Stories of epic downwinders !!

[Gioro_T]

Hey everyone !!

Downwinders are a great way to experience your surroundings !
Also a good chance to improve on your kite & board skills.

Visit many different bays, play around in the waves, do some speed runs on the flats - it's all within your reach - even if you want to keep jumping like a lunatic all the way !!! ... HAh' Hah ' HA !!

But if you want to keep exploring ...


For long distance riding it's all about conserving your energy, so that's why I ask the ones with experience to recommend a really good board for going downwind :

* easy on the knees
* smooth on the chop
* playful in the waves

Also, are there certein kites better for going downwind ?

Hey, let\s also hear some stories of epic downwinders that inspired you ! ... for me it was about the ones from La Cana into Cabarete (25kms) and then from Cayo Coco to Cayo Guillermo (Cuba [40 kms])

Cheers !!

[coleman]

while i am not that experienced in big long downwinders i do enjoy getting way up wind and then tanking back downwind around the lakes in my area. for this i use an airush sector v1 52.

it goes great on a downwind reach, super fast and just blasts along the top of our chop. i dont think this board is good in the waves but from what i have heard the new airush sector 54 is very maneuverable. they tweaked the rocker and fins to make it more surf oriented than race.

i am kind of torn about it though because i really like how well the board locks into an angle up/down wind and i hear that that stability is not as good on the new one but the tradeoff is being able to use it in the surf and peel off big high speed turns.

as far as comfort and smoothness, i find this board to be different obviously than a twin tip in the chop. it requires you to ride and work the fins which will take a session or two to really get used to but once you do it feels natural and doesnt wear you out. riding over chop is fine across the wind at speed because it likes to fly over the top as opposed to slicing through. seems like the faster you go the better it feels in that department. peeling off downwind you can really feel the fins tracking and keeping everything stable. this is what i like most about this board. couple it with a fast kite and it is very easy to just haul ass all over the place.

c

[TheJoe]

Surf boards work the best. You have lots of planning surface and easy to keep board speed whenbbearing off or downwind. You can practice all your tacks and gybes jump and slash waves or chop. I only ride a surf board on downwinders.

A low aspect kite works the best but any kite that drifts well will work.

[Gioro_T]

Hey, thanks ... I kinda had a feeling the answer would be a surfboard or a race hybrid.

I ride a surfboard at home but I am too cheap to pay $100 extra to take it on the plane (doesn't fit my kitebag/golfbag), so I guess best way is to rent on location.

Last time I did the 40km one I used a little Mako and I loved it (well, on proper-straight downwind in chop you're reminded it's a twin-tip but still it's much less brutal on the knees compared to other TTs I rode) ... I repeated that downwinder each time for three consecutive days and by the end I was cursing myself for having abused my body so much.

Has anyone done an adventure where they landed on a wild beach and had to camp overnight in order to continue going downwind the next day ?


PS: I changed the thread's title since I'm looking for some stories here ...

[Nico]

2006 the great downwinder (no winder : ))
Brisbane to sidney 1000kms.
That inspired me to do the kiteival ( www.kiteivalmauritius.com )
discover Mauritius through downwinders on all the kiteable spots.
Nico