Hello all, I had no idea how dangerous winter weather can be... check this thread for suitable warning and advice.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Winter-warning-for-new-kitesurfers/

remo81 said...
The windsurfers are man enough to go out in it!!!

lol. I'l bite.

I windsurfed for many winters, and got caught in squalls with a small 4.0m sail I couldn't even waterstart without it getting ripped out of my hands.

Fun days .. but never even got close to fearing for my life because of strong wind. Excited yes, afraid, no.

Winter kitesurfing .. crikey. I've had a few near death experiences from dodgy launch/landings .. it's a far more perilous sport. People die.

Out of control with an overpowered kite is a life threatening experience. You can't ditch/depower a kite as easy as you can a windsurfing sail.

If you're new to the sport, rethink self launching/landing if the sand is stinging your ankles.

And consider that when you return to land, it may be twice the wind speed you went out in .. can your buddy land you?

Will they be available .. what if they got blown downwind & can't return to help?

Can you self land in gusty rainy weather, if an emergency demanded it?

Kite to kite tommorrow.

remo81 said...
Hey Laurie,

I T-Bag as well as pole.

Yer, he does Laurie. U will quite often see him out at wello wearing polka dot shorts over his wettie and boosting over all the

poley's masts while using the swimmers as kickers, but hey the kid's love it

SaltySinus said...

remo81 said...
The windsurfers are man enough to go out in it!!!

It's not about being 'manly' enough... it's about being able to change the angle of attack into the wind. As a kiter,you have limited options / range to change the angle your sail hits the wind. Pole dancers can and if all else fails, the can hop off their sledge and let their sail lie flat.

I have this thing on my Ozone Cats, it's called a safety release. Does pretty much the same thing as letting go of a sail.
Not sure what kites ur running??

2 kite weather.
Storm kite pumped up ready to go on the beach, watch for the extra whitecaps headed your way,
then head in change kites and you haven't missed a beat. trick is to take the storm kite in straight
away when you feel the wind dropping again.
I learned to kite during winter and this is what an ol salt showed me.
Got caught out with the big kite up once. You learn pretty fast not to make the same mistake twice in these conditions.

I been learning this winter in se qld (westerlies, limited safe kitespots), it really makes you keen for reliable winds, I launch by myself but ask someone if conditions are intimidating me for some reason, and I use the release very often (release to one powerline is the ****) it reassures me I can get the situation under control. Coming from a surf background theres lots to learn in kiting my brother still says "theres wind cant you just launch it down the beach" I dont want to need help or end up on the news ey

never get someone who has no idea how to launch a kite to give you a launch. even after showing how to hold the kite and tell them not to move. better off learning to self launch/land or use a tether so the onus is on you