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I've recently taken up Power Kiting. I started in December when I bought a 2.8 Predator MkII kite. The first time I flew it I was amazed by the power, and the best bit of advice I can give to anyone just starting out is to start in light winds. However, the learning curve is STEEP. Within an hour I was confidently flying the kite and using all four lines, and the second time I flew it, which was in stronger winds, I was scudding across the beach and kite-jumping.... Basically you allow the power of the kite to wrench you off your feet into the air.
If you want to find out anything else about the world of kiting, the best place to start is the Power-Kite Site, which has information on all aspects of kiting, reviews of numerous kites, and links to all UK shops and many world-wide shops and manufacturers. Living in West Wales, I buy most of my kit through mail order from Trick of the Eye Kites or Tradewind Kites.
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Many people seem to think kite-jumping is stupid and dangerous, but I think its great fun, and just a natural progression from flying powerful kites.. Common sense seems to say you should wear protective clothing (knee pads, helmets, sturdy boots etc.) and only do it on soft sand, but unless you're really taking it the the extreme, it 's not that big a deal... I often do little (6 foot) jumps on hard packed sand in bare feet.
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Me kite jumping, Borth, West Wales. Select for full size image. |
In steady winds, you should soon get the hang of landing softly. I find the best way to get high jumps is to take the kite to one edge of the window, then bring it back through the window and towards the top of the window, accelerating the kite all the time. As you do this, resist the pull so that the lines stretch and then just as the kite reaches its apex let it pull you off the ground. You get lift from both the tension in the lines and the kite continuing its upward acceleration.. keep the kite above you with the main lines tight and you should come back to the ground fairly gently.. on occasion, a gust may actually lift you into the air again before you land... this can be quite unnerving to start with.
Another technique is to run with the kite in one direction, then turn the kite the other way. If you keep running, as the kite flies away from you, the lines will stretch and then you'll be pulled off your feet and into a jump following a semicircular pathway. This type of jump isn't usually as high as the earlier method, but the 'hang-time' can be longer.
Kite-mountain-boarding.
Soon after this, I started kite-mountain-boarding. The 3 mile long beach and hard-packed sands of Borth are ideal for this mad sport. You reach some pretty high speeds and can do all manner of tricks, turns, jumps etc.
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Me tail-sliding my board whilst kite-mountain-boarding. Borth, West Wales Select for full size image. |
Kite-mountain-boarding is a completely different sport to the more established kite-buggying. The fact that you stand on the board (usually) facing the kite means that you have to twist less and therefore the stresses on your lower back are less. It also allows you to shift your weight around more for impressive slides and other tricks. The speeds attained on a mountain-board are generally slower than in a buggy, but the less stable nature and the extra few feet that you're above the ground make the speeds FEEL comparable. Its also excellent training for kite-surfing, with many of the skills being transferable.
Also the bidirectional nature of the boards means that if you don't want to gybe you don't have to... simply stop and go the other way... in fact, if you do gybe, you end up with your back to the kite which can make things a little more difficult, but then, that's all part of it... My favourite little manoeuvre at the moment is a 180º tail-slide into a heel edge gybe.... Basically whilst boarding frontside (facing the kite), swoop the kite down and using that power to support your weight, take your weight of the back foot and slide it around upwind through 180º... You'll now be travelling in the same direction as before, but with your back to the kite, now bring the kite up to the apex and start diving in down the other way (back where you came from), as you do this lean on your heel edge and carve the board sharply into a gybe... you should turn back through 180º and head back where you were originally coming from, but unlike an ordinary gybe, you'll be facing the kite and riding frontside.
The best place by far for kiting and kite-traction activities in this area is the beach at the Golf Course Car Park, Borth. You can do kite-traction activities anywhere along the beach at Borth and in the estuary at Ynyslas. For land-based traction activities such as kite-mountain-boarding, scudding and buggying, it is of course best at low tide.
Kite-Surfing.
The reason I started power-kiting was to get into kite-surfing as a light-wind alternative to windsurfing. It took me a while to get a kite-surfboard shaped, and to buy a water-relaunchable kite, but once I had, there was no stopping me. Conditions so far have meant that I've only had a few attempts at kite-surfing, but I managed to get going and on the plane on my first attempt. On my second attempt I was holding my ground upwind on many of my runs. All in all its been a lot easier to learn that any other sport I've done.. Just maybe the skills learnt elsewhere have helped.. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
The other exciting thing about Kite-surfing is that the sport is new and equipment is therefore changing rapidly, with new innovations appearing each week. There are so many variations in the kites, the boards and the bars/handles that deciding which is best is extremely difficult.. In actual fact, no-one really knows what's best at the moment, which is why there are so many options. I'm sure things will settle down a bit in a few years and a few designs will prove the most applicable. I'll soon add to this site with a basic run through of the different types of equipment available... Check back soon.
Kite-surfing localities are very much dependent on the wind direction, but the best two places around here, especially for beginners/intermediates are the Golf Course Car Park, Borth and the estuary at Ynyslas, which are pretty much next to each other. The west facing beach at Borth is best for kite-surfing at any state of the tide except high tide, and in any winds without any easterly in them (Westerly is onshore). The opposite is true of the estuary at Ynyslas, where its only possible to kite-surf approximately two hours either side of high tide. Wind direction here is less of a factor due to its protected nature and the shape of the beach, onshore winds can be anything from north-westerly through northerly, to south-easterly. Basically from this side of the estuary south-westerly is offshore, and even in a westerly there is a lee-shore which makes for relative safety.
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