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Looking at my Kite

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Bille
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Looking at my Kite

Postby Bille » Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:39 am

Yesterday
I went out to Ivanpah dry lake bed with Johnny & Brian from Peter-Lynn, to catch a
bit of kiting and a sun-set ; the wind refused to stop so we Had to kite
well into the night. There was No moon, and other than the lights from Primm, it
was Really dark ; could just barely make out the out-line of the kite.

Anyway -- about 9:00pm, someone turned on there head-lights ; I went blind as a
bat cause i was looking right at them as i passed by. I had just sheeted in the bar
for more speed and the buggy started to slide sideways when the lights went on.
I was Hooked-In to a 10M PL Venom .

I gotta tell Ya ; it was Different , NOT being able to see anything but the dim light
lights of Primm in the far distance for my North-South orientation, and going just
fast enough that it was gonna be BAD if i crashed.

I Never kited with only the Feel from the pull of the kite and the Sound of the wheels
to tell me what i was doing, as the other senses took over for what the eyes no-longer
gave for feed-back .

I'd Like to get over my "Addiction" to looking at the kite, while i'm Kite-Boarding .
Right now, the view of the Kite, while on the water, is Paramount, and i more or less
follow where it goes with my board ; maybe i'd get Better if there was a strategy
to make me Stop doing that ?

Bille

Kite2Heaven
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Re: Looking at my Kite

Postby Kite2Heaven » Fri Mar 08, 2013 2:58 am

Yes - just close your eye closest to the kite :)

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ZigZag
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Re: Looking at my Kite

Postby ZigZag » Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:30 am

When I went out in a small boat for the first time, I started getting sea sick. I was told to focus my eyes on the horizon, instead of looking at things on the boat the whole time, and it resulted in a big improvement.

I used to windsurf before kiting. If I looked at the sail, or the front of the board, or my hands on the boom while I gybed, I usually crashed. I learned to glance at the horizon while gybing, and that led to successful gybes.

A few weeks ago, I tried SUP for the first time. When I looked at the board, or my feet on the board, I fell into the water. I was fine as long as I could see the horizon.

The same thing happened when I started kiteboarding. If I kept my eyes focused on the kite, or the board, without occasionally looking at the horizon, I crashed. Nowadays I hardly ever look at the kite. I look at the water where I am going, and have the horizon in my peripheral vision. If the horizon is not in my peripheral vision, I will occasionally glance at the horizon to refresh my point of reference.

I would never be able to kite in the dark. I would be completely disoriented.


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