wake style - Kite video

phtog · Newbie Joined: 06 Mar 2003 Posts: 2 City: Texas

http://kite.hopkinsfamily.us/bucky/Texas.wmv

heavily influenced by wakeboarding

vette74 · Posted: Dec 02, 2003 3:28 pm Post subject:

That looks like a lot of fun.

bevin$$R · Newbie Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 27 City: houston texas

that's bucks video
check out tanya, that chick rips !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

llenta · Addict Joined: 22 Jul 2003 Posts: 788 City: Davis

is it called kiteboarding? it think it is. i've seen it before, it does look fun.
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VAPORIZER REVIEWS

wakeboardstud25 · Criminal Joined: 03 Jul 2003 Posts: 87 City: Chico NorCAL

Hey do you guys ride? If so where at? Every wakeboarder needs to try this because once I did i was hooked. I believe it is the best sport there is now.

bevin$$R · Newbie Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 27 City: houston texas

it rocks
you can go by yourself
for those of us without a boat
and considerably cheaper that gas, and all that boat maint

jason_ssr · Posted: Dec 03, 2003 8:21 am Post subject:

Bucky rips!

Kiteboarding is the next level for sure. You can take all your wake skills out there with you and you are in control of everything! You can make your own lines, control your own speed, and go as big as you have the guts to go! You can ride in any water conditions and really in any medium (mountainboards, snowboards, etc...)

comparing to skating:

wakeboarding is like riding ramp, where kiteboarding is like riding street (except the big air is in kiteboarding).

Guys are even wakeskating with their kites now, and the shore break (for those on the coast) is like an endless sliderpark/street course!

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

as random as this sounds, my dentist had a kiteboarding magazine in the lobby haha i was pretty surprised to see a watersports mag of any kind in a dentist office...

quick question...is the rope attached to any part of your body? the reason i ask is that when you fall your initial reaction (well mine is from wakeboading) is to let go of the rope....if it isnt attached to the rider the kite would just fly away if im not mistaken. during this vid i saw one guy fall and he held onto the handle and it didnt look like it was attached to anything...

jason_ssr · Posted: Dec 03, 2003 8:54 am Post subject:

the kite is attached to you in two different ways. Fist is your trim loop. You wear a harness that has a small hook on the front and you hook in the loop which allows you to power and depower the kite. This is useful when you catch a gust and the kite starts to pull to hard, you just push the control bar away slightly which pulls on the loop and depowers the kite a little to get you through the gust.

There is also a kiteleash attached to your wrist, so if you do have to let go, you dont lose you kite. When you let go the kite just turns into a limp flag and falls to the water.

When you fall you dont want to let go. When your body hits the water you slow down really fast and it pulls the kite into the "neutral" position above your head. In neutral the kite has little to no pull. YOU still have to fly it though. You never really faceplant like you do in wakeboarding, so its not like you take a beating regualarly and have to fly while your half concious.

But I will say that kiteboarding can be dangerous. Anytime you attach yourself to something that powerful you better have a good understanding of what is going on. Like surfing, you have to respect mother nature and understand that she isnt always consistant or accomodating to what you are trying to do that day.

Suprisingly enough, most accidents happen to people who are very good at it. Newbs are very safety concious and rarely ever have any problems. Its those guys who think jumping over large boats or islands is cool who end up getting messed up. Just be smart, it is a huge powersource with endless applications. It is only as safe as you make it.

bevin$$R · Newbie Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 27 City: houston texas

so does my dentist, but he's eliot leboes dad
www.cabrinha.com

bevin$$R · Newbie Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 27 City: houston texas

Elliot Leboe
Hometown
Clear Lake, Texas
http://www.cabrinhakites.com/html/riders/international/img/leboe/leboe01.jpg

bevin$$R · Newbie Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 27 City: houston texas

Buck Ashcraft
Nickname
Bucky Or Bucko
Hometown
Harlingen / South Padre Island,Texas
http://www.cabrinhakites.com/html/riders/national/img/ashcraft/ashcraft06.jpg

wakeboardstud25 · Criminal Joined: 03 Jul 2003 Posts: 87 City: Chico NorCAL

Nice, I don't know about never face planting though. I have had way harder falls then I ever had wakeboarding.

bizzuck · Addict Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 593

wakeboardstud25 do you do raley's behind the boat?

jason_ssr · Posted: Dec 04, 2003 9:08 am Post subject:

I wasnt saying you dont fall hard, I was saying you dont really have that sudden stop\disorienting thud, like you do in wakeboarding. Whenever you catch an edge on the kite, its drags you while pulling more up than out, so many times your chest and head never even make it to the water!

kennethl · Addict Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 635 City: Champaign

What is the minimum sized body of water you would want to have to be able to safely learn to kite?

K

wakeboardstud25 · Criminal Joined: 03 Jul 2003 Posts: 87 City: Chico NorCAL

Yeah i do raleys.

jason_ssr · Posted: Dec 04, 2003 1:36 pm Post subject:

Any good size body of water is fine. i dont know what a "minimum amount" would be. You biggest concerns are having a large open area next to the water that you can launch from. Also make sure that there is plenty of open downwind area for you to come into and land while learning. When learning you wont be able to come back in to where you started so you will need a down wind area to come back to shore on. Once you are proficinet at edging and kite management, you will be able to "stay upwind" and launch and land in the same place.

Also you want to find a place where the wind is blowing parallel with the shore so if you crash the kite you dont get blown out to the middle in offshore wind, or picked up and pushed into the parking lot in onshore wind.

Boarder4Life3780 · Posted: Dec 04, 2003 2:32 pm Post subject:

It looks really fun but you would really need someone to teach you what you are doing or it sounds like you could get really messed up. I would like to try it though.

jason_ssr · Posted: Dec 04, 2003 2:39 pm Post subject:

yep you can. A lesson is a must, then once you understand how things work you can be safe and have fun. Boosting that kind of air is CRAZY!!

Nor*Cal · Ladies Man Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 9479 City: Sac

Do they use wakeboards? or are those special boards?

riverside · Posted: Dec 06, 2003 5:00 pm Post subject:

they showed a worldrecord jump on tv last night,...some german guy stayed 14 seconds airborne you could see the wind was taking him up again as the kite made a loop above him.
it looks pretty cool but if one is only in it for the air-time you can also go para-jumping.
To me the challenge with wakeboarding is you jump from wake to wake/flats and have just a little air-time to stick the trick.it has to happen within that time.
kiteboarding to my knowledge there is plenty of air-time huh....well shall i do 1 backroll or 4 lol.
kiteboarding is very populair in europe and pretty affordable to.

riverside · Posted: Dec 06, 2003 5:06 pm Post subject:

oooops

it was 12 seconds.

i found the video here it is

http://www.ucc.ie/students/socs/kitesurf/content/Movs/hang%20time.wmv

flip cutter · Outlaw Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 124 City: wilmington

phtog , what program did u use to edit that video?

salmon_tacos · Posted: Dec 07, 2003 7:34 pm Post subject:

riverside,

I think I see what you're saying. The only problem with kiteboarding that I see is that it really gives new meaning to the term "hang time", well, not really new meaning, just literal meaning. They are actually hanging, or swinging, from the ropes so it's not like they have that weightless air time that you get with any kind of jumping, e.g. wakeboarding or snowboarding.

Don't get me wrong. It's not a fatal flaw. It's probably really cool in it's own way...feeling the power of the wind...like flying. I guess people should just be careful about making direct comparisons between wakeboard hang time and kiteboarding (or cable) hangtime.

Anyway, does anyone know how one could rent a kite or take a lesson in the Austin area? Lake Travis, maybe? I really like the nature aspect of the sport. The lack of a boat seems like it could be really...what? Peaceful? Soulful? Something like that. Just you and natrural forces...like surfing or freeriding (snowboarding).

derrick lenz · Posted: Dec 07, 2003 11:48 pm Post subject:

solomon tacos- theres' a pretty big kiteboard community in central texas. they're basically a bunch of hippies but they're always willing to take people out and get them involved. they've got a web site called something like central texas kiteboarding or something like that. you might be able to find it by searching google. aslo from my brief experience of flying a kite you don't just go out and start riding. this summer shannon best and some other pro kiteboarders were doing a tour through the states and they stopped by texas ski ranch. i got the chance to fly one of the kites and i can say it would take some time before i felt comfortable enough to go strap on a board. i was flying a mid size kite on not to windy of a day and the power behind the kite is amazing. i'd probably say you'd need to fly the kite for about two weeks before you go out and try to ride a board.

derrick lenz · Posted: Dec 07, 2003 11:53 pm Post subject:

http://www.geocities.com/centexkiteboarding/

jason_ssr · Posted: Dec 08, 2003 9:35 am Post subject:

Derrick is right, there are lots of cool people in Centex group including a few instructors in the Austin area.

ST- What you see the pro guys doing isnt what the majority of kiteboarding is about. thats like saying wakeboarding consists of doing switch doubleflip 3's. Kiteboarding is like doing in wakeboarding what we try to make wakeboarding look like in videos. When you see a grabbed 3 on a video, its always slowed down where the spin looks so fluid and the grab is holding on forever. In real life it is really just a split second.
Kiteboarding is that big air, slow rotatating, long grab, 3 that we imagine wakeboarding to be. it really is a rush!!

It not really about the big air paragliding, rather how smooth you can be while in the air, just like wakeboarding. People in kiteboarding dont like to see guys just go out with a kite that is too big for them just to boost big air. They call it "dangling" which is going out on a kite so big you cant control it so when you get boosted all you can do is just dangle.

It definitely adds that soulful "nature" feel that you get from surfing. A great thing about it is that it improves your wakeboarding tremendously. You have to ride switch half the time!! besides you only do it when its too windy to wakeboard, so it lets you be on your board anytime!!

NorCal- You can use your wakeboard if you want to. However, wakeboards are harder to learn on, because their rocker makes them slower. Since you arent hitting a steep wake, you dont need the 3 inch rocker. Also, since you dont need surface area, you dont need such a long board, and since you dont need "pop" of a wake, you dont need the thick core material. So, most people ride a kitespecific board because they are half the size and weight. Other kite specific boards are the longer boards. they are consrtructed similazr to wakeboarding without the rocker. These are great to learn on and good for lighter winds because they plane so easily. I ride a Premier 141 in wakeboarding (6'6" 200lbs) and have 2 kiteboards, a 120cm and a 157cm!!

The tricks are really fun as it crosses alot of your wakeboarding tricks with your wakeskating/skating tricks. For example, alot of guys are doing r2r with an indy board varial. Most non-pro riders average 20ft or air or so with 5 or 6 second hangtimes. In order to go more, you have to be "overpowered" which is flying a kite that is too strong for that windspeed. Just like we cant judge all of wakeboarding by Darins abilities, you cant look at one guy dangling on and overpowered kite doing kiteloops for 12 seconds and say that is kiteboarding.

salmon_tacos · Posted: Dec 08, 2003 9:47 am Post subject:

Thanks, Jason. So would that video that riverside posted be considered "dangling"? The guy just swung around for a while and then crashed into the water.

In any case, I wasn't really talking about the challenge or the aesthetic nature of the sport. I was really talking about the feeling of projectile motion...that true feeling of weightlessness for that split second that you are in the air. Like I said, however, that's not all there is to it and it seems like kiteboarding definitely has some advantages over wakeboarding.

The few times I've seen kiteboarding on TV, it seemed like you could really tell who was comfortable with the amount of air they were getting and who wasn't. I liked to see a smooth swing and a soft balanced landing.

salmon_tacos · Posted: Dec 08, 2003 10:14 am Post subject:

One other question, Jason: is the think with smaller boards new? It seems like all the kiteboards that I've ever seen are over 140cm...all the way up into the 160's or something.

jason_ssr · Posted: Dec 08, 2003 11:35 am Post subject:

Yes, it is new! In fact the big thing this year was WAKESKATES!! Yes that guy is dangling. though there is something to say about his kiteskills (kiteloops are very hard and dangerous) he isnt doing anything under there. Kiter would typically like to see a 360 or even a slimchance at 20ft rather than a dangle at 60ft.

Or if you can do sbend slim chances at 60ft then so be it!! HAHA!

This guy rips, but is crazy!!

http://www.flyingcamelproduction.com/videos/thetraininghigh.mov
http://www.flyingcamelproduction.com/videos/Leeshai_meets_maui_dsl2.mov

Kinda big, but pretty cool. A couple of dangly moves but some pretty good suff as well. kinda big files though...

h2oslider · Posted: Dec 12, 2003 8:39 pm Post subject:

h2oslider · Posted: Dec 12, 2003 8:57 pm Post subject:

Oh yeah and I almost forgot, check out the Texas ski ranch footage:

http://www.aclproductions.com/Ten4%20movie%20trailer%20medium.mov

riverside · Posted: Dec 13, 2003 1:14 am Post subject:

are kiteboarding-jumps about the same way like they ride on a cable park?
it looks like they block the board and then got airborne....great movies.

i might wanna give kiteboarding a try but i suck major on the cable-park i just can.t seem to find the right technique to get some air.
and i never done some windsurfing or sailing...hopeless case?
ben

h2oslider · Posted: Dec 14, 2003 1:11 pm Post subject:

Ben,

You aren't a hopeless case at all. I had about two seconds of sailing under my belt before I picked this up and a lot of wakeboarding. You are actually ahead of the game since you know how to wakeboard. All you have to do is learn to fly the kite and that takes roughly 4 to 5 hours to get the hang of with proper instruction. After that you can boost by loading the line like no wake tricks or you can send the kite and the thing will launch you no matter what.

It may seem a little frustrating at first but once you get the hang of it it's a breeze.