Kiting vs Windsurfing in the waves - which is more cool ?

[gregorvass]

YA MON, WIND IS OUR RELIGION....DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT??????????

[MalibuGuru]

Or you could just come over to Maui where for the last 10 days my biggest sail was a 5.0. Ther were plenty of 3.7s in the water (girls) and 4.2 men.

[MalibuGuru]

ps. There have been no kites on the water at lanes, and only a hand full at kite beach. The thought of kiting in 30+mph is just not appealing to even diehard kiters. Most of them aren't even bothering.

[swchandler]

It's interesting concerning the mention about kiters. At C Street yesterday, there was probably only one kiter out that I noted, but the wind was averaging a very solid powered up 5.0. On most days averaging 13 to 18mph, the number of kiters is actually quite high, with probably at least 15-20 participates.

When things start to get more demanding, the kiters tend to take the day off. I can understand, as they're working off a different power zone much higher off the water. However, I must say, that the newer kites give these guys a more viable high wind zone. Hey, I welcome their play in the game. When things get more challenging, there's usually a lot of room to share, particularly at C Street.

[chrisschmidtwetekam@gmail.com]

So what do you tell the guy at the beach who stops to ask you about the "guys with the parachutes out on the water" after you've just stepped off of your windsurfer? Let's face it, in "real world" wind conditions, kiters get more attention (and rightfully so) because they're wound up in conditions that see most windsurfers schlogging.

[swchandler]

No question that the kites catch the eyes of the spectators, especially given the physics of the sport. But is that kind of attention really more meaningful overall? Well, that's certainly debatable, because it's quite difficult to assess. Whether its kiting, windsurfing or surfing, for the average spectators walking or parking at the beach, it's simply light entertainment in their day. Don't get me wrong, that's a positive thing for sure, but nobody is paying anybody.

Really, the watersports that we choose to particiate in are of value only because they satisfy our inner being by giving us a way to express ourselves in the water. Of course, there's often the comradeship amongst those involved, but on many occasions it might only be you on the water. I often sail by myself at many lesser known spots, and I have to say that being seen doesn't really have anything to do with whether I enjoy the sport. I'm sure that lone kiter at C Street on Sunday feels similarly.

[BajaVaya]

Need to first define kiting in waves.

A few years back, I became all excited about kiting after watching a few surfers using small ram-air kites at Kailua. They used stock longboards with no footstraps. The kites were just a device to save them from arthritis of the shoulder; once on the wave, they parked the kite in the neutral (vertical posn) and surfed. As a surfer, that, to me, seemed the logical improvement -- preserving all the fun while eliminating the hard work.

To this day, I have yet to see a kiter surf a wave. At least in a way a surfer would define it. It seems that 4' sheets of plywood that have 0 floatation are de rigeur. Great for endlessly going back and forth on the bay and jumping -- but riding the curl? They simply outrun the wave. Try to slow down and they sink. I ask, "Why not switch to a floaty uni-directional and enjoy what the wave has to offer?" The answer often seems to be either "baa" (as in sheep), or that learning to jibe a uni-directional is, and expected to be indefinitely, beyond their skill level.

I would like to hear from the kiters out there. Especially the ones who can actually stand up on a surfboard.

One thing worth mentioning is flying kites in high/gusty winds can qualify you for a Darwin Award. Rodney, at P.San Carlos, has a list of scary anecdotes as long as your arm -- and that is just at P.S.C. Kiters being almost severed in half by those 600 lb lines (right through their wetsuits), having arms, legs, even faces lacerated to the bone. Kiters being dragged across the stones and sanded to within a mm of their vital organs. Lines snapping a mile or two out, with a tangled ball hardly floatation (negative floatation if anything) and the distinct possibility of hypothermia (the exhaustion from rolling up the string and sheet doesn't help). Is it any surprise that Rodney politely declines to help a kiter launch.

Even the worst windsurfer sinker board has enough floation for a leisurely paddle to shore, albeit a long one. As I have found out more times than I care to count. Robby Naish may be helpless when a mast breaks, or a universal snaps.

[steve1]