Waiting waiting waiting for the wind to come in sydney from a beginners point of view it is frustrating however got my hands on a north nugget hopefully this will expand the kites wind range question is do you have to have mad kite skills to get going in 10 to 12 knts on a 12m kite (had it fall out of the sky a couple of times will this damage the kite ?) Appreciate any input or tips
Light wind flying is a skill in itself beyond basic kiting, and as a newbie you'll be struggling below 20 knots.
Having said that, equipment and weight make a difference, and the nugget is a step in the right direction, although for most a directional board is more challenging than a twin tip.
A kite falling out of the sky and hitting the water won't generally damage it, but in light winds you're likely to have to self rescue, and there's the risk of drifting into something sharp. I've got repairs on one of my kites due to drifting into a groyne at Brighton in low wind.
At 90kg and reasonable light wind skills but no special equipment, I wait for the green arrows in Sydney.
looks like you started late march like me, hard times looking to wind gods for sure!
I might start surfing again, 20knot onshore on que as I leave work.
It actually hasn't been that bad. There have been plenty of Southerly days since the low season started. Down at Brighton/Kurnell you seem to get 1 to 2 days per week easily. You're covered in all directions down there (if you include Kurnell).
But yeah, not the best time to get into kiting.
It actually hasn't been that bad. There have been plenty of Southerly days since the low season started. Down at Brighton/Kurnell you seem to get 1 to 2 days per week easily. You're covered in all directions down there (if you include Kurnell).
But yeah, not the best time to get into kiting.
yeah Ive seen the green arrows always there for Kurnel seems to be the only place wind is getting in true.
Kurnell is an 1hr 40 drive for me on a low CBD traffic day.
Haha yer it always looks good on the forcast not as good when you get there though very patchy ie gusty or totally drops off !!!! also looking at buying a naish trip 12m as they are meant to fly in 6 knts plus ?
Well perhaps not green arrows but yellow ones. It's true though that it's easier to learn in stronger winds. Once you're more experienced, your personal wind range will automatically increase. As soon as it's 10 knots gusting 12 (so red arrows on Seabreeze), I'm out kiting and I'm not a lightweight. Yes you may just mow the lawn, but hey you're kiting and improving your light wind skills at the same time.
There is a lot to learn about kite control and although it's easy to make quick progress initially, the nuances of flying the kite right especially in light winds takes years to master. Add to that leg positioning on the board, amount of edging (angle to the wind), etc. Lots to learn, but lots of fun.
One more hint: if the wind is fickle, but you wanna head out, make sure you choose a tidal spot such as Dolls Point. If you time it right and go out in an incoming tide when it's Southerly, you will be surprised at what a difference it makes.
Hey kajo
What size kite are out on in red arrows also is it strutless ??
My experience...
13m or larger Strutless + foil
12m or larger foil kite + foil
You might get away with a big directional/fish surfboard or a TT door but you generally will not be able to travel upwind that well. With foil, you can travel all over the place.
Hey kajo
What size kite are out on in red arrows also is it strutless ??
No strutless kite, although I'm sure it helps. As BigTone said, your true lightwind equipment has to be a foil. It gets you down into the single digit wind speeds.
Size is relative as it depends on your weight mostly, also on the kite design and some other factors.
Yep its looking good richo all westerly though and I'm not aware of any spots that are great in westerly breeze on the south side of sydney town ??
Yeeeeew got going for like 200m and was stoked as a noob I was most pleased 15 knts of breeze and 12m and twin tip the wind came nw !!!!!!couldn't master riding goofy though kept rounding up wind to much ?
Yeeeeew got going for like 200m and was stoked as a noob I was most pleased 15 knts of breeze and 12m and twin tip the wind came nw !!!!!!couldn't master riding goofy though kept rounding up wind to much ?
I gather yr talking on a surfboard. Good stuff, I had a great day today as well. More good breeze ahead so hopefully the drought is broken. Snow due to start falling as well so I'm gonna be busy!
Haha na richo unfortunately I am talking about on my twin tip enjoying the learning
ok cool, I found once you start getting the longer runs it quickly gets more almost everytime, so yr not far off.
Yesterday In the morning had good runs on my 12 but wind quickly grew to an overpowered situation, all the guys out went in to down size kites but I had to release and SR to get back up wind which was tough walk of shame in the shallow water.
I moved to a new location as launch at that location was too small an area for me on my 9.
At the new location it seemed wind not coming through as well or had dropped but I rigged 9 anyway but need to start trusting my instinct a bit more as it wasn't enough to pull me out. Went in and checked wind stations and was definitely on the decrease everywhere so I put my 17 up and had some great runs, I started trying to link runs with a transition turn, but wind was fading by that time and I kept dropping into the water. Probs need to be quicker getting kite to 12 and back down the new direction.
Hopefully Ill get it next session!
What kites are you running richo ? Whats your 17m ?Just received my naish trip in the mail 12m stinging to fly it but looks like 10m weather in syd on the w end ssw 20kts