the 2008 TORQUE

cant beat a peter lynn venom
the bait is out and im ready to strike

"i said kites not doonas"

you seem to go upwind ok on a doona mtcan!!

waroo pro

north 07 rhino 10m

My kite goes upwind better than all the others, it's a...

Hold on, no it doesn't, it isn't even high aspect.

Hold on, which kite am I talking about, I have three?

Are bow kites better upwind, I've only got C kites?

Damn, I'm confused...

Laurie, I want more emoticons dammit, where's a little snoring one with 'z's coming out if it?...

a good rider will go upwind on any kite, better than an unskilled rider on the best upwind kite, if such a kite exists.

there doesn't seem to be a lot of course racing available to kiters to prove the point.

quote:

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Originally posted by greenleader

a good rider will go upwind on any kite, better than an unskilled rider on the best upwind kite, if such a kite exists.

there doesn't seem to be a lot of course racing available to kiters to prove the point.

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Yeah totally, and what is it that makes a kite go upwind - technically? I mean, is it the angle of which the kite can reach from the position of the rider and the wind?

And,

What's the limit to where a kite will be upwind of you and fall out of the sky? is that the same angle as if it flies too far into the wind at 12 o'clock? Then your board comes into play blah blah blah... sheez I could ask a zillion questions here! All I know is that if you can't go upwind, shake hands with 'The Walk of Shame!'

Later.

What makes a kite go upwind is how far forward it sits in the window - pretty simple really - all other variables being constant. Kites do vary wildly in their ability to do this.

There is usually an inverse relationship between upwind ability (read - advances very far forward in wind window) and stability - as the kite is that much closer to the overfly position - especially if you fly it straight over your head (a bad habit) or get bent out of shape in a jump (or mess up your kite redirect on landing)

Even models within any particular brand's range vary alot -for functional reasons.

beginner / intermediate kites tend to have fuller foils and sit back a little more to give stability and positional feedback to the kiter - as you get to advanced kites they SHOULD sacrifice stability -and its required drag -for upwind performance. Although there are quite a few kites on the market being claimed to be advanced that are totally draggy.

Thinking in 3d this also means a good upwind kite delivers rocket boost as it has a more vertical vector when jumping (rather than dragging you off downwind) - but once up there - probably has a little less hangtime - and requires better timing from from the rider to float the landing.

Speeaking from my experience i can get upwind ALOT easier on an Airush Reactor or Vapor than i can on a FLow or DNA-for the above mentioned reasons. The flow has a more pivotal turn (its sitting a little further back in the window which keeps more tension on the lines) while the reactor is an absolute rocket through the wind window due to its super slippery foil. some kites i have tried are absolute dogs to get upwind and -once you have experienced an efficient kite- this is very hard to tolerate - although a floaty board with lots of planing power ( like the Airush Exile at 47cm wide) certainly helps get a draggy kite upwind.

Forard sitting kites will often feel like they have no "grunt" becasue they advance so quickly to the window edge that the power is gone - these kites ned to be worked a little and require a more dynamic flying style of the rider.

quote:

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Originally posted by kusu

Haven't tried the ion, and probably won't due to it's limited presence around here.

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That is all going to change this year!!!!!!

From what ive tried it seems that C kites tend to move to the edge of the wind when riding. Bow kites tend to sit a bit further back in the window while riding. In high winds a C kite will be at the edge of the window with enough power to get you going so you can go upwind very easily. In low winds when trying to edge upwind C kites go to the edge of the window and you loose all power so you have to keep working the kite which favours downind travel. Bow kites in lighter wind dont go tot thege of the window while riding

Gotta be the ozone instinct. I fly a link, and my mate (20kg heavier) is on an ozone, and just trucks to windward. It is insane. Then when I ride it, it does the same thing. So its the kite, not the board or the rider.

It makes a huge difference to riding, because you are prepared to bust so many more moves when you know its not an issue ending up too far down the beach. He probably attempts twice as many moves in a back-and-forth run than I would, just because he has the water available to do it in.

no not page 2 shhhhizzz

All hail the return of the boy sage.


Grade 12 go for it.

Lots of famous and successful people left school early
Most used humility and hard work to achieve greatness