No I think it means not getting bittch whipped when you get it slightly wrong.

Safer gear is not a bad thing

Ps

I am a poley, so my POV may not carry much relevance

Oh look .....Microwave ovens !!!!!!!!!!! OMG surely that will be the demise of cooking skills !!!!!!!?????

dave...... said...

take out a big kite, depower it in big winds, bog squat, pull the trigger and wow you're jumping. Everyone keeps asking all the guys who are jumping twice as high on kites half their size whats the secret...
Have the bow/hybrid kites made it so easy that being exact with the kite doesnt matter?

G'day Dave

This topic rears its ugly head less frequently these days as more and more people have turned to bow/hybrid/high depower kite designs, but it still deserves an answer. More for the people who are reading but who don't post, and who are perhaps considering getting into the sport.

Bow/hybrid/high depower Kites with larger wind ranges are better for all users, who are open minded enough to use these kites.
Bow/hybrid/high depower Kites with drop the bar 95% depower are better for all users, who choose to use that style of kite.
Not all bow/hybrid/high depower kites have the same amount of "drop the bar" depower, some retain more power when the bar is dropped.

The skill required to fly these bow/hybrid/high depower kites is actually greater, than the skill required to fly C kites. (flame suit on)
This is because the flyer needs to control sheeting as well as steering, while on older style C's there is no depower at the bar. Adjusting the bar position for comfortable riding on a C kite is not depower, it is trimming.

So the answer is no, kite flying skills are actually on the increase, so is inherent safety.

A kiter still needs good skills to jump large, and land those jumps without getting their ass handed to them.

Bow/hybrid/high depower kites almost all have larger projected or power developing areas than C kites, and allow the rider greater control over than power, so riders can actually jump bigger with bow/hybrid/high depower because of the kite design itself and the ease with which those kite designs allow the rider greater control.

Kite designers have engineered awesome turn rates and turn radius into todays latest bow/hybrid/high depower kites, and when trimmed by the rider on the fly they just rip upwind compared to a C kite too.

Some people still love to drive cars with carbys, but they are dinosaurs, and do not have the power and performance that meachanical or EFI fuel injection can deliver, carby cars also waste fuel big time in comparison to FI.

Get with the times!! :-)

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

PS - Forgot to mention the ridiculously easy and reliable relaunch of most bow/hybrid/high depower kites, compared to the effort required to relaunch C's, in most LE down situations!!

RECORDS - REEL TO REEL - TAPES - CD'S - MP3

FILM - BETA - VHS - DVD - BLURAY


JUST A FEW MORE EXAMPLES OF PROGRESSION

dave...... said...

take out a big kite, depower it in big winds, bog squat, pull the trigger and wow you're jumping. Everyone keeps asking all the guys who are jumping twice as high on kites half their size whats the secret...
Have the bow/hybrid kites made it so easy that being exact with the kite doesnt matter?

I don't think jumping big on diff size kites has much to do with skill . in 20 knots its easier to jump high on a 9 or 7 meter than on a 12 due to the ability to load up and pop and the faster flying ability of the kite when sending it. with my skill level or lack of.. I find the larger flat kites float longer but the smaller flat kite goes higher. to get huge on an overpowered kite the trick I find is to ramp off a wave.

anyhow ultimately its not about how big you go but how you land ..or crash.

I have to agree with Darren and the rest, edgeing skills have been lost and begginers are takeing kites out way above the windrange they were desgined for(eg. useing the "safety depower" to ride.)

Also c-kites are not extinct, fly a 2008 model c-kite(preferably full c-kite, with square wingtip and the ability to be ridden on 4-lines) and you will see what I mean,

Thanks
Matt

PS Last years big-air comp. showed that c-kites can still jump just as high as hybrid kites.

No need to reply to your opinoin, stevie, as kite hard has said it all. Over here its been 20-30 knots. Mate I was on a bow, a 7. Things like getting an edge, gaining apparent wind through using the kite's full potential cant be done on a 12m bow.
A kite flys efficiently with an angle of attack between about 15-25 degrees. In strong winds a big kite has more drag, wont be trimmed properly and therefore actually wont fly as fast as when used in the winds it was designed for.
Bow kites do get riders progressing from beginner- intermediate kiters quickly but because of the ease of flying, can halt the progression of a rider.
"The skill required to fly these bow/hybrid/high depower kites is actually greater, than the skill required to fly C kites. (flame suit on)
This is because the flyer needs to control sheeting as well as steering, while on older style C's there is no depower at the bar".
Flame suit required steve, when teaching a beginner you tell then to "rest your hands on the bar", put the kite in the wrong position and if teaching correctly the student will let go. What used to happen with a C kite... The intimidation factor is gone.

Lighten up fellas! The number of negative votes given to Jimmyz because of this comment just states that the large proportion of you are bow-kiters and offended at being told it's not really kiting....

Each to their own kite, style of kiting and location!

Just KITE woohooo

Jimmyz said...

I think maybe it is time to move over to a bow kite then?

Just means that some people dont have to buy 2 kites for a given wind range

Bowkites also have this neat little red button... it says "push to jump" and woo, it flys just to the right spot and back... it even makes your board land under your feet for you

spot on dave....
whats going on here,usually I mention the evil word "foil" and I get flamed real quick.

Steve,you can have your flame suit back,1 question though steve,why is it hot pink and crutchlesslol

For me bow kites (SLE's) are not about safety, its about having a smaller quicker kite to get the same power. I'm 110kg, and i used to ride a '06 16m boxer it was horribly slow in the air. This would get me riding in about 15kt but i couldn't ride it in more the 18/19kt as i was waay to powered. going from that to a 13m waroo allowed me to kite from 13/14 - 25/26 kt. I've just sold this and am going to buy 2 f-one bandits (9m/13m) this year (more C-shape but i can afford the second kite this year.) which hopefully will range me from 13kt right up to 30kt.

G.

ah, here we go... a real mans kite [read powerful] for sale, great condition only $400 for either 8m or 13m, fifth line bar $50 extra or both for $800

foils absorb(spelling?)the gusts a hell of a lot more though

Power stearing and automatic transmission killed driving skills, spell checks killed spelling skills, calculators killed math skills, bows killed kite skills, did I miss anything?

Stand at brighton beach any day and we see 20 people out on the water, 10 of whom are attepmting jumps, 2 of those ten are actually landing the jumps nicely, so i don't think its classed as a decent jump unless u land it.

Throwing in a kite loop is fun too although it does get messy when done wrong

going off topic, its about beginners who because of the kites forgiving nature don't learn to edge against real power *insert example* and have a weakness that carries through to when they are out in legit conditions but cant handle when they are over powered an effectively riding a C kite as its lost its depower ability.