Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Dallas Texas Reporting In

Forum for kitesurfers
talbert99
Rare Poster
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 3:16 am
Local Beach: Dallas Texas, Gulf Coast
Favorite Beaches: Gulf Coast
Gear: Tensor 5.0
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby talbert99 » Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:18 pm

New member here. I was going to post in the New Member forum but that seems all but dead. Figure no point as some of the posts on the front page were not even from this year.

That being said, wow...talk about addicting. A recent trip to the Gulf Coast had me fascinated on what might just be the best hobby I've ever seen. My passion for sailing, skiiing / snowboarding, and the water...all merged.

I'm still in training. Started with a small 2 line snapshot kite then moved up to my current Tensor 5.0. That has been amazingly fun (although its more sluggish than I expected) and flys in almost no wind. Currently still training on land, mastering kite control and what not. Hoping to move on to my next kite (maybe a leading edge inflatable) like the Naish Ride in a larger size. Also plan to join up with a local group and/or instructor before hitting the water. Amazing sport. Wish I had found it sooner in life.

If anyone has any good recommendations for my first Water Kite (besides the Naish Ride), please let me know. My tensor 5.0 has been great on land but I'm eager to get wet. I'm a big guy at 210 lbs and winds in my area typically average around 10 mph with gusts in the teens.

Appreciate The Help and Hi Everyone

L0KI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2817
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:17 am
Gear: .
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby L0KI » Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:14 pm

Talbert- Sent you a private message.
Welcome!

coleman
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 705
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2004 11:54 pm
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: texas
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby coleman » Fri Jul 12, 2013 9:17 pm

at your weight and the conditions in dallas you will be on an 11-13m 90% of the time.

i would say go for a good 10-11m kite first and a good all around board like an ocean rodeo mako for your lake chop.

TheJoe
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1735
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:13 pm
Local Beach: Texas city levee, Galveston, El Jardine and Crystal beach.
Style: Freeride, Foil, Surf, a lil freestyle
Gear: North Reach 7,9,12
Brunotti TT
Moses 633/483
Dwarfcraft Micro
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 117 times

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby TheJoe » Sat Jul 13, 2013 3:04 pm

You can get some practice at the cable park for some board skills. It can help a lot when there is not enough wind to kite.

Thor SFBay
Medium Poster
Posts: 146
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:54 am
Local Beach: 3rd Ave, California
Favorite Beaches: Bolinas, CA
Style: freeride
Gear: Naish Park kites, Naish Haze board
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby Thor SFBay » Sat Jul 13, 2013 5:29 pm

coleman wrote:at your weight and the conditions in dallas you will be on an 11-13m 90% of the time.

i would say go for a good 10-11m kite first and a good all around board like an ocean rodeo mako for your lake chop.
That doesn't sound right if he really does have local winds of "10mph with gusts in the teens". For conditions like that, you need a light wind kite (Blade Fat Lady, Naish Fly, etc.). But in reality, conditions that light are not good for learning and really aren't much fun for anybody. The best conditions to learn in are a wind speed of 15-25mph and that would indicate a kite size of around 13-14m for someone at 210lbs.

Keep in mind that once you really get into it, you will want at least 2 kites. A 14m kite for most days and a 10m for when the wind picks up.

If I were starting over, I'd probably be looking at getting a Caution Spitfire for a couple of reasons - they sell direct (less expensive) and are very durable (beginners crash their kites a lot).

User avatar
schuler
Rare Poster
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:40 pm
Local Beach: Lake Pflugerville
Favorite Beaches: Port A
Style: Free ride
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Central Texas
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby schuler » Sat Jul 13, 2013 6:25 pm

Coleman knows Dallas, he lived there for a while.
One of the guys here in central Texas is about the same size and he rides 10, 14 & 17.

L0KI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2817
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:17 am
Gear: .
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby L0KI » Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:01 pm

Thor - Wind conditions in Dallas are more than the Talbert stated.
It is the middle of summer and wind is dead as hell now.
As Talbert gains more experience, he will find out that Dallas has many days that are way beyond 10-15mph.
The right first kite for him would be a 12M.
A good quiver would be 8/12/17M.

20 m or bust
Frequent Poster
Posts: 465
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:06 pm
Local Beach: Dalrock, Ray Roberts
Favorite Beaches: Mustang Island, Stink Beach
Style: Free ride
Gear: Waroos
Stretch board
Location: Dallas, Texas
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby 20 m or bust » Sun Jul 14, 2013 6:18 am

Talbert, we have a pretty active group of kiters in DFW (60 or so). Like most places our best winds are spring and fall. We do get winter cold fronts that bring wind and some south wind days before the cold front (get a wet suit to participate). There is at least one guy who teaches in DFW lakes, I forget his name but google it. Jeff Howard teaches at Prokite Surf in Corpus if you get down there.

We are now officially in the dog days. We will get very little wind till fall. We will make trips to Corpus to get a ride. I am bigger than you and ride a 15m most of the time. We have a lot of days that are 18 - 25 mph and quite a few that get into the 30's. There is a facebook page called Dallas Kiteboarding Meetup Group that can be interesting and helpful.

Get some lessons and then come to the lake. We look forward to meeting ya...

bobber
Rare Poster
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:16 pm
Local Beach: I kite at Wildcat in Portland, TX
Style: intermediate
Gear: Core, Ozone, Crazyfly, Airfush
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby bobber » Sun Jul 14, 2013 1:07 pm

TheJoe wrote:You can get some practice at the cable park for some board skills. It can help a lot when there is not enough wind to kite.
I second the cable park recommendation. Get comfortable on the board at the park and then focus on the kite when you've got wind.

coleman
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 705
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2004 11:54 pm
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: texas
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Dallas Texas Reporting In

Postby coleman » Sun Jul 14, 2013 3:36 pm

The wainman boss would be a great first kite. I have the 9m smoke and those kites are phenomenal for smoothing out gusty wind but they are very very responsive as well. Super durable and relaunch very easily.


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Aberdovy kiter, alekbelia, Baidu [Spider], Bartolo, BigBoyTonic, Bing [Bot], Brent NKB, Breze, decay, evan, Exal, Flyingseb, joop, Kitemenn, mati, Matty V, Peter_Frank, sakara, Trent hink, Xtream and 154 guests