M Howells
Member
Member #: 1960 Posts 2
Registered: 12-6-2006 Member Is Offline Mood:
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 posted on 12-6-2006 at 17:12 |
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Waterstart........... HELP
I'm learning to kitesurf but can't get the waterstart sorted. I've had lessons, and can control the kite ok. My problem is getting my
bloody feet into the footstraps of the board without twisting in the water, then facing the wrong way, and the kite going slightly one
way or the other. On avarage I'd say only 1 attempt out of 10 I manage to end up in the correct position. Once in the correct position
I dip the kite get mysef up on my feet quite often, but can't maintain speed, so either sink backwards, or jump out forwards.
As the wind is normally onshore, there is not much time to mess about before having to walk back into deeper water (about waste high).
It doesn't help if there's surf, which is quite often the case.
Any hints on the exact steps to get going would be appreciated. I have a 12m Kite, 180cm board - 13.5 stone. It looks so bloody easy
& I'm getting frustrated
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mNeil
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| posted on 12-6-2006 at 17:44 |
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1. why go in very eep water ,you can be plainning in 30cm no probs and that way yer bum is your anchor and put one foot in your board
before gently sitting down whislt sheeting in with your bar to stop the kite flying over your head and luffing.
2point your lead foot towards the kite; front leg straight and the back one bent keeping your C.G. towards the back of the board then
you dont go over the top; once up on the initial kite dive keep riding towards the kite until you pick up speed and are plainning
easily then slowly bare off into wind.
note from what you say it appears that you have both legs straight out and are acting as a sea anchor, thus the kite flys to the front
edge of the window and then runs out of power, you are by that time back in the water,,,,,,,,,,more frustrated! the idea is to at least
keep up with the kite and not let it fly faster than you are travelling; if you pull on the bar the kite will back off the window;bit
like applying a brake as an analogy, if the bar is let out the kite will fly faster towards the front of the window. its finding the
balance when you are up and running.....constantly feeling the power in the kite and sheeting in or out with the bar feeling the sweet
spot..........sorry but its time on the water in the end, but its worth it!!!!!!
oh unless the wind is really blowing you might do well to get a bigger kite and get out in gentler winds which means less waves, or
look for some quiet pools; ie where we sail or maybe a trip to egypt might do the trick.
tell us where you are and if you are quite local we will always give you a hand on the beach.....N wales.
hope it helps.
A KITE IS FOR LIFE!! THAT IS IF ITS A YARGA.
founder of storm'n Normans van club!
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M Howells
Member
Member #: 1960 Posts 2
Registered: 12-6-2006 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 13-6-2006 at 11:49 |
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Thanks for the quick reply.
The reason I go into waste deep is to give myself time to settle in the right position & also have a few meters 1 - in case I get
going, & 2 incase cock up and get dragged - at least I'll still be in the water & not on the beach. I'm living near Gower, so
am using the beaches aroud there (depending on wind direction)
I agree that Ideally I need a large expance of flat water about 18 inches deep. I'm sure I could crack it then. Is there anywhere in
North Wales like that. (Or anywhere near gower)
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mNeil
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| posted on 13-6-2006 at 12:08 |
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aberdovey is blessed with lagoons between the sand bars which work very well ,also Shem teaches over there and there are also numerous
others who would give you a hand. we tend to sail on the ynyslas/borth side in the waves, more fun. 
A KITE IS FOR LIFE!! THAT IS IF ITS A YARGA.
founder of storm'n Normans van club!
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leonardo
A Force-of-Nature ***  
Member #: 634 Posts 613
Registered: 8-4-2004 Member Is Offline Mood: Chillin' ya bloodclot mahn
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| posted on 13-6-2006 at 12:46 |
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The waves are much cleaner and peel better at dovey.
LEN10 LOOPING..
www.sskiteboarding.com
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Pluto
A Force-of-Nature * 
Member #: 598 Posts 281
Registered: 20-3-2004 Location: Shrewsbury Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 15-6-2006 at 20:36 |
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Good advice from Neil (as usual!)
It's very tricky to advise without seeing what your doing, but a really good technique that might help is the pattern you fly the kite
to obtain power.
Most riders simply dive the kite from the 12 o'clock position but when learning this can create two significant problems:
1. The kite is diving towards the ground and inevitably will crash.
2. The amount of power obtained is limted as it's only flying through half of the potential window.
The answer:
If aiming to go port tack (to the left), start with the kite in the 2o'clock position and fly it horizontally towards the 10 o'clock
postion. the kite is now moving horizontally and less likely to crash and you will obtain more power as the kite flys "further".
Power can be controlled by changing the start position higher or lower. i.e high winds fly from 1 to 11 o'clock, light winds 3 to 9
o'clock. Reverse the direction of kite movement for a starboard tack.
This should give you more time to get your balance and keep the board planing.
www.kitesurfteacher.co.uk
IKO/BKSA Instructor
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col123
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| posted on 16-6-2006 at 09:12 |
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also consider the upstroke of the kite, don't assume you need to power dive the kite to get going, try that first and if your still
facing the kite but haven't stood up use the up stroke to lift you onto the board..
or simply come to borth most weekends grab one of us and have a laugh at the same time
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IanK
Grommet
Member #: 2026 Posts 5
Registered: 22-6-2006 Member Is Offline Mood:
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 posted on 22-6-2006 at 10:06 |
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Waterstart... I had the same problem
Hi M,
I had exactly the same problem when I started, kept twisting round whilst getting the board on.
I found 2 things that helped a bit.
1. make sure your straps are pretty loose, this can be a bit tricky with some as they don't make them hugely adjustable. Once you get
the hang of getting the board on you can tighten them up but for now it's probably better to have them loose.. helps when you get
hauled over the front of the board too.
2. Have you tried having your kite more over on one side of the window when getting the board on? It tends to pull to the side then
and gives the board something to push against. You need to sit back in the water with your board in the right position and then move
the kite over to the side, as it moves you'll feel the board get pushed against your feet slightly. This means you can use your legs
to control the board better and don't twist as much. The golden rule really is to keep the board between you and the kite at all
times... but I'm sure you'd worked that out already.
This way does have the added risk though that if you pull the wrong way with the kite it has the entire window to cross so could get
really powered up if you go wrong.
You could also try just sweeping the kite back and forth across the window, once you have the board on, and pointing the board to move
with the kite. This makes you move in a zig zag pattern downwind, a bit like how they teach you to snowboard first to get you used to
how the board feels. It also means the kite is higher in the window so naturally pulls you up out of the water and onto the board. I
found doing this helped me get used to how to steer the board before I could properly waterstart.
Don't worry, I spent 3 hours in Borth estuary in January one day and managed to get the board on... oh... about 3 times... couldn't
feel my feet for hours afterwards. We've all been there
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