Hi Guys,

i'm looking for your (experts) advice. How do you deal with overpower?

I know (and use) to completely different technics and don't know which one is the better one. (My riding skills; advanced; upwind in every condition, transitions on BiDI and Di, working out jumps)

Normally i used to ride "keep the kite low and edge hard" which works fine but leads to blowout if i can't hold the edge furtheron (Gusts of 7Bft with ARC 840 and 72kg)

On lake Neusiedl Paul told me to fly the kite near to the zenith and to use the board (LF Wake 134 with footstraps) like a rudder while the kite nearly holds your complete weight. This works excellent too but if wind get's to high you start turning if you haven't enough contact to the water.

The conditions around here are very gusty. Due to this i didn't have a chance to compare those technics to each other.

Thanks for your advice,

Louis

P.S.: I prefer the edge hard version with my 160 BiDi and kite to zenith with the wakeboard. But i don't know why

Hi Louis,

funny, I would advise you the other way around, which means:
bigger fins on your bigge board - fly it at the zenith.
smaller fins at the wake - keep it low and edge hard.

Since the wake has smaller fins you can't really use them to steer like a rudder, therefore the bigger fins will be better.
The wake goes better upwind when you use the edges.

Toby

I go with the kite low and edge hard. Sounds like you have a couple of techniques worked out for yourself.
The bottom line is that riding very overpowered just is not enjoyable, no matter what style you use.

correct, it is hard work to control the power when you are overpowered.
Only for jumps it is fun, but the rest is hard and you will feel every muscle the next day!

Hi Guys,

thanks for your advice. @Toby: yeah i think your right. The thing is that my 160 Woody keeps the edge very good, because of the straight line. When i edge hard with my wake in choppy conditions i often can't keep the balance in the longitudinal direction because of its small length 134cm) (on flat water it has grip like hell).

I didn't try flying the kite high with the 160 until now.

When i fly the kite high i don't use my fins to keep direction. I nearly sit down on the water and keep my board on the edge (vertical). Everytime i come back into the water the edge gives me oportunity to keep direction. If airtime is to long i start turning in random direction and loose control.

Of course your right. Riding overpowerd is not really fun but i think it's necessary how to do it for security reasons too. It's better to fight in the water than to hit the beach with warpspeed!
Greetz,

Louis

Happy 4th of July America .........Independence Day

This was great question from exactly 10 years ago