Forum for kitesurfers
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Toby
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Postby Toby » Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:20 pm
today the wind was lighter (9-13 knots) and I see people in the water (shallow area)...with the kite on the water for about 30 min...they keep pulling on one steering line all the time, and the kite won't relaunch.
So I went there and ask if they have a 5th line...they had...and I asked why they don't pull the 5th line a bit in, to flip the kite a bit and then work with the steering lines to get it back up...30 seconds later the kite was up in the air...
It was two guys and one girl...and I think the two guys showed her how to kite (instructors? licensed?).
And there were more of those...and I wonder, why don't they learn the good all way to flip the kite if the one steering line technique fails?
Also think about emergency situations...the wind drops and you get pulled away by the current in colder water...and you keep pulling on the one steering line...
I would like to get some info from beginners and instructors what they experienced in this matter???
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tautologies
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Postby tautologies » Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:27 pm
I'd agree. I think one of the most critical things to learn in addition to setting up is self rescue. It seems as the kites have gotten easier to ride and relaunch less effort has been put on learning to read what the kites needs to relaunch.
So many times I've seen a person have a problem relaunching a kite, and then come back and say that kite relaunches like shit, when the rider clearly was doing everything wrong for a successful relaunch (for instance...a kite on its back needs usually a tug on both front lines, and pulling on one of its backlines).
Now obviously kites have different qualities when it comes to relaunch, but this is something the rider should know and practice. Different kites also needs different techniques, but one thing they have in common, if you pay attention to the kite, it will pretty much tell you what to do to relaunch it.
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dyyylan
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Postby dyyylan » Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:33 pm
I don't know, even in 8-9 knots my kite will relaunch by just pulling on a rear line, and self-rescue is just a matter of flagging the kite and swimming up the center lines. I was never taught this by either of the instructors I had and ended up figuring it out because it's so simple now. Maybe with older kites it used to be more important?
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Toby
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Postby Toby » Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:41 pm
older kites for sure, but also 2011 kites!
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jack_the_kiter
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Postby jack_the_kiter » Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:11 am
The thing is that there are these self-proclaimed instructors that teach their friends or instructors that think they are just too cool for teaching everything.
When I hear of schools that say the beginner course takes only 3 days, I just shake my head. There is so much to learn about weather, wind conditions, material, riding techniques, low winds, strong winds, etc. I was really lucky that my teacher was really committed to the sport and the kitesurf lifestyle. Its rare to get such good instructors.
Just to tell an example:
There was a guy that had a course at a local beach close to my home spot. We nicknamed him "the danger". Every time that he attempted to start the kite crashed either on the water or on the beach. This happened twice then he got banned by us locals.
I talked to him and he told me that he did the course by hours...not by progress. after the hours where finished the course was completed, no matter what the progress is. Now thats not the way to teach people how to do anything.
@tautologies
same thing happend to me too. a guy ask me if I can help him launch his kite. he tries 2 times than he asks me if the wind is not enough. I take his kite and in a matter of seconds its up on 12 o'clock. there are just too many people that launch without moving their feet to the wind.
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dyyylan
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Postby dyyylan » Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:43 am
jack_the_kiter wrote:Just to tell an example:
There was a guy that had a course at a local beach close to my home spot. We nicknamed him "the danger". Every time that he attempted to start the kite crashed either on the water or on the beach. This happened twice then he got banned by us locals.
Wow, that's a pretty dick move. Maybe you could have, I don't know, taken 2 seconds to show him what he was doing wrong or something?
Everyone has to start somewhere, and it doesn't always sink in right away until you practice it a bit. That's why you go to a spot where there are other kiters, so if you're having issues launching your kite, or not sure about something, there are others around who can help you out.
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Kamikuza
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Postby Kamikuza » Sun Jul 31, 2011 2:14 am
Most people don't develop finesse with the kite for a long time after they can actually ride ok. From what I've seen, people are taught to control the kite but not actually keep it flying. You should see the looks I get when I reverse launch my Crossbows
dyyylan wrote:Everyone has to start somewhere ...
Seems A LOT of people forget that they too were thrashing around like a spaz at first and were NOT born with mad skillz ... much easier to mock people than it is to help them out, I guess.
That said ... there are a BUNCH of people here who should fucking know better. It's the little things too like looking behind you when you turn, checking your lines are wrapped in someone else's spread across the beach before you launch etc etc. Unnecessary accidents and danger
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TheJoe
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Postby TheJoe » Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:34 am
To tell the truth I don't think its even a matter of relaunching a kite but actually learning to fly a kite. Most people new to the sport don't know what trimming is. They fly only powered up and don't devolope any skillz outside of parking the kite.
As an example yesterday I went out to kite in mid to high teens with some low 20's with a 136 and my 9m Wainman. I had to work it but had plenty of power to unhook and throw a loop or two. Another guy was on a 13.5m and a door with atleast a year and a half experience and he could not ride at all.
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jack bush
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Postby jack bush » Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:23 am
Each post here talks about something a bit different than what toby was talking about, but they are all related.
New comers to the sport and the lack of understanding of the kite.
I think that this is the main problem, some of the newbies just don't understand how the kite works, all they know is that if you pull right it will go right, and the harder you pull, the harder the kite pulls. Not much understanding of the wind window and how to coordinate the kite and the board.
I think that this is caused because of the improved gear, you don't really "need" to undertsand the kite, just practice a bit and you'll get it. This wasn't the case with older gear.
As for the course being based on hours rather than progress, like all things, it's a matter of price.
You can get more lessons and pay for them, makes sense to me.
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JGTR
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Postby JGTR » Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:28 am
Doesn't even have to have 5 lines - I've seen beginners struggling for ages to relaunch 4 line kites - I showed him how to grab front lines, pull hard and release, walk to kite for 2-3 m (it was in the shallows!) to let it go onto back slightly then pull a line to relaunch it.
Prob is that some instructors are still only at a basic level themselves and lack experience of the different kites, if you've only been kiting for a year or 2 there's a good chance you've never ridden a 5 line kite! Aslong as you can jump, do front/back rotations and pay the fee you can become a BKSA instructor, even less for the IKO
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