QLD
125 posts
Went for my first down winder today and really struggled keeping up with the rest of the guy’s .My main problem was not being able to lose a lot of ground quickly. It made it hard to ride the waves also as I felt uncomfortable heading directly down wind and also maintaining tension in the lines. Basically every thing felt different in the surf .I mainly ride in choppy shallow water and want to improve my skills as best I can before going back out in the surf. I’m going to practice going downwind quickly and comfortably and try to work out where to best position the kite to achieve this .Any advice, tips, tricks would be appreciated
WA
266 posts
Learn to downloop the kite efficiently riding almost directly downwind as well as in your turns. This will help you lose alot of ground as well as keep tension in the lines. It will also improve your wave riding as you cannot always just park the kite and ride the wave...
WA
1140 posts
Hahahahaah!
This is a new one!
After 999,000 posts about how to go upwind !
I found the trick is to relax,put your kite about eleven o'clock,watch the kite.
Take it slow,and ride towards the kite. You will soon get the feel for it.As soon as you feel there is no power in the kite,just give a little edge.
If you keep the kite low and ride towards it,it will depower and luff.
QLD
4107 posts
Alternatively, you could try putting the kite in the normal riding position and going downwind at about 45 degrees off the wind direction. You can then work up some speed and use that to keep up.
QLD
1245 posts
just keep switiching towside to heelside whilst you are continually changing the direction left to right of your kite. Alternatively you can just kiteloop a few turns one way then a few turns the other way.
