I hit Pinnaroo at 3pm yesterday, had my 11m with me, as soon as I launched I knew it would be a bit of a challenge to keep in the air, it was hard to keep at 12 and seemed to fall back a lot till it caught the wind.

But I relish a challenge and figured it'd be good practice flying in low winds, besides there were a heap of guys on 10's getting about.

Anyway, after a bit of a run, then a long swim and self rescue later I was busy untangling my lines and pondering the question;

How did you guys get going and keep going on your 10m kites when I absolutely struggled with my 11??
No one seemed to be sining their kites, I would have thought the 11 would have been fine when there were 10's out.

Any tips/hints for what I could have done wrong?

I definitely need to increase my time on the water, just trying to figure out what I could have done wrong.

Admittedly the wind was at the bottom end of the specified range for my kite, and the way it was behaving seemed like it was struggling to catch enough wind to stay up.

I can edge ok and can tack up wind, my transitions are still a way from being consistent, so I lose ground sinking down to change direction and mostly still do the walk of shame.

It just seemed that the kite didn't want to fly yesterday in the given winds, which I thought was strange as there were guys on 10's riding twinnies.

I had the kite fully 'powered' with the trim straps and had the appropriate pigtail knot selected.

I've not had the same trouble with the same kite in winds that are 4-5 knots above the recommended bottom limit that is specified for the kite.

Could it be that the kite is just too heavy for it's recommended bottom end?

I've had a lot of fun on this kite, but it always seems it needs higher winds than I would have thought.

TurtleHunter said...
Only time on the water will fix

Indeed, I've never wanted to go on the dole until I started kiting

^^^^ Bturkey Boy is right on the money.... Often people choke their kites in light winds causing it to backstall and drop out of the sky. By slightly depowering the kite you will find it will FLY a lot smoother. You can then begin to sine the kite and build up apparent wind and speed. Once at speed you can usually set the kite.

To water start in the light winds it helps to send the kite in the opposite direction to which you want to go but more above your head then stand up as the kite lifts you at the same time start bringing the kite back in the direction you wish to go. That way the kite is coming into the power zone whilst you at standing as opposed to diving your kite then standing up which means your kite is climbing and has less power.

Perfecting this water start makes a massive difference when kiting in light winds.

I'm always amazed at the kite flying skills of the experienced, big help to if you have a twin tip the size of a small door.

Whats a bturkey? a birthday turkey?, I thought it was eaten at chrissy time!

Im from the DNA, the national dyslexic's association, when I type after a few wines

and totally right mate, perfect trim is the key, if the light air cant flow through the canopy, your stuffed.

^^^^ Ha, your spot on again with the Sem Savigno Blanc, Only the All Black stuff for me. Love the joke.

There a guy going into a brothel, a guy coming out, a guy having a piss in the toilet, and a guy doing the business? What are their Nationalilities?

Guy going in, Russian, A guy leaving Finish,A guy having a wee, European, and the guy with the girl Himalayn.

And there all coming to Perth to kitesurf.

Cheers for the advice guys

Kite- 11m Waroo 2010
Board- 135x40 Armada 2010
Ballast 89kg


I'm pretty sure it must be just down to my time putting it all in to practice in the lighter winds.
I don't have the same trouble with higher wind speeds, apart from the obvious problems being a relative noob

I understand the apparent wind and picked up the good word on here before about the correct sheeting on the down and upstrokes; have found that really helpful to know and have put it to good practice.
Though I'm sure on the downstroke it helps me more to sheet out and sheet in on the upstroke?
I found when I was practicing my water starts, sheeting in too much on the down stroke choked all the power out of the kite and sheeting in on the upstroke gave more power than sheeting out on the upstroke.
I use the same technique if I want to boost the speed running on a tack.
Is it different for lighter winds?

It's the lighter winds that is causing me the grief, so I guess experience will set me right.
I didn't have a problem water starting yesterday, but keeping the speed up was a struggle, so it's obviously about my technique needing work.

Just wanted to check if there could be something else about the kite.
Launching the kite, it was a bit of an effort to get it up to 12 o'clock and keep it there, even though I had the kite fully powered via the trim straps, I could pull the bar in to the chicken loop and wasn't about to get lifted.
I know not to sheet in the kite too much, another good tip from here, but I had to sheet in a certain amount, lest the kite started wanting to fly right up to the edge of the window at 12, then slip backwards untill it caught enough wind to stop it falling back more.

So it wasn't just the troubles on the water- which is definitely my lack of light wind practice, but standing on the beach with it was a struggle to keep it up too, which is why I was questioning how the 10s were going nicley, but my larger 11 wasn't, in theory it should need less wind to stay up, right?
I did try depowering with the trim straps on the beach, but it made it harder to keep the kite in the sky.


P.S.- I appreciate the advice, don't take my long winded explainations as me trying to say I know everything, I clearly don't, just trying to convey my understanding of what I'm doing & why so you can tell if I'm incorrect or not.

Keep the good advice coming guys


P.P.S- I prefer a nice spicy shiraz personally

KIT33R said...

I notice your board is 135x40. Sometimes a bigger board (145 - 150) makes the difference between staying up wind walking the beach. On top of all the other advice a light wind board will last you years and get you out there when others are sitting around.

My main cause of doing the walk, is that I haven't mastered transitions yet. I've managed to knock out a handful of them, but I'm still a little way from being consistent.
Having said that, a lightwind board would be nice too, I'm all for aquiring new gear

Indeed, it's all about finding the right balance.
And practice finding it.

dave...... said...

The reason you sheet out on the upstroke for light winds as your kite is fighting gravity as well, on the down stroke its the opposite, it will keep your kite flying fast and enable you to do smoother signing at the top of your stroke!

The board is great for light winds, not a lot of rocker and a good size for your weight. The Waroo being a full delta kite can stall a bit in fully light winds, hence the above advice.

Ah, ok, will give that a go next time.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the board, feels pretty comfy to ride and it's so light.

I see, deltas can have that tendancy eh, good to know.

cheers