I've been spending some time in the surf, most days when i'm out it's reasonably on shore which means that to surf a wave you end up catching your kite downwind.
Any tips to stop me 'catching' the kite and the lines going slack, i have been trying to move it back and forth across the wind window but that doesn't help too much.
is it mainly a skill thing, like watch other guys, practise etc.. or would my 05 fuel and 122cm board make it considerably harder than a surfboard with newer bow/hybrid kite?
Kiting in the surf on a standard sized twin tip is tricky because you cannot use(to an extent) the power of the wave to "surf", you have to alway use your kite to hold you up even when on a wave.
It is much easier to surf a wave on a surfboard, but can take some practise getting the spot/line/etc right and you will need to learn a poley jibe or a hip hop direction jingo jango.
if you have the cash then go on a wave riding clinic, if not grab a cheap tufflite board(6.0-6.2 size), find a bit of open space at a surf beach and go for it.
as for kiting in the waves on a twin tip and not getting any slack, fly the kite much more aggresively. Try not to fly it back thru the window(unless the wind directon requires it) and throw in the odd kiteloop and serious sine waving to keep the lines toight!
thanks, i 'll get working on my hip hop direction jingo jango.
any more tips? prob buy an srt or other 'kite' surfboard, got some normal ones but i think they'd break pretty easy.
Furthermore I don't really agree that you can't "surf" the wave with a twintip. I've caught some waves even down at scarbs with my 120 MILF and back when I had a Wave's 135 I could catch even more.. You just need to get the same speed as the wave and then work it a bit.
Personally I prefer riding a twintip even in waves any day. The ability to instantly switch from toe to heelside, boost big air off waves and other things suit me better.
sprucey, i totally 100% agree you can surf the wave on a twin tip, but not really!
seriously though, it depends on what you want out of a session.
If you want to tow onto the wave just as it's forming up and well before it breaks and use the speed to catch the wave, then dump the kite as far in the no power zone and pretend you are surfing you will need a surfboard(or something with float, rounded edges and a bit of length)especially if the wave is typical summer slop.
But if you are lucky enough to be in big enough waves with a decent face and power OR like to head skyward on the way out then i can see where the twin tip would be an option.
Kitebored,
A surfboard is fine for riding-over time you'll dent the deck-but don't hesitate, grab your surfboard and get out there-strapless too-it's a blast.
agree with loco4olas, grab the surfboard and go. dont need the straps yet, learn how to jibe it in lighter conditions... you can keep the lines tighter by downlooping the kite through your transitions. then get one with straps, you can still really boost with a directional. once you start using the surfboard in the waves and you get used to it the twintip will just feel wrong.
Kitebored,
I use the same method for riding waves weather I'm on a TT or a Wave board, Because I like to ride very fast and with lots of power, I always keep my kite about half a move ahead of myself. If you can imagine two "S" shaped tracks, I am nearly following my kites exact path the whole time. As I am preparing for a bottom turn, I full lock the bar (for an aggressive turn) and send my kite back to the other side of the window as low as possible, as the kite goes trough the power zone, I should be half way through my bottom turn (this is optimum), as soon as I finish my bottom turn I full lock the bar again and re-direct my kite back to the original side of the window, once again, as my kite goes through the power zone I should be hitting the lip. Now because I am always going towards my kite as it goes through the power zone, I can control how much power I want, a tight,hard turn will have heaps of power, and a more open less aggressive turn will have less power. From here you can add kiteloops to get double hits and more drawn out bottom turns. This style of riding is quite fast, and will take some time to get your timing right, but your pretty quickly find out what your doing wrong, if you slow down or fall off the plane, you turned your board too early, if you get pulled off your board you turned too late. As you get this mastered, looking ahead at a wave you can map out what you want to achieve on the wave, and put the kite moves into your mind and then it's just surfing with maximum power and speed!
This is just my method, and there are many different styles out there, but for a TT this method works really well!
Have fun,
JB
Ive just started getting into the surf, and i found looping the kite is sooooo helpful. Gotta do it confidently. Otherwise i found the kite just stalls, but looping it you can chuck some fun powered carves
Most good guys I have seen wave riding on surf boards don't jybe at all - just ride toe side.
learning to gybe makes life a lot easier in ther long run; you can get upwind faster on your heelside, plus getting back out through the whitewash is much easier heelside (especially when its big), and you can give your back leg a rest when you swap feet.
Of all the posts I've looked at on this site, JB that was by far the most imformative.
Thanks, now to try and put it in to action at Narrabeen this weekend.
