Postby Hugh2 » Sun Jan 06, 2019 9:20 am
There is a general split in Cape Town. Sunset beach is mostly windsurfers with a few kiters, mostly on directionals. This is because the SEaster is slightly offshore and a more gusty there, which is unsettling for most kiters, but perfect for the windsurfers and wave shape. This is a real Euro scene, with only a few locals, mostly starting downwinders. Only the occasional windsurfer is seen between there and Haakgat.
Dolphin beach is a favorite for kiters both TT and directional, as is Kitebeach and the rest of Bloubergstrand of course, but most of the folks on directionals are doing bottom turns and cutbacks and not just riding down the line, in part because the waves break in a mostly uniform line, so you only get one or two bottom turns per wave.
Beyond Big Bay, which I do not enjoy as the wind is fluky there, going north are waves with a different dynamic, instead of long evenly breaking swells coming from the southern ocean, here they form halfmoon crescents and if you get it right, scooting down the line through them is great fun (but the punishment if you misjudge can be severe when the waves are big, as they peak in the center of the crescent and can easily be double overhead. The beach is mostly continuous here with a few rocks to avoid, and names like Eestesteen and Derdesteen (meaning first and third rock) and Kelpbaai, a slight bay with kelp just before Haakgat. And there are very few other kiters along this whole stretch of a couple of miles, mostly on directionals, so no conflicts arise.
Finally, downwind and further north at Haakgat is where there is a slight point so one finally gets a good left break, and when the wind is strong and the waves are big, this is where the good riders come to play, both windsurfers and kitesurfers on directionals. In those conditions I generally stay out of the lineup and just pass on by to Holbaai and my ride back to Kitebeach or Sunset where I started my downwinder. It's all fun, especially away from the crowds at Kitebeach, and I do my downwinders on TT, strapped directional, or strapless, depending on waves and wind and mood.
There are a few of us who sometimes start our downwinders even further south, at Milnerton lighthouse, and I even start some at Milnerton Lagoon, but the conditions are tricky to say the least (side-offshore and gusty), and one is almost always on ones own (having a problem here when offshore any distance would be bad news, except that on weekends and holidays there are lifeguards at Milnerton beach who will come and get you, don't ask how I know!). The only time others kite there is on NW conditions, which are rare in summer, but common in winter.