What's your strategy when handling the following 2 senarios :

1. When you hare heading out -> towards the waves, and a wave you are approaching is about to break. You want to get past the wave, not ride it.

-> I find that when I go over the wave, ie just over the lip, I am getting air - flying downwind, and landing in the water with no power. Most of the time I also swing around in the air - and dont land well.
Occasionally I am landing okay - ie when I am able to keep my body composure., - but hard , but also losing power. What am I doing wrong - or should I be doing something else?

2. You are riding towards the shore, and a wave has already broken and coming up behind you.

wave ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
direction of travel ->

you are riding upwind......

How do you get over the wave - without being caught up in the white mushy stuff. which is quite big .

any other tips for riding in wavey conditions?

thx

Well for no. 1., I'm a total noob, but I've only ever ridden in very choppy water.

I found the trick usually is to try edge before hitting the wave and keeping your kite low, that way I find that tension remains in the lines and once you get over the wave you are still powered up enough to not sink. As I go up the wave I usually take the kite a bit higher into the air just so I get pulled up the wave a bit, once I have passed the lip I dive the kite a little (depending on windspeed) and point with my board a little more downwind so that I can get back to speed to edge again, also diving the kite downwards reduces the likelihood of an unintentional jump.

Generally I also find that putting a bit more pressure on the back foot than normal also helps climb the face of the wave without the nose of the board digging in and slowing you down.

As for no.2 I am yet to figure that one out, but I also find that pointing the board a little more in the direction of the whitewash's travel (or straight into it if you can) and keeping a compact posture prevents me from being knocked over backwards from the whitewash taking out my legs and also minimising the area that the waves has to hit you. I've thought that maybe if you do an s movement with your kite higher up then your kite may prevent you from falling over backwards when the wash hits your legs, I've managed that once or twice only, but if you got good at it Im sure it may help a lot.

Generally this is what I try to do, it works most of the time... I'm sure there is heaps of other advice from more experienced kiters though.

WdaF is a "threeo?'

The first scenario is one that you have to learn when riding strapless and one that I only mastered when riding strapless for the first time.

As you are going up the face, straighten your board up down the line and downwind thus travelling diagonally over the top of the wave and down the other side

Just started on a strapless board, and i find if the wave is just breaking i push down on my front foot, and nosedive the board through the wave, kinda like a duckdive, then brace the body and power through the wave.
I guess it only works when the waves are smaller. But it seems to work half the time, the other half i get hammered by the wave, and my baord ends up on the shore.Practise me thinks.

Bust a downloop as you hit the lip.....No more slack lines.
Continue, laughing manically

Yeah, duck diving is the way to go. Hold your breath and just try to ride the whole way out whilst still under water. Also, always keep your kite between 11 and 1 o'clock whilst in the break zone. That way you take up as much room as possible. If someone is riding a wave in you should never turn around and get out of their way, you should slow down and put your kite at 12 o'clock, thereby ruining the wave for the guy coming in. Also, if you are in the water or on the beach having a break, also keep your kite at 12 o'clock and whatever you do don't ever consider that some one else may be wanting to actually ride a wave. Always attempt to ride down the line on a twin tip, it works really well. If you intend to just cruise in and out then you should always try to do it at the same peak where other guys are trying to actually utilise the waves to have fun. If possible crash your kite near children or the elderly and make sure you wear a helmet, life vest and seat harness. Lastly, don't worry learning the basics on flat water, just pump up and hit the open beaches.

mark, I'll show you on friday at about 6am if your keen I'll try to remember to txt ya when I'm on my way down

it helps to watch the big waves and learn how they are breaking, if I see a big section i need to get over and its at the point of breaking usually pulling in the bar and powering off downwind 10 or 20 meters will avoid the section and you can ride up and over a non breaking bit. its also good to control your speed and pick a good line, sometimes edgeing real hard to slow and down and going upwind of a breaking secion will work and the slower you go over the less air you'll get. takes practise and l hate to say it learning to paddle out a surfboard will help you pick good lines and watch waves and how they break. I hardly ever watch direct in front of me, I'm looking up and down the line watching for gaps in the surf to get out or waves peaking up to catch.

www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=6843

I think its ok to run away from these ones tho!

JEFFERSON said...

Yeah, duck diving is the way to go. Hold your breath and just try to ride the whole way out whilst still under water. Also, always keep your kite between 11 and 1 o'clock whilst in the break zone. That way you take up as much room as possible. If someone is riding a wave in you should never turn around and get out of their way, you should slow down and put your kite at 12 o'clock, thereby ruining the wave for the guy coming in. Also, if you are in the water or on the beach having a break, also keep your kite at 12 o'clock and whatever you do don't ever consider that some one else may be wanting to actually ride a wave. Always attempt to ride down the line on a twin tip, it works really well. If you intend to just cruise in and out then you should always try to do it at the same peak where other guys are trying to actually utilise the waves to have fun. If possible crash your kite near children or the elderly and make sure you wear a helmet, life vest and seat harness. Lastly, don't worry learning the basics on flat water, just pump up and hit the open beaches.

Exactly the advice I'd like to give!