Hi All. So I'm doing a fair amount of driving to kiteboarding locations just to find that nobody's there because the wind is too blustery. And of course there's no kiteboarders there because they all know the wind conditions? How are you guys all finding out what the winds like in a particular spot? is there a forum thread to look at or is it just texting each other? Apps are great but they're not that accurate.

Where are you located? Different locations and groups of kiter's tend to use different methods to work out the best spot for the conditions and hooking up with mates. Suggest you post in your state based forum and tell more about yourself like when you go kiting etc, if you are still learning. If you say the wind is "blustery" its obviously windy, but maybe in a crap direction for the locations you are looking at. For example if its offshore it could be a dangerous location in that wind direction. All part of the fun!

Good luck.

Hi Millsey,

Dave is right, it really depends where you're located exactly. Local knowledge is always the key, so ask kiters who have at least a few years of local experience, they will most often give you better information about local conditions than any website or app can.

When assessing the wind for any location, you need to consider a couple of things...

Wind Source: where is that wind coming from? What's creating that wind? is it a local sea breeze? land breeze? front? storm? The wind source will directly affect it's quality, it's strength, and it's reliability. At some point, you'll need to become a bit of a weather ''nerd'', so the best advice I can give you is start studying your local wind patterns.

Wind Direction: what direction is the wind blowing in relation to the shore? Avoid any off-shore winds and if you're a newbie, avoid direct on-shore winds.

Wind Speed: what speed is the wind forecasted to be ? If the wind forecast is too light then it's probably not worth the trip. Same thing if the wind is too strong and you don't have the right skill level and/or kite size. This is when local knowledge is key, in some areas the actual wind speeds can vary significantly from the forecast depending on the wind Source.

You also have to understand that live wind readings can also be unreliable and not be a true representation of what the wind is at your location, depending on where the wind meter is located. For example, if a wind meter is located on top of a hill it's likely it will read stronger winds due to wind compression (wind accelerating while going uphill). If a wind meter is located close to obstacles (i.e. buildings, trees) it will most likely get poor readings.

Also, I strongly recommend you check various sources other than seabreeze forecasts, such as:

-Windy.com excellent wind forecast for any location around the World

-http://210.8.186.60/qld/forecasts/map.shtml (if you live in Queensland, otherwise change the area)

www.bom.gov.au/marine/wind.shtml

Wind Effects: is the wind blowing over any obstacles before reaching your kite beach? If so, this may explain why it's very gusty/unreliable and can often be unsafe as well.

All this stuff should've been covered during your lessons

Just spend some time exploring various wind forecast websites in detail and talk to the locals. Soon you'll have a much better understanding of your local weather patterns and how these influence the wind on any given day

Christian

The Bureau of Meteorology has Meteye - and most other sites just use the BOM's info anyway
www.bom.gov.au/australia/meteye/

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Millsey said..
Hi All. So I'm doing a fair amount of driving to kiteboarding locations just to find that nobody's there because the wind is too blustery. And of course there's no kiteboarders there because they all know the wind conditions? How are you guys all finding out what the winds like in a particular spot? is there a forum thread to look at or is it just texting each other? Apps are great but they're not that accurate.

Remember that Baluga Whale from the Finding Dory movie..?
Yeah that's how we find wind.

Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Here yo go, have some of ours, there's plenty to dish out