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Choosing your equipment:

 Here are some facts to help your choose kite surfing gear:

Boards:

–The less planning area the more power you need to keep planning ie a bigger kite or more wind.  Planning area is increased by:

o       Longer board

o       Wider board

o       Less rocker

–A narrow board will “hold an edge” much better than a wider board ie a narrow board will allow you pull harder against your kite and fly in stronger winds without skipping out.

–If both feet are across the center of the board (eg single forward foot-strap on a directional board) you will get much better heel-toe rail control for turning, wave-riding, and be able to take much more pressure riding toe-side.  You can still switch stance with a single forward foot-strap.

–Forward fins on a directional board lock the rail down allowing you to take more line tension without lifting or skipping out.  Forward fins also allow better high speed stability.

–There are 3 broad categories of boards:

o       Directional (surfboard/ windsurf style)

§          plane early

§          best for carving turns

§          best for wave riding

§          can switch stance if you wish (or remain natural/ goofy only)

§          can still do most tricks

o       Bi-directional

§          sliding turns

§          do not switch stance

§          not as good for wave riding as you cannot sink the back of the board as much to carve a turn

§          plane earlier than wakeboards

o       Wakeboards

§          not recommended to learn with as you need to be over-powered to keep them planning (if you lose control of an over-powered kite you have a much greater risk of injury to yourself and others + damaging your gear)

§          good for tricks

§          bindings are expensive and not easy to get into/ out of when flying a kite

§          not as good in waves/ choppy water

Kites:

–There are 3 broad categories of kites:

o       Rigid-framed (eg Peter Lynn Cquad, Kiteski)

§          Require a reel-bar to relaunch off the water.

§          Fly and turn fast

§          Easy to repair

§          Will not unintentionally relaunch off the water/ beach

o       Inflatable (eg Wipika, Naish)

§          Setting up requires bladders to be pumped up

§          Can depower in 4 line mode (but is more prone to tangles).  This is also useful to allow powering up when jumping

§          Must be launched at the edge of the wind window ie need a wide beach (or use a reel bar)

§          Will stay afloat indefinitely (providing bladders have not been damaged)

§          Can unintentionally relaunch off the water/ beach if care is not taken.

§          Can be slower/ more difficult to relaunch off the water ieg cannot reverse off the water easily like 3 line foils

§          Inner tubes fiddly to repair/ expensive to replace

o       Foils (eg Concept Air, Peter Lynn Arc & Waterfoil)

§          Ram air - no pumping, no punctures/ leaks

§          Some models eg Concept Air New Wave do not require any pre-inflation ie fastest to setup/ pull down.  Others such as Concept Air Wave EX and the Peter Lynn foils take longer to set up as they require pre-inflation prior to launching

§          Less tangles with 3 lines.

§          More bridle lines – more prone to tangles but can be overcome with good setup/ packup technique.

§          Easiest to water relaunch – do not have to reel-in or get kite to edge of the wind window.   Can easily reverse the kite off the water using the center line.

§          Very efficient double surface aerofoil (1.5 – 2m smaller than equivalent inflatable) ie will fly faster and turn easier than inflatable with the same power

§          Some more stable than others (eg Concept Air New Wave and Peter Lynn Arc are most stable kites on the market)

§          Safety leash on center line can go to harness instead of wrist (ie not in the way when spinning the bar after a loop etc)

No matter what sort of kite the following generalisations are true:

§          The smaller the kite the faster it flys (speed) and the faster it turns (bar pressure and radius of turn)

§          The higher the aspect ratio the easier it is to turn but it is less stable (more prone to luffing), more difficult to relaunch off the water and more likely to flip inside-out.

§          The smaller the bar the more effort required to turn the kite

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All prices subject to change without notice

Last updated 27 Mar 2001