Whatsup guys

Just thought I'd do an intro, Etienne here, from Cape Town, SA, been doing mx for most of my 21 years on this planet, looking to catch air in a different way now!

Got amped to get the kite thing going, been doing it for 3 weeks now, did the full course with Cabrinha here in CPT, first time on the water this past weekend, super stoked on it so nice, just burnt my eyes to a crisp, looking forward to getting out there again this weekend.

Equipped myself with a Torch 7/9 and Naish board, always on the lookout for cool accessories and stuff though.

Just keen to get better now and spend weekends at the beach here!

Thanks man, yeah been reading most of the thread picked up lots, surprised at how nice the folks here are compared to other online forums.

Ah flip, see I wish I knew this before my purchase! But no use crying about it now, I want to go the freestyle route, and have been learning with a Cab switchblade 7/9/12 got up and riding both ways on the 3rd kite lesson so hopefully I won't struggle too badly :o

Ed517 said..

Ah flip, see I wish I knew this before my purchase! But no use crying about it now, I want to go the freestyle route, and have been learning with a Cab switchblade 7/9/12 got up and riding both ways on the 3rd kite lesson so hopefully I won't struggle too badly :o

add a few seasons and youll be ready for your torch. hate to tell you but that thing is a fast technical machine. but hay if it all works out you managed to skip a step.

Thanks for the tips guys, I still need to ad a 12 to my collection, so will look at a better shape for that one. Which one would that be in the Cab or Naish range?

Ed517 said..

Thanks for the tips guys, I still need to ad a 12 to my collection, so will look at a better shape for that one. Which one would that be in the Cab or Naish range?

Cabrinha Switchblade or Airush Lithium are both good options.

First day out on my own today, and first time using my own gear.

...lesson leant regarding C kites, struggled badly at the start, the kite kept flopping itself inside out, crashing and then it was completely impossible to relaunch. Compared to the Cab's I trained on where a tug of the line sent it back, I find the Naish very difficult. So after two crash and recovers, I just body dragged to get used to it, I deflated the kites, went for lunch and got some motivation going again, went back out and the wind picked up a lot now compared to very little wind the morn, I went out on the 9 again and holy crap what a difference with more wind. I was up and going, both ways etc. I still sink, or wipe out over the board now and then, but I spent a lot of hours in the water today and gained so much experiece, I arrived at 9am, and by 6pm I was edging upwind on both sides, not really gaining that much distance, but importantly not losing distance. So amped to get out again tomorrow!!

Still working on the body positing, read somewhere here about pushing your hips towards the harness, which helps, but it's something to get used to.

Def gonna get a 12 though, in a non-C kite shape.