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Chennai / Madras India - pls tell me it's not so bad

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heinzbush
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Chennai / Madras India - pls tell me it's not so bad

Postby heinzbush » Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:28 am

Hi Guys,

after living for 5 years in Cape Town directly on the beach I have to relocate to Chennai India :(

I am a kite-addict, so of course I immediately started searching for kite possibilities, wind stats, etc.. But unfortunately I couldnt really find good information. Wind does not look too bad, there are surf schools on several beaches and some of them list kiting on their website (however when I approached them, I didnt really get good info). I found an old newspaper article about "the one kiter in Chennai", which gave me a bit of hope...

Do you guys know anything?

Since Sri Lanka and Maldives is pretty close, I might have to go there for a longer weekend... but of course, it would be great to also be able to kite directly in Chennai... even if it is on a 17. If required, I might even consider getting a 21 Foil - I am THAT DESPERATE :)


ALSO:
The gear in South Africa is pretty cheap compared to Europe/US. Since some brands are made in Sri Lanka and the income level is also quite low there, is there any chance of buying gear cheap in India / Sri Lanka?

Ismo
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Re: Chennai / Madras India - pls tell me it's not so bad

Postby Ismo » Sat Jan 25, 2014 9:53 pm

My friend lived couple of years ago 2 years in Chennai. He had his windsurfing gear with him, and never used those. There was never wind when he had time.

I'ld recommend that 21m2 foil.

And about beaches, http://locations.splocs.com/kitesurf/lo ... Beach.html is clean and there is not too much people. Beaches near chennai is dirty, crowded, and You must have someone to look after Your gear/clothes what You leave in beach.

http://www.kitemaniac.com/Kitesurfing-p ... arding.htm says: "To maximize the number of kitesurf days around Chennai, your best bet is to book your flights to Madras (MAA) for May or June, when you will find Chennai's kitesurf weather at its best: about 8 days with wind-speeds of 12-16kt from north-eastern" So, take big kites with You.

heinzbush
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Re: Chennai / Madras India - pls tell me it's not so bad

Postby heinzbush » Sun Jan 26, 2014 11:42 pm

Thanks a lot for the information!!!

hmm.. I guess if he wanted to windsurf in the ocean, he needs more wind than me with a big kite. I found a lake pretty close where they host a windsurf regatta every year and Windguru shows usually 8-12 knots around Chennai...

I am not giving up hope yet and actually consider a 21 Speed...

If anyone else has some more info - please keep them coming!

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Re: Chennai / Madras India - pls tell me it's not so bad

Postby Adventure Logs » Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:23 am

I lived in Chennai for 3 years(didn't kite then) and just visited eariler this month and kited in Mahabs which is about 60km south off the ECR. First off beaches and water is very dirty and busy. There are no good places in/near the city where you could launch and the water is so dirty you wouldn't want to either. South of the city is ok but expect tons of watchers that get in your way and will literally take a crap on the beach right in front of you. Couple spots are firshermans cove and Mahabs but it's marginally at best. I fly foils and that 21m is one that I carried. There are NO kite schools and getting anything shipped in is a bitch cause they want their duty charges, bribes, or it simply gets lost in the mail. Throw me a PM if there's any specific details, I do know some kinda quiet places.

=Jason-


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