Hi guys,
I’m doing some research into kitesurfing and I’d like to know what do you hate about the current kite designs (it can be detailed imperfections or very general problems).
Let me start off with a few issues, I think are causing people headaches:
- Kite control (I noticed most kitesurfers don’t like slow/sluggish kites but more direct responding ones)
- Wind speed range (having to buy many kites to make sure you cover all wind speeds)
- Setup time and needing help with initial launch.
I’d like to get as much info on this as possible, please let me know if these really are the main issues in kitesurfing and please feel free to add your own frustrations.
Thanks guys,
Greg

Kite control - is a matter off opinion, one person can love a kite and another can hate it... Nothing to do with what people love or hate about kiting because it is way to finite.
Wind speed range - this is a matter of weight, 180lb rider will have more range then a 120lb rider. The bottom line is if you need to depower your kite more then half you should be on another kite
Setup and launching - these are challenges for beginners, certainly does not reflect the a seasoned Kiter simply because they have already learned the skills needed to self launch and land. If you have challenges with setup then you should stick to walking.

Biggest challenges I have with kiting
1. Wind - non predictable in my area and very few sensors to watch trends.
2. when it is windy, over crowding, causing short bursts of stupidity
3. Work, gets in the way of taking advantage of the wind
4. Delamination of valves - since we never know when the wind is going to come in, we have to keep our gear in our cars at all times... Heat and kites don't mix, but yet these are the best conditions to kite in... Makes sense? I think not.

Agree 100%!
Man this one drives me INSANE

Valves that can come off water hot tap water in a SUMMER SPORT??!!!,
the manufacturers are F'n Retarded!

F-off with the ultrasonic welding you cheap ass dicks if you're gunna charge 1800 bucks The LEAST you can do is use an adhesive RATED to EXCEED the expected use of the product.

Car interior temperatures EASILY exceed these temps in the summer pretty much EVERYWHERE ON EARTH! thow them in a black roof box add a few more degrees
In any other industry this would be BEGGING for a class action lawsuit.

2. Chicken loop line wear,....If I forget to wash my bar between sessions and leave sand in there I can have the line worn to the point of broken strands after about 20 HOURS of use.........(for me that's like 2.5 sessions) ..... sure amsteel is rated for 5000 lbs so there is a LARGE factor of safety there but I for one am not cool the safety implications of this. vinyl covers are used by some. if the system uses multiple lines adjustable stops and/or adjustable throw this doesn't work so well. Line with internal core and outer wear jacket is STANDARD in sailing. Wax can also help Immensly. Lotsa solutions already there, figure it out.

3. One pumps that take a long time to deflate also piss me off.....Why am I subjecting myself to this added cost, weight, complexity, aditional points of failure and increased repair difficulty. If there is NO net time savings.....

4. That tiny little plastic piece of shrink wrap (or whatever it is) on the bottom of the kite line sleeving that is there to make it easier to untangle yet only ends up sawing through the kite line at a MUCH faster rate due to it's sharp edges...Thanks for lookin out for me, when my line broke and I swam it in, it was MUCH easier to untangle.

Thats the start....I'm sure I could think of more.

There is only one "worst thing" about kitesurfing... Sitting around on the beach for the whole day cause you somehow managed to convince yourself that the 8knots in windguru actually meant 20 and it was just a technical error... but I suppose that always ends up in drowning beers to get over your sorrows so things aren't too bad

In terms of kite control. Each kite and each brand of kite has its own characteristics and feel so there is only one person to blame if you don't like the control of your kite... There are plenty to choose from so you can't hate kite control in general.

Wind issues were dealt with above and end up in big nights

Setup gets quicker and quicker the better you become until it is fast and hassle free.

I do agree with Johnny though. When the valve pops off in the water... Thats a ball ache.

It depends on the wind happening at the right time, and often if you want a safe margin for launching, the tide and wind lining up.

No-one has come up with a trim system on the bar for trimming the rear lines.

When one or both of your steering lines gets inside of the front lines after the kite brushes the water. Is there a way to fix that without going back to the beach? Looping the bar? I've never quite figured that out in the water. Should I try harder?

The fear of trying something new. Totally irrational, delays progress by decades. I kind of fight it but still I haven't dared the double front loop for the last five sessions despite having set my mind to it while driving to the beach

0. Design weakness that are not capure by proper testing - see all the trouble that the battens are creating on the switch combat.
1. marketing bull-shit, those kind of "very fast kite, great to un-hook" statements. Or like SS selling a 10.5m or something as a 12m kite, the word is that it´s very fast for his size with a f-up low end, lol. Give us something we can start to trust.
2. Lack of data on kites or boards. Simple ex each: not much weight information on kites, or rocker information on boards.
3. New kites being released each year, kills re-sale value.
4. Magazine reaviews that are made in a 10 minute trial. Don´t tell me this or that work perfectly if i know by experience that won´t.
5. valve delamination as said. There are ways to glue them without more trouble; local repair shop knows how to.
6. in general metal stuff that bend or break. Can´t beleive i´m falling harder than the pros cause I am not, see item 0.
7. hate to pump up the kite. Heard that those big inflate valves a l´Ozone make pumping much easier.
8. swivels that don´t work
9. higher Ys, harder to self land (not hate, just dislike)
10. chicken-loop without auto-center
11. de-power systems that wear; camcleat works better.
12. safety system that either open by themselves or are hard to activate under pressure (yes, got 1 of these)
13. lack of briddle set-up options. Give us more options for each one to set-up the kite flying to their liking.
14. consumable parts that are brand specific. If something needs to be change i want to find it within the local hardware store.
15. de-power cables that are not pre-wax. Everybody is doing it latter in the day, why not having them like this from start?
16. Finger grooves in the bar. As a lousy rider my natural stance is much better than the other, consequence of doing most of my trickery to the strong side, with time this make lines un-even. On set-up I want to be able to switch the bar side to keep right/left lines even.
17. wide bars.
18. Anything that is used in the kite/bar just due to aestetic reasons.

As a happy note - found out that i like small bags

Now get back to work!

Endless data mining on forums.

No more microloops from 2013 on ... Bad for the airstyle discipline!!!

I hope it will come back from more than one company...