It's taken longer than I thought; but am the stage where I can get up and going on the board most times without face planting (downwind only - walk of shame is building up my quads!).

However, I seem to find that after the initial sequence (setup kite at 12, fly to 10 on opposite side, bar in, steer kite hard into powerzone, bar out a little, roll up onto board, point board towards kite lines, heelside edge slightly) that after about 10 metres or so of zipping along the surface of the water (and feeling invincible), I tend to lose board speed and sink.

There hasn't been enough wind to just park the kite (76kg, 10m Envy) so I need to work the kite a bit more; but I'm not sure exactly what and when to do this?

Is it just make sideways figure 8s ? I tried that and the kite stalls! Not enough wind or likely to be a more technical problem?

I'm on an F-one 135. When I sink , it's kind of straight down ie from the middle of the board ,not with either end sinking first.

Probably not enough wind today to keep going then. Other guys were on a 12 and a 14 (I think).

Maybe I need to buy a bigger kite (how to sneak that one past the better half is probably a bigger challenge than learning to kiteboard!)

I had the same thing. Could be a number of things:

1.) you're turning the board too far up wind and choking the power out of the kite (when you do this, the kite races to the edge of the wind window, almost at 90 degrees to the wind and doesn't have any power).

2.) you could be chocking the kite of power by sheeting in too much (as in 1)

3.) you could be understandably too timid to dive the kite deep enough into the window. Try a few deliberate 'false water starts' to get used to diving the kite deeper. By this I mean, instead of having the kite at 12, have it at 1 or 2. Dive the kite in a similar way you're doing, but because you start further 'to the right', the kite is lower as it passes too the left. When you're trying these, do NOT sheet in (pull the bar in). Just get used to flying the kite in this manor. So from 2, dive it down and back up. Set yourself up again, and try again. Once you've got the hang, try giving it a little pull on the bar and you should get up going with less bar movement when you start at 2 than at 12.

Rails said..


Riding downwind is actually one of the hardest skills to learn because you have to actively keep wind in your kite
Getting pulled downwind is easy
Sounds like you are pointing too much downwind in light winds
Without appropriate resistance the kite will stall
Need much more heelside edge to build this resistance and fill your sail

Exactly my thought

''working the kite'' could be a good idea in lighter winds but only once you build up apparent wind i.e. edging against the kite with speed.

It doesn't sound like you are at this stage yet in light winds, so to create apparent wind you need solid speed during the water start (hard power stroke), obviously harder to do this in lighter winds. You then must begin to edge the board progressively just before your speed start to decrease (otherwise you sink).

Edge too much or too soon and it doesn't work. Edge too late or not enough and it doesn't work either.

Pull the bar in too much and it chokes your kite, Push the bar out too far and you don't have enough.

Getting a bigger kite or bigger board are both good ideas as well but contrary to popular belief you are not wasting your time in lighter winds. As long as you got a certain minimum of wind and you persist with this exercise, you should eventually be able to cruise with your board.

I'm not saying this is fun or easy but this is how you develop the correct timing and coordination between your kite and board skills. The payoff is awesome for the future and if you keep at it you just might find yourself enjoying more sessions on the same kite while others next to you have to stop and change kite size.

With the right technique and skills many kiters out there could achieve the exact same results with 2m less in kite sizes and sometimes much more than that and that's because they are used to being ''well powered'' not to say ''overpowered'' all the time since the beginning and never bothered practicing in lighter winds. Smaller kites are much more fun to fly and cheaper as well.

Good luck

Christian

To get more power from your kite while riding you need to fly the kite from 12 to 3 or 12 to 9
The kite will give you more power the bigger the dive of the kite and the speed in which you turn the kite. The best way to get the kite to turn fast is to sheet in as the kites turning and sheet out as the kites flying back up to 12 or down to 9 or 3. If you're doing this and still sinking you might be flying the kite to high and stopping or there's just not enough wind. Also don't edge to hard as this will kill your speed. Other wise just buy a bigger kite

its all down to experience... u will start learning things out by yourself by spending more time on the water than on the forums lol

Some excellent feedback for you here in these replies.

You are at that stage where the oversized board is still an advantage. It used to be that we all spent our time on a bigger board for quite a while before progressing to a size to suit our weight. That was when kites took way longer to get dialed than they do these days. Its now a very short time that having a big board to stand on while you fly the kite is a benefit so many go straight to the 'right size' board. At 72kg a 135 isnt much bigger than the correct size for your weight. For mine:
1) See if you can beg, borrow or steal (well perhaps not steal) a big board from somewhere - say 145 or bigger - for a few sessions.
2) Never discount the value of a body drag session. If you are struggling to stay up there is still plenty of wind for a body drag. As long as you are moving behind your kite you are practicing & learning kite skill - which is what its all about. AND you are not wasting time flailing around re-starting.
We teach our students to work towards heading in a chosen direction with as little fast/slow action as possible. Aim for the feeling of being dragged at a constant speed - as in being towed behind a boat. You wont ever get to that but the smoother the pull you can achieve the better the kite skill is that is being applied.
3) Spend 10 to 20 hrs on a trainer kite. Nothing will improve basic skill with the kite faster than a few hrs on a trainer. Hint - do it 2 hands; 1 hand & eyes closed.

And I get the feeling you may not be being aggressive enough with the kite. Over analysing (as snalberski suggests) will do this everytime.
Go hard - you will get there faster.

bfg said..

It's taken longer than I thought; but am the stage where I can get up and going on the board most times without face planting (downwind only - walk of shame is building up my quads!).

However, I seem to find that after the initial sequence (setup kite at 12, fly to 10 on opposite side, bar in, steer kite hard into powerzone, bar out a little, roll up onto board, point board towards kite lines, heelside edge slightly) that after about 10 metres or so of zipping along the surface of the water (and feeling invincible), I tend to lose board speed and sink.

There hasn't been enough wind to just park the kite (76kg, 10m Envy) so I need to work the kite a bit more; but I'm not sure exactly what and when to do this?

Is it just make sideways figure 8s ? I tried that and the kite stalls! Not enough wind or likely to be a more technical problem?

Its riding a bike..

When you first learn to ride a bike as you begin to fall you steer in that direction this keep momentum after a while this becomes a natural instinct

As with kiting, when you feel the momentum slowing simply turn downwind, the kite goes back into the wind window and the board flattens out needing less power
after a while you get to know where the balance is?. it just like riding a bike?

ps please don't kite on the bike paths