How do you get your kite to drift.....

Is it just using the right type of kite?
Going out in the right conditions?
Technique?

Mixture of all 3 above or other ??

Mate you are spot on with all 3, heres why..

1) Drift ability in a kite when your a wave kiter is CRITICAL ! Drift allows you to surf the wave with minimal pull or effort from the kite.

2) Side shore is best for riding waves and drifting your kite. The more onshore it is the more powered you need to be to maintain the drift.

3) The more you practice the better you get right? I love kiting in all conditions whether its marginal or perfect, the bonus of kiting marginal conditions is that it tunes you up for the days where the wind and waves are epic.


Cheers

Pete.

Benny Wilson used to have some great vids on this topic. One specifically how to unhook when getting onto a wave. Even if you are not unhooking its similar because you really want to set you kite in the right part then get into riding the wave.

I agree that type of Kite is very important but after many years of wave Kiting on various makes of dedicated surf kites (reo/Waves/Neo ect). I think that for me, conditions (wind speed/direction & swell direction) have the biggest influence on drift.

Drift is very subjective & I'd like to hear any tips on Kite placement & also possible Kite settings that may help me improve on it.

Important, you must be riding a board of sufficient volume to actually surf the wave otherwise the kite will always be pulling you

Then there are many ways depending on wind and wave size and speed to trick your kite to sit back in the window a bit before you can ride down the line at it

The more "turns" you do the easier it is

Keep your bottom turns tight in the same spot you see a surfer do it. I still see pro's in their videos doing bottom turns out on the flats, this is a learner style an should be avoided

As per Ben Wilson's instruction at his Namotu camp last year, (and I am happy to be corrected) to commence the drift, drop into the wave sheeted IN...(not easy as you are often trying to dump some speed and kite pull)... kite at 45 degrees...sheet out and viola, NO kite pull all board speed, bottom turn then turn off the top of the wave...repeat!

On the island Ben had awesome video footage (even of us guests, but alas we looked like rank amateurs) but when you watched he and Mauricio Abreau drift their kites, they were always at 45 degrees (lovely side shore conditions obviously help) and the kites would flare open to the beach as they aggressively sheeted out, did their two- turn combination (bottom then top) and then sheet in and the kites would grab some air (go all tight and shapely again) and then boom, they had their desired speed ready to repeat.

I would respectfully disagree with Jedibrad's comment (and I know from personal experience how competent Brad is, having seen him kite conditions of consequence) about bottom-turning in the flats...once along the wave, it seems Ben and the excellent level riders on Namotu do indeed bottom turn out in the flats, let the whitewash out run them, keep their kites at 45 degrees, sheet in to gain some speed to instigate the bottom turn to sneak around the froth to the open face and I guess half way up the wave face are sheeting out (kite open to the beach) drop kite pull and bang it off the top.

Check out Ben's Aeneema advertising drone video footage, watch closely and you will see what I am talking about.

Ben was adamant the combo of sheeting in and out in both on-shore and cross-shore conditions was the key.

He also said a kite will drift if when on the beach with the kite at 12 o'clock, pull back hard on the steering lines at the same time...if the kite starts back-stalling (falling out of the sky towards the trailing edge)...it isn't going to drift!

Super thorough write up dude. I would totally agree with you on everything but Im a bit bias as Iv got Bens Virtual package.

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Hoger said...

He also said a kite will drift if when on the beach with the kite at 12 o'clock, pull back hard on the steering lines at the same time...if the kite starts back-stalling (falling out of the sky towards the trailing edge)...it isn't going to drift!

Do you mean pull the bar in or actually grab the steering lines & pull back on them ?

& Couldn't you just trim the back stall out ??

Respectfully, bottom turns out on the flats is poor form as far as i'm concerned and is a habit people get into that inhibits the drift and leads you to turn and follow

Moona White can get away with it but

Isnt wave riding all about finding the line that "you" want to draw. I love watching guys like keahi smash short lips but I recon long drawn out lines like Ben does alot of, look so much better. To me ofcourse, I guess thats what I embody about wave, Its all about what you make of it, what works for you

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Jedibrad said...
Respectfully, bottom turns out on the flats is poor form as far as i'm concerned and is a habit people get into that inhibits the drift and leads you to turn and follow

Moona White can get away with it but

Respectfully all bottom turns on waves over a certain size are done out on the flats ..... It's just how far out it is done that can be questioned. A true bottom turn is one where you come straight down the face before loading the rail into a large at by the very nature of this and the physics involved... a harder sharper turn can only be done on the flats.
When it's 8-10ft+ it's almost impossible to get the leverage for a bottom turn off the face.
So the real question is how far into the flats is acceptable before it becomes lame .......... There is none. Anytime you can bottom turn and still keep speed to
Get around and hit the lip is acceptable in my book.

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Jedibrad said..
Important, you must be riding a board of sufficient volume to actually surf the wave otherwise the kite will always be pulling you

Volume is only important below planning speed. Its only an issue on small slow shoulder high waves or less. Above that when the wave has enough speed and power to drive you, you could literally be riding a mcdonalds tray.

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Jedibrad said...
Respectfully, bottom turns out on the flats is poor form as far as i'm concerned and is a habit people get into that inhibits the drift and leads you to turn and follow

Moona White can get away with it but


[/Dont know why you would mention someone's name,Moona does not hang on the flats buddy,whenever ive kited with her she is in amongst it.

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Jedibrad said...
Respectfully, bottom turns out on the flats is poor form as far as i'm concerned and is a habit people get into that inhibits the drift and leads you to turn and follow

Moona White can get away with it but

Personally naming Moona is poor form and just wrong on many levels. She is a successful multi talented young Hawaiin that is progressing the sport for women whilst achieving in other areas of her life. Plus she is a really nice person. I'm sure you wouldn't say this if you knew and kited with her. She rips!
I get what your trying to say re surfing in the pocket but everyone that kites has drawn turns from in front of the wave and followed the kite. With a slow rolling peak or on your backhand, I need that fade to get more vertical... Also direction and wind strength play a big part. Re the drift question. You can try it jogging with your kite on the beach to get a feel. Try angling your kite slightly up in lighter conditions whilst pushing the bar out. If your kite or conditions don't allow try flying your kite aggressively forward in the window first. You should get enough drift for a couple of turns after. Pulling slack or stalling your kite are other options to get a turn in.

Hey toppleover...Ben was simply standing on the beach, kite at the zenith (or 12 o'clock) and he let go of the bar, grabbed up along the steering lines about 50cm towards the kite from the bar and yanked at the same time both L and R lines towards himself as his kite "drift test"...kites with good drift would not back stall.

He was also very diplomatic, saying in the market today, there were many good brands of kites capable of down the line drift!!!

As for the tuning...not sure, but probably...play around and see what happens!

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Plummet said...

Jedibrad said..
Important, you must be riding a board of sufficient volume to actually surf the wave otherwise the kite will always be pulling you

Volume is only important below planning speed. Its only an issue on small slow shoulder high waves or less. Above that when the wave has enough speed and power to drive you, you could literally be riding a mcdonalds tray.

Or even worse, a twintip!

Ouch... touched a nerve here and there eh

Being critical of ones style of kiting is in no way criticising ones personality or nature.... I just don't like that waterskiing style of riding

I did say 'sufficient volume', not 'ride a boat' at all times, you need to be making the speed from surfing the wave, everything other than this is not drifting the kite

a constant 20knots side to side off and a long walling 3-5foot wave helps to dial it in. a good wave kite can just be parked up in those conditions and does its thing, and its sooooo much easier than onshore 2-3foot slop.

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Jedibrad said...
Ouch... touched a nerve here and there eh

Being critical of ones style of kiting is in no way criticising ones personality or nature.... I just don't like that waterskiing style of riding

I did say 'sufficient volume', not 'ride a boat' at all times, you need to be making the speed from surfing the wave, everything other than this is not drifting the kite

Agreed,without sufficient volume you can forget about drift for any extended period

Kite has very little to do with it, good drift is mostly a product of technique.

Some conditions are harder to drift in so require better technique to make it work. Cross- onshore backhand is the hardest to drift well in I think.

p.s. I would also disagree that Moona surfs the flats and flicks the kite, if anything when I've been kiting the same spot she's drifting and hugging the face wayyy more than most guys there.

p.p.s. I see very few people actually drifting their kites while waveriding.

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sir ROWDY said..
Kite has very little to do with it, good drift is mostly a product of technique.

Sure technique is important, But some kites just don't drift anywhere near as well as other. My reo and catalyst are a doodle to drift. My edges... don't like drifting at all.

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taxi said..

Jedibrad said...

Agreed,without sufficient volume you can forget about drift for any extended period

I agree with you guys on the small stuff. But a decent steep enough slab does not require volume in the board. Don't you guys get out in bigger surf conditions? Or perhaps you haven't used a low volume board on the big stuff?

I use my low volume mutant in the big conditions all the time. I prefer the powered throw your kite around style of riding. But every now and then i like to chillax on the wave face drift the kite let go of the bar even and cruze along the wave face. In cross off i can cruise along the face until the wave closes out (that could be a over a minute). In cross on conditions I can ride at the kite completely slack line it watch it fall out of the sky and cutback and retension the lines just before the kite hits the water.....

How could I do this if volume was required with a drifting kite? Volume is only required when you get below planing speed. Then it is usefull.

I cant drift.

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Jedibrad said..
you need to be making the speed from surfing the wave, everything other than this is not drifting the kite

I like to drift the kite when I'm super-slotted.

I like to flick the kite when I'm fanging around a section ... before backdooring the barrel.

You see, you need to be versatile.

Downloop as you pull in

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Plummet said..

sir ROWDY said..
Kite has very little to do with it, good drift is mostly a product of technique.

Sure technique is important, But some kites just don't drift anywhere near as well as other. My reo and catalyst are a doodle to drift. My edges... don't like drifting at all.

Some kites require a different technique and tuning to drift properly, while others are setup easy for it out of the bag, all kites can drift by virtue of kite design. Technique is the most important thing.
I'm just saying this so people don't get caught up thinking they have the wrong equipment and thus can't do it. Give me any kite for waves and I could make it work, Wakestyle/Freestyle is a totally different story...

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waveslave said..

Jedibrad said..
you need to be making the speed from surfing the wave, everything other than this is not drifting the kite

I like to drift the kite when I'm super-slotted.

I like to flick the kite when I'm fanging around a section ... before backdooring the barrel.

You see, you need to be versatile.

Yep, of course this is what kiting in the waves is... Speed up slow down, stay in the steep bit, push around a section with the kite

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Plummet said..

sir ROWDY said..
Kite has very little to do with it, good drift is mostly a product of technique.

Sure technique is important, But some kites just don't drift anywhere near as well as other. My reo and catalyst are a doodle to drift. My edges... don't like drifting at all.

taxi said..

Jedibrad said...

Agreed,without sufficient volume you can forget about drift for any extended period

I agree with you guys on the small stuff. But a decent steep enough slab does not require volume in the board. Don't you guys get out in bigger surf conditions? Or perhaps you haven't used a low volume board on the big stuff?

I use my low volume mutant in the big conditions all the time. I prefer the powered throw your kite around style of riding. But every now and then i like to chillax on the wave face drift the kite let go of the bar even and cruze along the wave face. In cross off i can cruise along the face until the wave closes out (that could be a over a minute). In cross on conditions I can ride at the kite completely slack line it watch it fall out of the sky and cutback and retension the lines just before the kite hits the water.....

How could I do this if volume was required with a drifting kite? Volume is only required when you get below planing speed. Then it is usefull.

For the second time, do you know what sufficient means?

In this little movie you'll see reo and kehai do that little check turn on the flats a bit

I recon pete cabrina's style is better, but thats just my opinion

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Plummet said..

taxi said..

Jedibrad said...

Agreed,without sufficient volume you can forget about drift for any extended period

I agree with you guys on the small stuff. But a decent steep enough slab does not require volume in the board. Don't you guys get out in bigger surf conditions? Or perhaps you haven't used a low volume board on the big stuff?

I use my low volume mutant in the big conditions all the time. I prefer the powered throw your kite around style of riding. But every now and then i like to chillax on the wave face drift the kite let go of the bar even and cruze along the wave face. In cross off i can cruise along the face until the wave closes out (that could be a over a minute). In cross on conditions I can ride at the kite completely slack line it watch it fall out of the sky and cutback and retension the lines just before the kite hits the water.....

How could I do this if volume was required with a drifting kite? Volume is only required when you get below planing speed. Then it is usefull.

For the second time, do you know what sufficient means?

Obviously I don't. Please explain it too me.

My board is TT style construction and only has enough volume to float its self. There is no additional float provided for riding purposes. Yet I can do the thing you say are only possible with a board that has "sufficient" volume.

I think your statement is wrong. You don't need sufficient volume at all.

What you do need is sufficient surface area. The thickness of the board and thus volume calculation is almost irrelavent once you have exceeded planing speed.

Soooo therefore on the wave your on, your tt has enough volume or yes, planning area for you, i.e sufficient.

You do realise we agree with each other right?

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Jedibrad said..
Soooo therefore on the wave your on, your tt has enough volume or yes, planning area for you, i.e sufficient.

You do realise we agree with each other right?

Ok I get it now. Our terminology is the different that thus the discrepancy. In my world. Volume is a calculation of width x length x height giving a volume of X liters. Surface area or more the point planning surface area = width x length expressed in cm or m squared.

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Jedibrad said..

For the second time, do you know what sufficient means?

No. ^^^

Can kiters drift their kites while riding waves with hydrofoil boards ?

Yes.

Not much volume or surface area in a carbon wing.

lol.