Riding a mal on a kite is great fun. And you can do it in almost any conditions. I first tried it about 2002 and have been doing it regularly since then. If the wind is light (say 8 knots) you can ride while everyone else sits on the beach waiting for the wind to pick up.
Best advice is to ensure that before you power up the kite you have the nose of the board pointing pretty much straight downwind. Try to jump straight onto the board from a standing position in the water rather than resting in the water bum-down and heels on the board as you'd do on a regular surfboard, as this makes it more difficult -- the board will naturally want to edge and head upwind and because there's so much mass and inertia to overcome you'll usually just get pulled over the board and into the water and have to start over again. (Watch out for the fin and the sand)
Once you are planing downwind, then SLOWLY begin to cut upwind. If you turn too quickly you'll get pulled off the board.
Ride about midway along the board, sightly back of centre but not too far back. You can edge really hard once you get going and you will go upwind like a sailboat with all that rail under you.
Importantly, don't use a standard long ('Widowmaker") centre fin. It's too big for kiting and will create loads of drag and slow you down. I replace my usual centre fin with a much shorter 6" centre fin and keep the two small side fins and it works great.
Make sure you have plenty of wax and use the hardest wax you can buy or you'll find yourself pushing the wax off the board with you feet.
To reverse direction, plan ahead -- slow down and bring the kite around slowly and carve a WIDE arc to transition from heel side to toe side. Yes, you can ride toe side and it's pretty easy too. Same thing to switch back to heelside, but make sure you begin your turn before you get too close to the beach or you'll run out of water before you complete the turn.
It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it and loads of fun in light winds, yet I've kited on a 9'3" malibu in up to 20 knots on a 16 metre kite and still managed to hold an edge successfully.
well how do you think you would kite a long board? rig your lines reverse and fly your kite deflated and inside out? how would a longer board be any different to a shorter board.
surfingboye said.. well how do you think you would kite a long board? rig your lines reverse and fly your kite deflated and inside out? how would a longer board be any different to a shorter board.
