New to sea breeze been reading a lot of posts only just joined up anyway
I've been kitesurfing for about 5-6 months and been jumping but coming down real fast and hard anyone else have this happen if so how'd you sort it out

Hey leigh,
I've been kiting for that long too. And I am fairly comfortable with my landings (I still need to experiment on boosting higher tho, havent reached my oh s**t height yet).
When you jump (kite assisted), after sending the kite, keep the kite at 12 till you think you are at maximum height. Then when you about to reach the water, just send in down to the direction you're going. The sending speed will effect how fast or slow your landing. If you send the kite fast, its going to be a fast landing. Slow, slow landing. As for the sheeting, pull the bar right in when you want to jump (timing with kite, edging etc for maximum boost). Keep sheeted in till you about to land.
You could also fly your kite between 11 and 1 when you're in the air. Im guessing this will give more air time/slower descend? I still need to experiment on this.
Just my experience, and reading other ppl's experiences on forums.

Make sure your legs are extended downwind for landing, then use them like shock absorbers when you hit the water.

As for the bar, I have played around with it, and I find that once you are up in the air and starting to come down, sheet out a little bit then about half way down sheet in and you will slow down a bit.

Don't sheet out too much or you will drop

^^^Keeping the C4 in the power zone throughout the jump, descent and landing is one of the more rewarding experiences that kiting has to offer. Board speed, sending from low in the window, timing of edging, and not over-sending are key, as is a committed redirect as you approach landing.

I'm a little scared of trying a kite loop, but I am going to make myself try one this weekend on a smaller kite.

I haven't done a loop really lit on any of my kites yet, but they really do open up a whole new area of height and softish landings (I'm not talking mega loops). try sining the kite when you go really big (down, up,down and land on the up)

Can we actually control the power of the kite while looping? As in sheeting out to reduce power through the loop.

zarb said..

I'm a little scared of trying a kite loop, but I am going to make myself try one this weekend on a smaller kite.

na best to start off on a bigger kite (in conditions which suit that size), say a 12 or something.. bigger kites turn slower and in their correct conditions will be less full on than a smaller kite (ie 7 or 8) in its correct conditions (~22+knots).. so look for winds under 20knots (like ~15-16knts) and go for a bigger kite suited to wind - the pull from the loop will be less and you'll be less likely to get smashed

First loop attempt - pull the trigger just as you start to fall from the jump, which makes the loop less intense, almost non existent pull, ends up like a normal boost - your body falling has the power, not the kite. This gets confidence going ("like that wasnt too bad after all") Then progress - pull trigger at apex of jump, then progress to pulling the trigger before apex for max radness.

Then move onto smaller kites in stronger wind

BTW hard and fast landing are cool, just point your board downwind and go for it.. youll need this skill once your looping hard

zarb said..

From the looks of things, it's best to just go all out on a loop. The whole idea is to get it around a full rotation as quickly as possible. You want the kite on the way back up while you touch down, it's that which gives you the soft landing (from what I understand).

I think if you were to sheet out while looping, you would loose the speed of the loop. Golden rule I have been told with looping is "Always finish the loop". I plan on committing fully and really wrenching down that backhand. Wish me luck!


Please feel free to correct me anyone!

You only need the kite to be on the way up when doing a mega loop and this leads to a very very fast landing..
To soften your landing during a jump or boost you want to do a loop with the kite almost directly above you when you are on your way down and about 2-3m from the water surface this will generate very little pull but give you a slight lift and therefore slowing your decent.

As a rule of thumb : a loop after the apex of your jump will slow your landing but a loop before the apex will have a more force and pull you further and faster down wind.

Pretty simple, if your landing too fast then your redirecting to much if your landing too hard then your sheeting out too much, add the 2 and you've a hard fast landing, start from scratch jump and keep kite at 12 then add a little redirecting until your comfortable, some kites do bring you down harder and require a bit more technical movement , practice is the go

musikl said..

sorry for hijacking leigh. hope you dont mind but it is related to the discussion. Could someone advise me on how to do a power jump. (i think thats what its called) This is a jump by just edging and popping and not sending the kite (kite stationary). Is this all in timing? ive tried it but i cant seem to transfer the power of the kite to my board to get that jump. where do you position the kite? closer to 12? or closer to 2/10? When i try edging hard, i just lose speed and power...

Kite at about 45 degrees, start riding off slightly downwind to ease tension in the lines and to gain speed. Make sure your hands are close to the centre of the bar so you don't move the kite much.

Then

Quickly edge smoothly upwind while sheeting in, and once you feel tension build up in the lines and a large pull from the kite, you kind of have to rotate your body forward to release your edge. You should "pop" out of the water, and your lines will loose all tension. Spot landing, and point board downwind to land.


If you edge hard and then lose speed and power, you are not releasing your edge soon enough. There are a few good articles about on the net. Google terms like "Load and pop".

Just play around with it on the water. I found it easier to release my edge sooner rather than later when learning, then slowly releasing later and later to see how much tension I could build up without killing the power.


PS: It's heaps of fun. Enjoy