Hey guys need some advice.

Was out on the weekend at my local and the swell was pumping. I tried 3 times to get out the back and for the life of me i just couldn't do it. Each time i hit the white water i would get thrown off my board, then loose my board and get smashed my big waves. To make things worse my kite dropped twice, i pulled the safety which was useless because my line were tangled in a massive chunk of sea weed which cause my kite to power up and i ended up under water what felt like forever.

So i need some tips of tackling big white wash strapless.

Thanks

Use Straps

straps or not, getting out is tricky, and require good knowledge of your break. You didn't really give us the setup. However, whitewash being your concern, bring the kite up to 12 just as you are about to hit the wash, then pop a bit on your tail. Don't slow your speed too much to a complete stall, but slow it down. As the whitewash hits you send the kite forward and drive with your front foot. I always try and use downwind angles to get out in bigger beach breaks. I am always ready to turn around, so you need to be able to do that if a wave is about to crash on you or the whitewash is to big. You can ride in and let the power dissipate and have another shot as you go down the line. Sooner or later you will find a gap. Head out the back and work your way back up wind out of the lineup. My local is just way too bumpy for strapless so I don't even bother any more. It's nice to be able to pop over the wash.

Bend your knees and lean back. Go slow yet powered into the wave.

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dafish said..
straps or not, getting out is tricky, and require good knowledge of your break. You didn't really give us the setup. However, whitewash being your concern, bring the kite up to 12 just as you are about to hit the wash, then pop a bit on your tail. Don't slow your speed too much to a complete stall, but slow it down. As the whitewash hits you send the kite forward and drive with your front foot. I always try and use downwind angles to get out in bigger beach breaks. I am always ready to turn around, so you need to be able to do that if a wave is about to crash on you or the whitewash is to big. You can ride in and let the power dissipate and have another shot as you go down the line. Sooner or later you will find a gap. Head out the back and work your way back up wind out of the lineup. My local is just way too bumpy for strapless so I don't even bother any more. It's nice to be able to pop over the wash.

Set up was a firewire vanguard and a lithium 14m (light winds) normally on unions

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dafish said..
straps or not, getting out is tricky, and require good knowledge of your break. You didn't really give us the setup. However, whitewash being your concern, bring the kite up to 12 just as you are about to hit the wash, then pop a bit on your tail. Don't slow your speed too much to a complete stall, but slow it down. As the whitewash hits you send the kite forward and drive with your front foot. I always try and use downwind angles to get out in bigger beach breaks. I am always ready to turn around, so you need to be able to do that if a wave is about to crash on you or the whitewash is to big. You can ride in and let the power dissipate and have another shot as you go down the line. Sooner or later you will find a gap. Head out the back and work your way back up wind out of the lineup. My local is just way too bumpy for strapless so I don't even bother any more. It's nice to be able to pop over the wash.

That is exactly how I do it. It works really well. As Dafish says, don't worry about going downwind too much. Once you're out the back behind the break, do one big tack back and you'll be in the same spot again.

If the surf is too big, you will have a much easier time using a strapped surfboard. Personally I find them a lot more fun and unless you're really good, you will have a better time this way in the rougher conditions.

As above. The trick is to lightly pop over the top of the white wash. Not smash through it.

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AUS126 said..
As above. The trick is to lightly pop over the top of the white wash. Not smash through it.

As all have already said. Avoid the big ones by heading further downwind if you need to. Don't just smash yourself to pieces. You can usually make the lost ground back once you get behind the break in a few long tacks.

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jamesperth said..

AUS126 said..
As above. The trick is to lightly pop over the top of the white wash. Not smash through it.

As all have already said. Avoid the big ones by heading further downwind if you need to. Don't just smash yourself to pieces. You can usually make the lost ground back once you get behind the break in a few long tacks.

Good advice, i just normally rush out to make the most of it.

As for getting over the white wash, can you hit it on a angle or are you better hitiing it straight on balls and all.

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Duff15 said..

jamesperth said..

AUS126 said..
As above. The trick is to lightly pop over the top of the white wash. Not smash through it.

As all have already said. Avoid the big ones by heading further downwind if you need to. Don't just smash yourself to pieces. You can usually make the lost ground back once you get behind the break in a few long tacks.

Good advice, i just normally rush out to make the most of it.

As for getting over the white wash, can you hit it on a angle or are you better hitiing it straight on balls and all.

I usually try to avoid hitting it straight on, to minimise the risk of copping a board to the head, most guys that have kited strapless for a while will know what I mean, you only do it once.

Go slow there is no need to be carrying much speed at all.

The way I do it is:

I the wave hasn't yet broken you can race out to it then wash off some speed by running downwind and across the wave at almost a right angle rather than straight up and over it.

If it is about to break right on you, turn around and head in then have another crack.

If it has broken before you get to it, it is possible to climb a big wall of whitewater without much speed at all.
Bring the kite up as you approach then turn your board upwind and stomp on the tail just before it hits to both wash off some speed and create a bit of pop to climb the whitewater at a slight upwind angle, bring your knees up towards your chest to soften the impact (like shock absorbers), dive your kite forward and move you weight forward just as you are climbing the whitewater.

The biggest mistake most people make when fairly new to strapless is going to fast, you can almost stop and let the wave come to you, do a nearly stationary pop as long as you are starting to dive the kite forward as the whitewater hits.

I dont have this problem as the water parts before me

To get over the white wash on a starpless board you need speed.

Carry a lot of speed and just before you get to the wave try and pop the board up or just put more pressure on your back foot so the nose goes up, this will carry you over the white wash. The white wash will push you back but your speed should keep you going forward but it will slow down a lot.

If the wave hasn't broken yet try and get as close as you can to the lip then dump your speed before it goes under you. Try and make it so you're almost standing still as the wave goes under. This will stop you from losing your board off the back of the wave as your board will stay closer to the water.

Kind of hard to explain, I might try and make a video the next time the wind and waves are pumping.

I was out at Torquay on the weekend and the sets were coming though like hay stacks only bigger - and given it was high tide with no beach - straps or leggies were the way to go. When you have 9' of white water coming at you and rocks downwind - strapless is a rich mans game!

When you pull the safety and are still getting dragged under water pull the second safety
you go fast through the break when there is a break in the break
otherwise, when the foam hits pop the board over and power the kite so you are not standing there waiting for the next one

well done for not drowning

Big waves and winds light enough to need a 14m and no straps rarely is going to be fun unless you're really really good or have a perfect cross shore point break with a nice big and predictable channel to get out in.

In big waves and strapless you need a really fast kite so even though its light id use a 9m and fly it really aggresively.

my son james gave me some advice "just do it" and he was right after a year of trying.

New addition to the family.
strapped to tackle that white wash

Some weird advice here so far eh.??.... offshore and onshore are completely different in approach. Offshore slow right down, onshore hit it a bit harden. Always hit it with kite high and bar out so you can get on the power stroke straight away