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Hello from Dallas, TX

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FLandOBX
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby FLandOBX » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:58 pm

Hey, good2go. Congrats on taking the plunge with your first lessons. Glad you're still committed. You won't regret it. It's a great sport.

A 4-line sheetable trainer is a great idea, but you'll find they are expensive (more than you'd want to spend on a trainer). For example, the Ozone Uno is a nice little kite, but by the time you add a 4-line bar and get the size you want, you'll spend enough to buy a nice full size starter kite that you can actually use to ride. Check out the Uno online (e.g., http://www.realwatersports.com/ozone-uno-v2-kite). You can fly the Uno with most any 4-line bar, which you'd also be able to use with your first full-size kite. But it'll still be too expensive to justify, IMHO.

If you don't think a non-sheetable trainer will be of any more benefit, I suggest saving your money. Spend it on your next in-water lessons and, when you're ready, your first full size kite, board and harness. :thumb:

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FLandOBX
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby FLandOBX » Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:01 am

Hey, you Dallas kiters......does anyone ever kite on White Rock Lake? Probably crappy wind, but seems like a fairly large body of water. Just curious.

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby Matt Air » Mon Jan 08, 2018 3:53 am

Kiting or windsurfing in White Rock Lake is not allowed. The lake has not been deemed safe enough to swim in because of bacterial levels from my understanding. Swimming not allowed though they do have kayaking and SUP. Even if I could, I wouldn’t kite there other than a novelty sesh. The surrounding hills, trees, and small fetch make the winds gusty and unreliable compared to larger lakes like Lake Ray Hubbard. Plus, few if any spaces to launch kite and enter water. Add in dirty water and it’s a definite no go for me.

Matt

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby good2go » Mon Jan 08, 2018 2:21 pm

FLandOBX wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:58 pm
Hey, good2go. Congrats on taking the plunge with your first lessons. Glad you're still committed. You won't regret it. It's a great sport.

A 4-line sheetable trainer is a great idea, but you'll find they are expensive (more than you'd want to spend on a trainer). For example, the Ozone Uno is a nice little kite, but by the time you add a 4-line bar and get the size you want, you'll spend enough to buy a nice full size starter kite that you can actually use to ride. Check out the Uno online (e.g., http://www.realwatersports.com/ozone-uno-v2-kite). You can fly the Uno with most any 4-line bar, which you'd also be able to use with your first full-size kite. But it'll still be too expensive to justify, IMHO.

If you don't think a non-sheetable trainer will be of any more benefit, I suggest saving your money. Spend it on your next in-water lessons and, when you're ready, your first full size kite, board and harness. :thumb:
Thanks for the feedback.

The real reason I was thinking about a true 4 line kite with a 4-line bar is to gain additional confidence in control. I've mastered the 2-line trainer kite in no time, OK, maybe not mastered but was able to control it quite well. With winds being around 11 knots, the 6m kite seemed like a handful and probably more than I'd want to fly at the moment.

I'm still learning, but wouldn't mind flying the 6m again in maybe 8 knot winds, but then I don't know if that is sufficient wind for it to fly, hence the reason for a smaller kite altogether.

Any suggestions on a starter kite that I can learn to control on land first prior to getting strapped to a wakeboard?

Here's is another dilemma that I have. I was keeping the 6m kite constantly at 12, then ever so slightly moving it from 2 to 10, but hardly ever getting it downwind from me moving it into the power zone. When I watch YouTube videos of kiteboarders, most of the time the kite is at one elevation and angle pulling the kiter in a straight path, unless they're in the air in which case the kite is doing all sort of loops etc. Should I be able to also hold the 6m kite at 11 o'clock position and slightly down wind?

Thanks for helping out the newb. I'm reading more and more on this forum in addition to additional videos and I'm bound to come to full speed soon.

I'll be searching to join a Dallas kiteboarding forum or other sort of community to get more involved and learn more as I progress through this sport.

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby Posrover » Mon Jan 08, 2018 2:34 pm

I've got a 4m and 6m four line kite, a HQ hydra 3m, and a HQ Beamer 3.6m.

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby good2go » Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:37 pm

In my eager to learn to kite further, it doesn't matter if the kite is a 4-line kite if those lines do not allow for the kite to be sheeted in and out with the position of the bar. I need to find a small enough kite to fly in low winds where I can get comfortable in flying.

When I flew the trainer kite in the power zone, it was a different feeling than with the 6m kite. I didn't dare move the 6m into the power window, otherwise I would have been dragged for eternity it seems, I just teased the kite from 1 to 11, and back again, etc., keeping the kite almost directly overhead and never ahead of me.

How do I progress with a kite that allows sheeting in/out, on land (for now)?

Found this Peak Flysurfer kite that might fit what I'm looking for: https://flysurfer.com/project/peak/

I'm not certain if it comes with the harness, but so long as it is compatible where I do not have to purchase multiple harnesses, I'd buy one and hold on to it as I progress. Thoughts?

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby jakemoore » Mon Jan 08, 2018 7:28 pm

Ozone Uno and Flysurfer Peak in 4 or 6 are reasonable choices.

Advantage of the Peak is you can fly in much less wind and it has robust design for land use. Kite skateboard on pavement, mountainboard on grass and kite buggy all provide opportunity for fun on land.

Advantage of Uno is the launch and land procedure is more similar to LEI kites, and you may someday have the confidence to use it as your storm kite on the water. You can also use it for land traction but need a little more wind to keep it in the air and a little more risk of damage with crashing.

I would personally lean toward the Uno in 6. Practice letting the bar go when it pulls too hard. This safety reflex to drop the bar is an essential skill and you will get it pretty fast. The kite basically falls out of the sky when you drop the bar. This is a great opportunity to learn relaunch in the grass.

I would learn to keep the kite in the air. Learn to relaunch the kite. Learn to depower for safety. And learn to fly the kite to pull you from a seated to standing position before the next lesson. Some time letting it pull you around on a skateboard would be a big bonus.

The harness and bar are needed for both kites. Buy a harness and bar that will cross over to the water kites.

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby FLandOBX » Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:13 pm

Good advice from jakemoore. I had a lot of fun on a buggy and mountainboard with a 2-line 3 meter foil kite when I was learning. I lived inland and couldn't always get to water, but open fields were plentiful. You can learn a lot about kite control and the wind window playing around with a small kite in the fields.

good2go, if you can get to some wide-open and shallow water, don't be afraid to take a smallish (6 meter) 4-line inflatable into the shallows (knee to thigh deep) and practice some launching, landing and body dragging (no board). Using a 6 meter is a lot less intimidating if you're in the water as opposed to being on land. If you get launched, just relax, land in the water superman style, and sheet out. Make sure you're in water/wind conditions that allow you to be safe and not crash into others. I'm not really a fan of teaching beginners on land with kites larger than 3-4 meters. If you're in wind with a kite size that can launch you, better to be in water. :thumb:

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby good2go » Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:44 pm

FLandOBX wrote:
Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:13 pm
Good advice from jakemoore. I had a lot of fun on a buggy and mountainboard with a 2-line 3 meter foil kite when I was learning. I lived inland and couldn't always get to water, but open fields were plentiful. You can learn a lot about kite control and the wind window playing around with a small kite in the fields.

good2go, if you can get to some wide-open and shallow water, don't be afraid to take a smallish (6 meter) 4-line inflatable into the shallows (knee to thigh deep) and practice some launching, landing and body dragging (no board). Using a 6 meter is a lot less intimidating if you're in the water as opposed to being on land. If you get launched, just relax, land in the water superman style, and sheet out. Make sure you're in water/wind conditions that allow you to be safe and not crash into others. I'm not really a fan of teaching beginners on land with kites larger than 3-4 meters. If you're in wind with a kite size that can launch you, better to be in water. :thumb:


This makes perfect sense (see question in bold below).


Thanks for the added advice guys.

There's not that many lakes around here, that I know of, that are knee to waist deep. I'm thinking about making the trek out to Houston and taking some additional lessons in shallower water.

Sheeting-out was my biggest mental block when learning with the 6m. I can move it left to right, but can't move it in front of me at 45 degree angle without the fear of being launched 50' feet forward, and this is how I was dragged a short distance. On land that would suck, not so much on water. Great advice.

I'd like to be around a 4 meter so that I could get he kite into the power zone successfully and control the kite, this is what scared me silly with the 6m. The progression from the trainer kite to the 6m was almost pointless as those kites have completely different reaction to the wind when in the power zone, of course this is due to the power they each generate is completely different.

I've exchanged numbers with a fellow Dallas kiteboarder, hopefully we can both get out and fly something on land safely, or be there when the other needs to call 911. ;)

-----------------------

HERE IS ANOTHER NEWBIE QUESTION THAT MAY ANSWER ALL OF MY QUESTIONS: if I purchase a 6m kite to practice on land, will I be able to or will I not be able to put the kite in front of me at 45 degree angle in the power zone?

As I continue reading and gathering information, I could possibly answer this question as NO, and that's because logic tells me I would end up either in the air or being dragged on the ground since this is where the kite makes power and is intended to be in this position to move the boarder across the water surface.

If that's the case, then I think I'll pass on buying a small kite for practice and get myself out on the water where I can work on being pulled by the kite and water relaunches.

Thank you.

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FLandOBX
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby FLandOBX » Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:37 am

Good2go, my answer to your question is "not very often". By that I mean that the wind needs to be really light for you, as a beginner, to send a 6m kite deep into the power zone on land without getting hurt. On most days with moderate wind, the 6m would be too powerful (even at your size) for you to be comfortable sending it into the power zone on land as a beginner. You'd probably get hurt.

When I teach beginners, I use a 3m trainer kite on land before heading to the water. I also have 4m and 5m power foils that we can use in succession on lighter wind days to show the student how a slight increase in size can really generate a lot more power (e.g., going from 3m to 4m, then to 5m). But I don't use the 4m or 5m on land unless the wind is light. I've had beginners lose control of the 3m trainer and end up face down in the sand, so it's too risky for a beginner to use the larger sizes unless the wind is really light. I have a 6m 4-line LEI that I can use in the water to teach smaller people (and that I personally use as a "storm kite" on high wind days), but I wouldn't use it with a beginner on land. Too much risk, IMHO.


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