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Gio9
07-13-2006, 09:37 PM
Hello all! Gio here. Started kiteboarding about 3 months ago. Try to get as much practice in once a week as possible. As weekends are my only chance. FLying a 12M North Rhino 05. Kind of bulky kite, but its been good to learn.

Eagle I emailed you when I was getting into the sport for some advice on gear. Never heard back. I am a Clearwater Florida Native. 26 years here.

I've been at Loan Oak point every weekend. North point of Caladesi flying and practicing. Best wind I have had is 14 knots. I am finding out its not enough, or I am doing something wrong. I've been tea bagging real bad for maybe 20 feet and then lose all power.

I am tired of light wind so I am going to try your recommendation Eagle and hit East Beach at De Soto this saturday. Ive been watching the wind, pray for some good wind. I want 20 knots.. and I think I will get going.

Anyway.. just introducing myself to everyone. Hope to run into you guys on the beach. I have a jet ski, so if anyone ever wants to meet up we have a rescue vehicle.

gio922@yahoo.com

See ya!

JoshTaylor
07-13-2006, 10:10 PM
awesome, welcome to the forum, and better yet welcome to the wonderful world of kiteboarding!

toby wilson
07-13-2006, 11:52 PM
Yeah, welcome Gio!!!

tomstock
07-14-2006, 06:18 AM
8)

bryanleighty
07-14-2006, 08:16 AM
Gio..

Watch the "Lets Ride" area of this forum and try to get to a beach where others are going. Introduce yourself and I am sure folks in the area will be albe to offer you better advice once they see what you are doing in person.

I assume you took lessons... right???

It took me a while after my lessons to get going.. a lot longer than many that I see... and much shorter than many that I see.

Everyone has a learning curve.

Kite safe (especially as a beginner).. NEVER go out alone at your level of riding and always ask for advice regarding the conditions.

See you at the beach!

Bryan

Gio9
07-16-2006, 08:06 AM
Thanks for the advice. I cannot figure out from this point what to do. I blame it on the wind, but I do feel kind of like it may be enough power. As soon as I dive the kite I start to plane, I try to carve into the wind, and then turn the kite upwards back into the power. It usually just dies at that point, but sometimes I can pump it just right where I get another small plane.
So frustrating! Tell me this... If the wind is blowing Dead North, I should be kite boarding West to East and back right?

I have a 12Meter kite, how much do you think the wind should be blowing for me to get some good riding in. The highest I have been is 14 mph, and I was still tea bagging.

I really feel like I am carving into the wind incorrectly. Or just not going the right direction period. That is why I want some really powerful wind because I just want to plane and go wherever for now..until I get better at carving and stearing the kite.

Thanks! Have a good one!



I've been at Loan Oak point every weekend. North point of Caladesi flying and practicing. Best wind I have had is 14 knots. I am finding out its not enough, or I am doing something wrong. I've been tea bagging real bad for maybe 20 feet and then lose all power.


Hi Gio,

If you have enough power to teabag (gut pulled out of the water and dunked a few times) you have more than enough power. After you dive the kite, immediately edge into the wind and continue to dive (actually sine) the kite until you build enough aparent wind to maintain your speed.

Edge further up wind to control your speed so you dont end up on a rollercoaster ride of increasing speed until you finally eat it.

If you get overpowered and feel like you can't slow down, push the bar out, and either edge hard into the wind or go straight down wind... either of these will dump power, but edging up wind to dump power takes some strength... you have to sort of muscle the kite to the edge of the window before it dumps the power. Niether dumps power instantly so make sure you have room to slow down.

have fun.

JoshTaylor
07-16-2006, 08:11 AM
Thanks for the advice. I cannot figure out from this point what to do. I blame it on the wind, but I do feel kind of like it may be enough power. As soon as I dive the kite I start to plane, I try to carve into the wind, and then turn the kite upwards back into the power. It usually just dies at that point, but sometimes I can pump it just right where I get another small plane.
So frustrating! Tell me this... If the wind is blowing Dead North, I should be kite boarding West to East and back right?

I have a 12Meter kite, how much do you think the wind should be blowing for me to get some good riding in. The highest I have been is 14 mph, and I was still tea bagging.

I really feel like I am carving into the wind incorrectly. Or just not going the right direction period. That is why I want some really powerful wind because I just want to plane and go wherever for now..until I get better at carving and stearing the kite.

Thanks! Have a good one!



I've been at Loan Oak point every weekend. North point of Caladesi flying and practicing. Best wind I have had is 14 knots. I am finding out its not enough, or I am doing something wrong. I've been tea bagging real bad for maybe 20 feet and then lose all power.


Hi Gio,

If you have enough power to teabag (gut pulled out of the water and dunked a few times) you have more than enough power. After you dive the kite, immediately edge into the wind and continue to dive (actually sine) the kite until you build enough aparent wind to maintain your speed.

Edge further up wind to control your speed so you dont end up on a rollercoaster ride of increasing speed until you finally eat it.

If you get overpowered and feel like you can't slow down, push the bar out, and either edge hard into the wind or go straight down wind... either of these will dump power, but edging up wind to dump power takes some strength... you have to sort of muscle the kite to the edge of the window before it dumps the power. Niether dumps power instantly so make sure you have room to slow down.

have fun.don't edge so quickly, go downwind untill you get enough power to start edging. or else your just gana keep falling back in the water.

Gio9
07-16-2006, 08:15 AM
HI Bryan,

I will keep my eye out for that section of the forum. I actually did not take lessons I ordered two of the DVD's from Real Kiteboarding in NC. Great DVD's. I do wish I had the coaching, but I cant afford it. I'm a fast learner so IM not worried about it. I am very familiar with the conditions here in St Pete Clearwater... been jet skiing, wakeboarding, these waters all my life. I just hav to figure out how to carve into the wind correctly and coordinate all that with the kite. I think I am not carving hard enough so I dont pull back on the kite to generate power, and I dont think I am driving the kite in the right direction against the power.

I would like to hook with some of you guys just to get to know the local kiteboarders.

Where do you usually go?

I'm in Clearwater near Dunedin Causeway.

Thanks Bryan have a good one.

Gio


Gio..

Watch the "Lets Ride" area of this forum and try to get to a beach where others are going. Introduce yourself and I am sure folks in the area will be albe to offer you better advice once they see what you are doing in person.

I assume you took lessons... right???

It took me a while after my lessons to get going.. a lot longer than many that I see... and much shorter than many that I see.

Everyone has a learning curve.

Kite safe (especially as a beginner).. NEVER go out alone at your level of riding and always ask for advice regarding the conditions.

See you at the beach!

Bryan

JoshTaylor
07-16-2006, 08:21 AM
HI Bryan,

I will keep my eye out for that section of the forum. I actually did not take lessons I ordered two of the DVD's from Real Kiteboarding in NC. Great DVD's. I do wish I had the coaching, but I cant afford it. I'm a fast learner so IM not worried about it. I am very familiar with the conditions here in St Pete Clearwater... been jet skiing, wakeboarding, these waters all my life. I just hav to figure out how to carve into the wind correctly and coordinate all that with the kite. I think I am not carving hard enough so I dont pull back on the kite to generate power, and I dont think I am driving the kite in the right direction against the power.

I would like to hook with some of you guys just to get to know the local kiteboarders.

Where do you usually go?

I'm in Clearwater near Dunedin Causeway.

Thanks Bryan have a good one.

Gio


Gio..

Watch the "Lets Ride" area of this forum and try to get to a beach where others are going. Introduce yourself and I am sure folks in the area will be albe to offer you better advice once they see what you are doing in person.

I assume you took lessons... right???

It took me a while after my lessons to get going.. a lot longer than many that I see... and much shorter than many that I see.

Everyone has a learning curve.

Kite safe (especially as a beginner).. NEVER go out alone at your level of riding and always ask for advice regarding the conditions.

See you at the beach!

Bryanscratch what i said.
just because your good at other sports doesn't mean you can just do this with some movies.

get lessons, don't be ignorant.
if you don't have the money then save up.

it's worth waiting a little bit.

if you choose to do it the hard way, just don't do it on our beaches please.

Eagle
07-16-2006, 09:57 AM
I actually did not take lessons I ordered two of the DVD's from Real Kiteboarding in NC. Great DVD's. I do wish I had the coaching, but I cant afford it. I'm a fast learner so IM not worried about it.


Can you afford hospital bills and insurance deductable? Time off work?

This sport is dangerously easy, just make sure you put no one else at risk.
If you have a jet ski, I would take it and your gear up around the 3 Rooker, Anclote Key, North Honeymoon area and get dialed in before you attempt to kite at a crowded launch site/beach.

The Dunedin Causeway is not a good place to kite, the wind quality is awful and the launch is real close to the road and power lines.

tomstock
07-16-2006, 11:52 AM
Whoot!

toby wilson
07-17-2006, 12:01 AM
99.999999% of all of us locals paid for lessons even if we didn't have the money to do so and the other 0.000001% aren't much smarter than Ben Roethlisberger riding a crotch rocket without a helmet. There is always a way to pay for lessons if you try hard enough, take a personal loan, take a cash advance, borrow from a friend. Work a payment plan out with a local instructor. The best way to earn immediate respect here is to take lessons. You seem to have "found a way" to pay for your gear, lessons should have come first. Give me one sport in which athletes "wing it" as a general rule. They all have coaches to teach them how to throw the football, run the bases, hit the tennis ball, shoot the puck, ride a wakeboard behind a boat, etc. This is not your everyday sport, you can DIE in a split second or worse yet, kill someone else. Take lessons.

inferno
07-17-2006, 05:37 AM
not to prove you wrong toby but i didnt take lessons to wakeboard, or to snowboard, or skate, or rollerblade, or surf..... :lol:

but i will agree lessons are a very good idea, and that doesnt mean hours and hours of lessons cause not everyone can afford it, i know i couldnt, but even just a two hour lesson so you can learn the proper and safe way to do things could save you alot down the rode

toby wilson
07-17-2006, 09:13 AM
And Gio, Inferno is the .0000001% jackass that I was talking about. Noone likes him and we make faces at him and call him names on the beach!!! :lol: J/K Danny!!!

inferno
07-17-2006, 09:19 AM
And Gio, Inferno is the .0000001% jackass that I was talking about. Noone likes him and we make faces at him and call him names on the beach!!! :lol: J/K Danny!!!

:cry: :cry:

you mean you make faces at me FROM the beach as im out tearing it up and throw sick hello kitties just like E. :lol:

toby wilson
07-17-2006, 09:47 AM
Yeah, then I go and do my own thing...no "just likes" for me...until I get out there and you start saying "I wanna ride just like Toby"... :lol:

bryanleighty
07-17-2006, 01:41 PM
hey Gio..

Here's the scoop my man...

Learning to kite w/o supervision (lessons/good friend that is an experienced rider) is a huge risk.. as well it puts a cap on your learning curve. If you are not good friends with someone that is a seasoned rider, I really think you need to invest a small bit of cash into a lesson with someone that will take what you already know and get you pointed (litterally) in the right direction.

I am POSITIVE there are many rookie mistakes you are making. These can be weeded out with a couple hour lesson from one of our local instructors.

As someone with a lot of "other" sports in my bag I also thought I could just jump right in. I did get a 3 hour inital lesson that got me up to speed on rigging a big kite and some other things.. but of course I had blinders on the whole time thinking "JUST GET ME OUT TO THE WATER!!!! WHEN CAN I START JUMPING??!?!?"..

I did not absorb enough in my lessons and looking back on the next month or so that followed I did some STUPID things that I will not mention here.
I did not get hurt and more importantly, I did not hurt anyone else... but my riding did not improve and I spent a long time in "Waterstart Limbo" and took a number of vactaions to "Long Walk Back Up The Beach Resort and Day Spa".

I was very safely orientated and only went out in the right conditions.. I simply did not improve as quickly as I had hoped.

It was not until I met some of the local riders that gave me some pointers to fill in the blanks I had forgot from my lessons did things start to make sense and now I am having the time of my life (except for this insane no-wind spell).

Saftey for you and others are the first concern..

Next is the fact that having everyone at the beach be able to go upwind makes the day better for everyone.

I really recommend you getting a lesson to ensure you are kiting safe and get yourself upwind ASAP...

-B

tomstock
07-17-2006, 02:03 PM
I am eating a sandwich.

shawnwar4586
07-18-2006, 03:21 PM
Here is the scoop gio, I work at real as a coach and also i kite in st. pete. If you look at the warning on the begining of zero to hero and evolution it says that these dvds are not a substitute for professional instruction. I fully agree that these are great dvds but you still ne instrucion from a qualified pro. Thats just my 2 cents.

See you in the fall

Skyway Scott
07-18-2006, 04:38 PM
I am eating popcorn and agree that lessons are a no brainer (especially if you want to keep yours inside your head).

I have heard the "I can waterski, wakeboard, unicycle, race bikes" thing several times and usually end up watching the guy get worked, anyway.
The thing is, learning this alone is quite hard.
Secondly, and probably most importantly, it shows a lack of respect to others to not take lessons and insure ALL of our safety. If you can't afford the lessons, honestly, you might want to reconsider hobbies. Kiting by its nature costs some money each season (even with used gear and so forth). In the scheme of things (I have been kiting awhile) its a small investment up front to insure your own safety and earn the respect of fellow kiters. It's the respect of fellow kiters which is literally priceless. If you show up w/o a lesson and get worked most guys will write you off (I know I would).
If however you took a lesson but still got worked, most guys would understand, try to help, and be more than forgiving (I would be).

Just got off work and its 17 :D

Skyway Scott
07-20-2006, 02:00 PM
I don't know. I just saw this video and it seems to really nail the no lesson approach :shock: :D
He really should take his own advice though, the broken pump weakened my confidence in him (along with one or two other things).
My favorite quote - "Make sure the harness doesn't slip up... it will be a pain in the ass!"


http://www.youtube.com/results?search=kitesurfing+101&search_type=search_videos&search=Search


Dissclaimer: many people think you need to learn with a trainer kite and take at least 5 hours of lessons before you can try on your own. Use this video at your own risk.

Also the video generated a lot of feedback from experienced kiters which you can find on google. The main issue is the leash, many people are religious about always attaching a leash. Make sure you understand how the leash works and how to use it, it is not safe to not have a leash when there are people on the beach. If you have to pull the red thing in an emergency leash will prevent the kite from flying into people on the beach and killing them. The leash part is skipped in this video.

Kitesurfing 101 part 1 of 2. This 20 minutes video will almost ensure that if you order your equipment online and turn up at your local beach you have a chance of going home with unbroken bones and your kite intact.

toby wilson
07-20-2006, 03:37 PM
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yeah, no lessons needed, just watch this joker's video!!!

My favorite quote was "keep the kite between 1 o'clock and 4 o'clock".

Also, I loved the fact that his depower rope was about 2 inches long...

The fact that he thought a runaway kite tumbling through crowds of families minding their own business and "enjoying" a day on the beach was safer than a newbie using a kite leash and enduring a little bit of discomfort from being drug due to their own mistake and maybe learning a lesson the hard way was just classic!!!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

BTW, my Mother wants to learn to kiteboard, does anyone know where I can get a copy of this wonderful instructional video on DVD so that I can ensure my Mother's safety??? :roll:

JoshTaylor
07-20-2006, 04:32 PM
i love how when he told the girl you always lay your lines out downwind, he pointed upwind haha.

if i were a newb, i wouldn't understand anything he says, escpcielly with that accent

Z-Type
07-20-2006, 06:44 PM
damn it I didn't see this, it's like a deja Vu

never mind Gio, Josh was right, I was wrong, let's not ride, let's get you some lessions,
yes you can learn by yourself, but you WILL get beat up, and make sure you don't put anyone else in danger 'cose then again, you WILL get beat up. :D
and if you don't get beat up we'll make faces and flick boogers at you...

seriously though, as you soon will see getting dragged out of control is no fun at all, especially on hard pokey surfaces.
Save your money till October and take lessions, untill we start getting some constant winds, 'cose: if you weight around 160-190lbs with a 12M kite you'll need at least 25-30m MPH to ride powered up.

Hope some of this sinks in..
Z

Big G
07-22-2006, 08:15 AM
ohhhh kkkkkk.....thats a great instructional video! When watching Part 2 after he puts the harness on and says" someone that used this before me must have been fatter than me" he shows how the bar works....A side from everything being backward in this video, he points to the right and says "go left" then points to the right and says "go right"cant tell his left from his right.

Maybe it has something to do with driving on the wrong side of the road in his native country. This guy should stick to late night or early morning infometials selling car wax.