite will be ideal for me, as I used to fly a stunt kite as a kid, so I understand the control concept. I'm also 200lbs, with decent strength, so I don't think this will be too big, but still provide a decent challenge. (aka, fun)

So that's all I have found out so far....response?
 
its hard lol....crash and burn i did... get a Training kit learn to fly it 1st
 
I had a 3m kite pull me and 2 friends right up off a rock face and almost into a lake. They have an immense amount of power in the right breeze, dont let your guard down.
 
kites are very pricey also.
 
mmmnaked said:
I had a 3m kite pull me and 2 friends right up off a rock face and almost into a lake. They have an immense amount of power in the right breeze, dont let your guard down.
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Nutty! Was it an inflatable, or a foil kite (like a parachute)? Just curious to know if there is a power difference.
 
I windsurf so I learn a little about kites by osmosis. I was thinking about kitesurfing because it looks like fun, but I have decided not to because of some of the reasons below.

-The old C kites were death traps, don't buy one no matter how cheap it is, they don't depower. The newer kites have a line to depower the kite hopefully keeping you alive.
-Brand new kites are very expensive. Used kites are much better pricewise (think 20% or so of the original price if still in great shape)
-Kites are fragile, I talked with a number of people that were repairing bladders every 1 to 6 days on the water.
-Surprisingly kites require higher winds than windsurfers.
-You will need a quiver of kites, the chance you can get away with one is low. Most people had about 3, some more, some less, but more kites equates to a wider acceptable wind range to have fun in. I tried to get away with one windsurfing sail and now I am at 5 with at least one more obviously missing.
-Personally I would learn in the water, I would much rather crash into the lake wearing a lifejacket than get dragged across a frozen lake on my face.
-Kites take quite a while to setup each day, a windsurfer (or snowsurfer) can get from the car to having fun in less time.

Obviously some people really enjoy kitesurfing and it looks like a crapload of fun, but for me the negatives outweighed the positives. You can learn a lot by talking to the kitesurfers, there are normally a bunch in ashbridges bay in the summer and near port perry (or is it the east side of the lake across from port perry?) in the winter.

The boardsports (yonge south of eglinton) guys are really good, silent sports (Thornhill) is also decent, both have a crapload of stock. Both have equipment swaps a few times a year where you can pick up gear for a great price (or sell your training kite when you are done with it).

Have fun and good luck.
 
suprPHREAK said:
Nutty! Was it an inflatable, or a foil kite (like a parachute)? Just curious to know if there is a power difference.
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Parachute-type...very very strong for a "small" kite. It was my first and only time flying a that type of kite and I was quite surprised at the amount of force it could generate. Ultimately all you have to do is 'let go' and it falls back down, but in the heat of the moment my buddy was hanging on and it was lifting him off the rocks, 2 of us grabbed him and barely hung on. :lol:
 
Always tempted me. There seems to be plenty of flat land and wind in ON.

I started windsurfing last summer and it was quite a lot of fun.
 
Tried a demo day two years ago with Boardsports. It was a lot of fun but really hard. Well I found it hard cause I was a newb to boarding too:)

Got some great shots of people that knew what they were doing. Pretty wild.
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