I remember about 3 years ago on Ramsgate beach, botany when, after kiting a southernly for a few hours wih a few others, a massive front type cloud rolled in.

There was big gust spikes all day and it was he tail end of a 50 knot wind that came in. Everyone but 1 guy came in, I just remember seeing him tea bagging huge about 500mtrs out followed by death loop after death loop. Took a while for Kite to come in as he was so far out so I ran down the beach waiting and grabbed he Kite. It still gets my heart beating today when I think back as I thought he was Still attached and had drowned. Lucky he had either pulled release or equipment had failed saving his life as he was still out in the middle of botany bay!!

Don't Kite on your own in winter as a beginner and take heed of advise and others on beach

Thanks Olly. Will do guys.

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FlyByKite said..

kkiter said..

kookaburrahz said..
Mozkiter you need an aproximately 135cm board. That 128 is just holding you back in so many ways

Not necessarily true. I ride a 128 Nobile NHP. I'm 83kg and it gets me upwind in 14knots on a 9m Edge. Smooth through the chop and fast. Much better than my old 132 Triple 5 and not hard on the knees like the old 152.

I'll bet you your NHP is not 36cm Wide.

Your right, it's 39cm. Missed that bit!

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FlyByKite said...

harry potter said..

kkiter said...

kookaburrahz said..
Mozkiter you need an aproximately 135cm board. That 128 is just holding you back in so many ways

Not necessarily true. I ride a 128 Nobile NHP. I'm 83kg and it gets me upwind in 14knots on a 9m Edge. Smooth through the chop and fast. Much better than my old 132 Triple 5 and not hard on the knees like the old 152.

I'm also 83kg and ride a 128 Noble NHP.... Hasn't held me back.

Once again I'll bet you your NHP is not 36cm Wide.

True it's not it's actually 128 x39. But I am also 6-8kg heavier so I would say it's still relevant.

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harry potter said..

FlyByKite said...

harry potter said..

kkiter said...

kookaburrahz said..
Mozkiter you need an aproximately 135cm board. That 128 is just holding you back in so many ways

Not necessarily true. I ride a 128 Nobile NHP. I'm 83kg and it gets me upwind in 14knots on a 9m Edge. Smooth through the chop and fast. Much better than my old 132 Triple 5 and not hard on the knees like the old 152.

I'm also 83kg and ride a 128 Noble NHP.... Hasn't held me back.

Once again I'll bet you your NHP is not 36cm Wide.

True it's not it's actually 128 x39. But I am also 6-8kg heavier so I would say it's still relevant.

Yeh - Fair enough harry you are 6kgs heavier - but this guy is still learning and I think a bigger area would make it alot easier for him to get going.
With one kite, I think the low end advantage would be better for a beginner.
Mozkiter - At 77kgs on a small board like that , you should be able to hold a 10m2 in the high 2o's.
harry - Your upwind ability on an Edge would be a little bit different than a newbie on a crossbow I would think.

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FlyByKite said..

harry potter said..

FlyByKite said...

harry potter said..

kkiter said...

kookaburrahz said..
Mozkiter you need an aproximately 135cm board. That 128 is just holding you back in so many ways

Not necessarily true. I ride a 128 Nobile NHP. I'm 83kg and it gets me upwind in 14knots on a 9m Edge. Smooth through the chop and fast. Much better than my old 132 Triple 5 and not hard on the knees like the old 152.

I'm also 83kg and ride a 128 Noble NHP.... Hasn't held me back.

Once again I'll bet you your NHP is not 36cm Wide.

True it's not it's actually 128 x39. But I am also 6-8kg heavier so I would say it's still relevant.

Yeh - Fair enough harry you are 6kgs heavier - but this guy is still learning and I think a bigger area would make it alot easier for him to get going.
With one kite, I think the low end advantage would be better for a beginner.
Mozkiter - At 77kgs on a small board like that , you should be able to hold a 10m2 in the high 2o's.
harry - Your upwind ability on an Edge would be a little bit different than a newbie on a crossbow I would think.

Sorry harry, I thought you said that about the edge - just saw that it was kkiter

This topic is a good reminder to kiters
It's close to 3 years since marks sprod was killed on our coast, freak and unexpected was a terms used in the description of winds that day,mark was a very exsperienced kiter
And it's a reminder to everyone

Agreed Cauncy. In fact that particular day I sat in my car for a good two hours, watching, waiting, but the dots wouldn't line up.

It was a sad funeral, so many people really cared about that guy, he sounded like a top bloke.

Be careful please.

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cauncy said..
This topic is a good reminder to kiters
It's close to 3 years since marks sprod was killed on our coast, freak and unexpected was a terms used in the description of winds that day,mark was a very exsperienced kiter
And it's a reminder to everyone

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eppo said..
Agreed Cauncy. In fact that particular day I sat in my car for a good two hours, watching, waiting, but the dots wouldn't line up.

It was a sad funeral, so many people really cared about that guy, he sounded like a top bloke.

Be careful please.

Yes it is a good reminder. Actually it is bloody terrible reminder of what can go wrong if we do not understand the potential weather implications of the day.
Newbies can be completely unaware of how variable the conditions can change and experienced guys can become complacent, cocky perhaps?

I know my biggest challenge is to say no on a crazy day. It's very hard for me to not kite when there's cranken wind. There have been a bunch of days that i have gone out and then thought. "This is Farken stupid".

1st of all, don't endanger your safety couse of the budget. I know u NEED to kite but actually, u don't :)
Pretty soon, smaller kites will get even more cheaper, save some money for a smaller kite and it will probably save your life (or avoid looong swimm) if u are mad.

As an unixeprienced fellow, i can tell u how i look at the windranges since we don't have stable wind.
I look at average conditions and farely nice weather (no rain or megaclouds involved, most of the time long wind holes, that just makes wind more unpredictable) and no more than 7-8+ knot gusts. So if a gust hits a bit longer, could hold it few knots overpowered at 12 oclock in the water or a bit to the side if i see it will overfly me, but if it is 2 big difference like 10+, i don't even plan to go.

Here is an example




I could go on Sunday with my 12m and i wouldn't go on Tuesday with it. Ignore the hours and conditions, it's just average/gust example.
Also, was wondering, how would LW kites like zehpyrs, flysurfers etc handle Wednesday conditions? Teabagging?

Hi guys.

Just a little report on my weekend breakaway. Got to the beach at 11:20. Sprinted down to the beach to check out conditions. Perfect!! 18-20 knots cross onshore with a nice swell. Three kiters busy setting up. I then proceeded to set up my tent in record time and rigged and ready to roll in 5 minutes.

Then off I went cruising along very nicely. Got an awesome jump on my first spin and nailed my carve turn. Went for about 20 mins then I started struggling to keep riding and was way downwind. Proceeded to bodydrag back to the beach and walk of shame. Tried again but wasn't working. Wind was dying and the other kiters started coming in as well. So I decided to wait it out and just played with jumping my kite on the beach(very wide beach and I was about 300m upwind from any people) had some good fun.

About 20 mins later I saw a guy going out with a 11m so I decided to give try again and it also seemed like the wind picked up. BOOM!!!! Blasted across the waves! It was so funny seeing how fast the other kiters still on the beach got their kites in the air again. HAHAHAHA! So had about three awesome hours of playing in the waves. Was awesome. Got my upwind riding down well so I could just keep jumping and popping the wave crests and not worry about having to walk upwind. Eventually I had to ride downwind because I was upwind too far. But an awesome feeling nonetheless. The waves were breaking over an area of about 300m long. So had an epic session. I definitely prefer riding in waves over flat water. Got a few 7m+ jumps and a lot of jumps in the 3-5m range. Landed about 90% of them well. About 5% were wipeouts but not big ones. The remaining 5% were massive wipeouts!!! Had a couple good falls. One after a failed backroll specifically ensured me a belly flop.

The kiters there were a friendly and helpful bunch. Most of them were excellent riders. One very young rider caught my kite for me even without me asking. Was very grateful for that. I would've ridden more but one of my footbindings screws popped out(somehow the guy I bought it from got the wrong thread screw in!!). Managed to ride back to the beach but by the time I got my binding fixed was already too late.

But a great day despite that!! The Saturday was howling. Two guys tried. One got out but the other couldn't. The wind was very dirty so he couldn't get going . The other guy was ripping it but he ended up about 1km downwind. I was very glad I decided to stay on the beach. Took out the kayak for some surfing. Now that was fun. Sunday there was no wind so I surfed for about 7 hours. Haha so stiff now.

So that's about it. Thanks for the advice you guys gave me. Helped me make the right call and saved me a kitemare, injury, lost gear or worse. Hope you guys enjoyed the report.

Cheers guys

if your in a place that gets 25+ knots of wind over winter. Then consider an 8m. The 8m will be a sweet kite on 20-30 knot days.

Dude - if whatever wind you kite in, gets too outa control and you want to land it coming in..

Hit the safety just before the beach!
Someone will help bring it in..

I do it even on launching if a crazy gust hits the kite.. No shame, it just saves your Life that's all.

Usually if most head in and lands - you better follow them - there's a reason.

Think smart - not Dumbass kiter noob :)