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Anybody quit kiteboarding to go back to windsurfing?
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gobigkahuna



Joined: 11 Mar 2004
Posts: 144
Location: Eastern NC

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 4:57 am    Post subject: Anybody quit kiteboarding to go back to windsurfing? Reply with quote

Not to start a "one versus the other" debate, but I'm just curious if anyone else out there gave up kiteboarding to get back into windsurfing.

I started windsurfing back in the early days (the late 1970's) then gave it up when kitesurfing began to take hold (1999). When I moved to San Diego 7 years ago I gave formula windsurfing a try and had fun. Now that I've moved to the OBX I'm thinking about sticking with windsurfing.

I guess my biggest reason for sticking with windsurfing is that, although the gear is bigger / heavier, I just feel like it's the mellower "no stress" sport of the two. I tend to kite / windsurf alone and so being able to sit on my board and paddle in if I have a gear failure is another big advantage.

Anyone else?
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jingebritsen



Joined: 21 Aug 2002
Posts: 3371

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

a friend of mine got a wife and kids. he quit kiting, came back to windsurfing. said it was too dangerous to his family.

last weekend, a ram air kiter had to be rescued by a lifeguard jet ski. all too typical waffly wind made the kite crash into the water. he could not relaunch.

swells were large, and i was floating around on my long board and sail. grabbing countless Jose surf. seen it all too often. kiting needs constant wind. windsurfing does not.

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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 9:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do both/either, depending on conditions.

But tell us more about this "sitting on your board and paddling in" thing. I've never heard of or seen it done, despite living and sailing in areas where the wind can and does shut off in seconds, blow 5 gusting to 70 mph, and/or turn offshore. We'd all love to sit and paddle rather than swim for a mile, but the rig, rolled up or intact, gets in the way (and the chop interferes) to the extent that virtually no one even tries to LIE on the board and stroke, let alone sit on it.
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dvCali



Joined: 23 Aug 2007
Posts: 1314

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 10:12 am    Post subject: Re: Anybody quit kiteboarding to go back to windsurfing? Reply with quote

gobigkahuna wrote:
Not to start a "one versus the other" debate, but I'm just curious if anyone else out there gave up kiteboarding to get back into windsurfing.

I started windsurfing back in the early days (the late 1970's) then gave it up when kitesurfing began to take hold (1999). When I moved to San Diego 7 years ago I gave formula windsurfing a try and had fun. Now that I've moved to the OBX I'm thinking about sticking with windsurfing.

I guess my biggest reason for sticking with windsurfing is that, although the gear is bigger / heavier, I just feel like it's the mellower "no stress" sport of the two. I tend to kite / windsurf alone and so being able to sit on my board and paddle in if I have a gear failure is another big advantage.

Anyone else?

I have not, but I have been very unlucky: literally every single time I was ready to pull the trigger and learn how to Kite I heard news of a nearby fatal accident. And that was enough to stop me ...

And I am too lazy: the only type of kiting I would be interested in is hydrofoil, the regular type is too slow and limiting from a range/location point of view, and that would take years to master ...
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The foil reduces or eliminates the swell.
All I care about is the swell.
'Nuff said.
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capetonian



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 1196
Location: Florida

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
Do both/either, depending on conditions.

But tell us more about this "sitting on your board and paddling in" thing. I've never heard of or seen it done, despite living and sailing in areas where the wind can and does shut off in seconds, blow 5 gusting to 70 mph, and/or turn offshore. We'd all love to sit and paddle rather than swim for a mile, but the rig, rolled up or intact, gets in the way (and the chop interferes) to the extent that virtually no one even tries to LIE on the board and stroke, let alone sit on it.


Had to do it a number of times in big waves sailing outer reefs when breaking a mast. Not hard. Undo boom, put on board, tie to back footstrap using outhaul. Release downhaul, leaving extension attached to board. I prefer not to through pieces of carbon away in the ocean so I shove the bits of mast through my footstraps. Roll up sail, put on top of boom. Loop downhaul around boom and sail. If I have an uphaul I loop that around too. The tying stuff is so I don't lose boom/sail if I get tumbled by a wave while paddling through the inner reef. Turn harness around so hook is on my back, lie on top of everything on board and start paddling. Knock on wood, but I've always managed to get back to shore under my own steam.
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jamieinnyc



Joined: 26 Apr 2010
Posts: 108

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 2:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Learned to windsurf in 1983, learned to kite 2013. After learning to kite I didn’t get on a windsurf board again until August 2017. I was so committed to learning to kite that I really didn’t miss windsurfing for those years, but I am back. I am not leaving kiting, just rejoining windsurfing. I found that my kiting sessions were shorter in duration, and of course shorter in distance (never kite further from shore than you can swim, to quote my first instructor). I wanted free range again, and that locked-in feeling at high speed. I wanted back the technical challenge of race boards, and the direct feel of hands on a boom. A few days this past summer reminded me of why I will not give up kiting, though. Strong side-shore winds, ripping in-shore current, pounding shore break, and outside a beautiful mess of big waves and white water. No way out on a windsurfer, but do-able with a kite, and spectacular.

As to paddling a board in with broken gear, I have never had to do it, but have broken a mast (above the boom), and because was on a floaty board was able to sail it back in (downwind). For me, the first rule of safety is always to avoid going out in offshore winds (on ocean). Note, I did drop my foil kite summer 2016 in very light winds - it taco-ed, was a hopeless mess when it hit the water - and I was very lucky to have been 200ft from shore. Changed my idea about light-wind kiting. Can’t wait to get on a windsurf foil board.
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gobigkahuna



Joined: 11 Mar 2004
Posts: 144
Location: Eastern NC

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks guys.

About "sitting on the board and paddling it", I've done it several times:

First was when I was first learning to windsurf and we still had dacron, battenless sails. It was pretty common to lay the sail on the deck of the board and then lay on it to paddle in or out from the beach.

But I've also done it after a gear casualty or once when the wind dropped out to nothing. I was in the shadow of an offshore island and unfortunately fell into a group of portugese man o wars. My arms and hands swelled up so much I could no longer grab the boom. So I untied what I could and paddled as best as I could until the swelling came down some. After a while I was able to use my fingers and I disassembled the rig and tied it together and paddled a couple miles back to shore. It was a much bigger adventure than I had planned, but I lived to tell the tale. Had I been kiting that day who knows how that would have ended up.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't even lie on a bare small board in any amount of chop, let alone paddle it sitting or lying on it. And even when I was a young gymnast, paddling surfer style on any small watercraft reduced my paddling muscles to burning Jello (lactic acid flavor) within minutes. That skill requires acclimatization, but I can sidestroke for as long as it takes. It's boring, but not tiring.

The next question is, "Can a kiter sidestroke to shore with a downed kite?"
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 11:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds like isobars is clueless about what's going on.
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