Category: Mod 3 – Riding and Beyond

Once you are comfortable with your 1st rides what will happen naturally is that you start to transfer weight to your back foot. This is a natural process as people naturally want to engage the edge to give the board some more stability and it is in fact a much more comfortable riding position. If you are doing this and constantly stalling i.e. sinking back into the water it means you simply don’t have enough power in the kite at that moment as you engage the edge and so are braking the board too much and stalling. Play with this this is something that will come naturally rather than thinking about it. As you learn how much power is coming through the kite you will naturally start to transfer that power through your back heels into the board and that will start to turn the board up wind. There are however some things we can do to help the process along the way.

The 1st one is to really start looking where you are going. To start with you will be focused entirely on the kite but as soon as you feel you are able start to transfer your attention away from the kite and look upwind at the point you want to arrive at you’ll start to nice results. By looking at our destination what happens is you start to open up your shoulders and hips, much like on a snowboard. 

Try it now, stand up now in front of the computer with your legs spread shoulder width apart shoulders facing forward. Now turn your head to the right and let your shoulders follow, notice where the weight is transferred to. If you’ve done it correctly and opened up your shoulders and hips you should notice that your left heel is now much more firmly planted on the ground and the weight has transferred from your right foot into this left heel. This is exactly the effect we are looking for by looking for. To transfer enough weight onto that backheel thereby engaging the edge and starting to drive ourselves up wind.

Shag don’t Shit

The other thing we need to start thinking about at this stage is pushing forward with the hips. This is where you may want to start considering riding in a waist harness. Seat harnesses are great while you are learning as they keep the spreader bar down and well away from your rib cage which is exactly what we want. As we start to ride seat harnesses  tend to allow you to sit down in the seat harness to hold down the power of the kite adopting the classic “Shitting Position,” this is counter-productive at this point. 

What we want is for you to push your hips forward and throw your head backwards off the back of the board in a shagging position. With a waist harness if you drop into this shitting position the harness will rise up under your armpits and be very uncomfortable (and more importantly look very uncool). For that reason I would recommend you to invest in a waist harness which will regulate your riding style, in that if you feel the waist high rise up round your armpits you know you’re doing it wrong. You should be pushing your hips forward to the point where the kite is almost pulling the waist harness down but certainly keeping in position around your waist.

The last thing we want to start thinking about at this point is dealing with waves. Waves are a bugger to the beginner. Especially the white water which is just a wall of water intent on sweeping your board out from under your ferret and dumping you unceremoniously back on the beach.  

If at all possible aim for the green, unbroken wave as is much easier to navigate and its worth losing a bit of ground downwind to find a nice unbroken patch of water to cross at. This I appreciate is not always possible or easy. 

If you have to cross the white water the best way to do it is as directly as possible. Angle your board to point directly into the wave if possible. As you approach the white water raise the kite and raise your foot and leg to accept the wave, let the white water pass under your board and as you exit the wave drop the kite hard and point the board slightly downwind again. The exit from the wave is as important as the entrance. 

All that white foamy water behind the wave is heavily aerated. This means it doesn’t have much buoyancy and you often feel yourself being sucked down behind the wave. We need to get off this water as quickly as possible so drop the kite and get out there ASAP!

Another top tip when dealing with waves is to keep your knees bent as much as possible that way you can absorb as much of the power of the way through your legs as you can.

Okay, so you’re just about getting up on the board and starting to ride for at least a second or 2 what we need to do now is start consolidating this into longer rides.

There are probably several errors you’re making at this stage. The first is not pointing the board far enough downwind. The second is pulling the bar in as you rise out of the water and thus stalling the kite at the bottom of the window. To alleviate these problems we need to look at the power stroke itself. If you look at guys who are good riders as they rise from the water during the waterstart they do so slowly and very gracefully barely moving their actual body as they do. 

Most people when they start to learn to water start send the kite rapidly through the window and come up like they’ve been shot out of a canon. What we need to do here is make the power stroke deeper, slower and smoother. Have a look at how these better riders fly the kite when the water starting and translate that into your own riding.

Once you get to grips with this slower power stroke you will find you have an awful lot more time to think about what is going on as you’re coming out of the water. Use this time to ensure your board is pointing at the kite (ie straight down the line made by the lines). That way the kite lines, the board and the kite should all be aligned and the pull all travelling in the same direction.

Most people will naturally at this point, want to put weight on the back foot and start to edge the board. At this stage of riding this will lead to the board starting to skid under you as you attempt to engage the edge without sufficient control of the kite and its power. Doing this with your body in the incorrect position means that the edge does not engage sufficiently to start driving you upwind. 

To counteract this we need to keep a little bit of weight on the front foot to keep the board pointed downwind…I would suggest at least 45°. This will be an uncomfortable position I’m afraid. By not engaging the rail and riding the board flat you will feel every little lump and bump on the water but you need to get comfortable with the power from the kite and the control of the board before we start to in play with the edge and look at riding upwind.

The easiest way of maintaining this downwind riding is to keep your knees bent. That way your legs act as shock absorbers as you ride out the waves. This also keeps your centre of gravity much lower so you are better able to deal with gusts of wind and waves on the water.

The other main mistake people make at this point is pulling the bar in too much and holding it there as they rise out of the water. Once the kite reaches the bottom of the power stroke if the bar is held in it will simply stall the kite in this position and the rider will fall back into the water. 

What we need to do here is to send the kite back up to the top of the window and then bring it back down again to create that forward momentum. To achieve this as the kite reaches the bottom of the window squeeze the bar out (think clutch on a car for this squeeze) and steer the kite upwards making sure you don’t go too high. If the kite reaches the zenith (or the 12 o’clock position) you will be pulled upwards onto your toes and generally over the front of the board. If not enough power has been generated you’ll simply drop back into the water. So keep the kite on the side of the window in the direction that you want to travel.

The best way to think of what you do with the bar once you actually out of the water and trying to maintain you riding is as kung fu rather than boxing. Many people when they first rise out of the water frantically work the bar left and right in what looks like a series of very quick jab motions. Think instead of doing slow but controlled kung fu punches just like Bruce Lee. That way the kite will move slowly down in a nice large sine wave pattern and you will find it much easier to control your speed and direction.

[vimeo height=”315″ width=”560″]http://vimeo.com/61011595[/vimeo]

Onto the water start. Now we’ve taking care of the kite (hopefully), it’s time to look at the board. As you rise out of the water you want to point to the board in the direction of the kite. What this effectively means is that the board is now offering no resistance to the kite, and your direction of travel should be exactly the same as the direction that the pull is coming from in the kite. This means you can start to ride albeit downwind, without needing tons of power in the kite. Normally speaking this will mean that the board is pointing roughly 45 degrees downwind as you rise up from the water but it could be as far round as 90 degrees.

It is a commonly held belief (erroneous in this case) that good kite surfers start to ride with their pointing across or even up wind. All kite surfers, irrespective of level, start to ride with the board pointing downwind. There is simply no other way to do it. What happens is that very quickly the better kite surfers transfer their weight turning the board as they do thus giving the appearance that they are coming out of the water already riding across or up wind.

There are several ways to achieve this pointing of the board downwind. The best way that I have found is to think of pulling your back leg further in towards your bum as you rise out of the water. This naturally angles the board to 45° and keeps your knees bent. Many people talk about straightening the front leg as you come out of the water and, while this works, we have found it tends to lead to people coming up with straight legs which leaves them with very little counterbalance and most people end up plopping straight over the front of the board.

During this stage you may often think you are pushing the border around to 45° whereas in reality the board is staying perpendicular to the wind. If you experience the sensation of the boards skidding sideways across the surface of the water with no grip it is most certainly the case. A good method to attempt to eradicate this habit is to pick spots that are at least 45° downwind of you before you start and ensure the board is aiming at them as you come out of the water, or look at angle of any chop and ensure your hitting it at the correct angle as you ride.

What often happens next is the student rises out of the water with the board pointed at 45° rides for a couple of metres and then loses all power and sinks back into the water. This is generally caused by pulling the bar in as you rise out of the water. As the kite reaches the bottom of the power stroke the bar is pulled all the way in (as as humans like to haul ourselves up on something, in this case the bar) and the kite simply stalls at this point, dumping you unceremoniously back into the water. There are several remedies for this. Fly the kite harder on the down stroke so there is no temptation to pull the bar in whatsoever…in fact you’ll be trying to ditch power by getting the bar out. If you combine this with a quick upstroke to take the kite back up to the top of the window you should have more success.

When bringing the kite back up to the top of the window ensure you keep the kite on the side of the wind window into which you are riding. Many people at this stage bring the kite up to 12 o’clock or beyond which simply pulls you up onto your toes or back in the opposite direction. Once riding the kite must remain on the side of the window into which your board is pointing.

Common Errors

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Whether to use a board leash or not is something that every aspiring kitesurfer asks at some point. Here I lay out the arguments for and against so you can make up your own mind.

What is it for?

Board leashes were designed to prevent you from losing your board. As a beginner you will be coming off your board and crashing your kite lots. Having a board leash on gives you one less thing to worry about while your struggling to re launch your kite as you don’t have be concerned that your board is disappearing as you go. Leashes however, have several spin off advantages which can be even ore useful to the aspiring kitesurfer than the use for which they were originally intended.

The main advantage to wearing a board leash for the beginner is that while your practicing to board start or enjoying your first runs on the board you won’t have to spend time chasing your board around every time you fall off or let go of it. This can lead to you having much more time to actually practice your board starts/riding skills as opposed to your body dragging skills. This simple piece of equipment can decrease your learning time by hours even days if the water state is pretty rough or the local conditions not ideal.

Added to this is the fact that by using a board leash you have 2 hands free at all times to control the kite. This can be a huge advantage if you’re trying to drag out through big waves or if you’re still not 100% confident on the kite.

Mother Nature is her own Guardian

Having said that however, I firmly believe that Mother Nature sets up her own gateways to entry and that if you are at a stage where you are struggling to either recover your board all the time by body dragging or you can’t get out through the waves while flying the kite one handed you shouldn’t be practicing with a board at all, but should be working on these skills instead.

The major problem here is that we are all human, we all over fixate on getting on the board and riding and will tend to push ahead to master these (cool) skills first, coming back to polish the other (less impressive) skills (such as upwind body dragging…yawn) later in our kitesurfing careers.

This leaves massive gaps in your skill set that WILL come back to bite you later on.

The Cruise Missile of Kitesurfing

When it comes to the down sides of using board leashes the consequences are slightly more scary.

Riding with a board attached to you is not dissimilar to being chased by a guided missile.

If you come off the board at any speed, tension can stack in the line and when the leash reaches it’s elastic limit there is only one way it’s going…straight back at you. This can lead to some very nasty accidents and it for this reason that if you are going to use a board leash you should also have a helmet and impact vest/buoyancy aid to protect your vital parts.

Before you think, “that’ll never happen to me and the advantages sound great, I’m gonna get me one of those,” I would do a quick internet search on “kitesurf board leash injuries” and see if you still want to wear one!

Watch Your Tender Bits

The leash can also be a hindrance when exiting the water. If you dally in the shallows the board has a tendency to get picked up by the waves as they ebb off the beach. The next wave to arrives then picks up the board and slams it into your heels/shins/other tender bits! When exiting the water with a leash in waves do it fast or unattach the board before you try.

The same applies when you have a leash in bigger waves. If the board gets behind you, then the next passing wave can pick the board up and slam it into you.

Of course these things can also happen even if you don’t have a leash but the leash keeps the board closer to you and so increases the likelihood of something like this occurring.

What About Dog Leash Style Leashes (Reel Leash)?

There are some reel leashes that are designed like dog leashes, that extend out to about 30 meters and after they have extended this far release very easily so you never have the problem of slingshotting the board back towards you. Great you may think I’ll go and buy one of those.

Any leash can get wrapped around either you or your bar and lines, with the latter being particularly serious as this effectively strangles your control of the kite often locking the kite onto full steering and sending the kite into a roll with the board dangling around in front of you as you fly down the beach…conveniently enough, the perfect position to wallop you in the kisser.

As these dog style leashes are even longer than normal leashes the likely hood of this happening is even greater…the idea of riding around with potentially 30m of slack line somewhere in my vicinity scares the bejesus out of me just thinking about it anyway.

But I have a fuse line on my leash so it will break if any force is put through it.

Coming off the board at speed with a leash should result in the leash attachment line (or the fuse line) breaking so that the board isn’t damaged. If this line is too strong (and you’ll never know until you use it!) or doesn’t break for some reason (more likely), as well as all the consequences to you, it can result in damage to the board as something has to give. I’ve seen huge chunks torn out of boards because of this.

Dependency & Withdrawal

The other issue attached to wearing leashes is more practical in nature. By becoming dependent on a leash you reduce the time you’re practicing upwind body dragging. This is an essential skill which needs to be mastered early if you are to progress to becoming an independent kitesurfer. Believe me, I spent a year learning this particular skill and the hours of time I wasted and the number of boards I lost because of my stubborn refusal to learn cost me more than I like to think.

The Alternative

Go Joe’s may have a stupid name but these things really work!

The idea is that you fix the Go Joe on to your board under the handle. Now whenever you come off the board the Go Joe causes the board to automatically right itself, the wind catches the Go Joe and pushes it downwind…fast, so it should end up in front of you.

We trialled these for a while and although they work great they did suffer from durability problems as the bladders just kept exploding on us.

What About In Waves?

Ok so this is the only time I would contemplate wearing a board leash. In big waves you’ll often be riding on reef breaks, cliffs or ridiculously remote beaches where to lose your board would mean it gets smashed to pieces on the rocks or it’s a MAJOR ball ache to retrieve it.

In wave spots a lot of riders will be concentrated in the same area (the line up) and having you body dragging through it and a loose board caught in the waves becomes a real pain in the neck and a real danger to others respectively.

These great tips are taken from The Kiteboarder Magazine.

• Use a medium length leash: a 6-foot leash will put the board in your face and a 9 to 10 foot leash will cause too much drag. An 8-foot leash seems to work the best.
• Use a cord thickness commensurate with the size of your waves -thin leashes snap in double overhead waves, thick leashes cause excessive drag.
• The moment you are separated from your board, depower your kite by pushing the bar away from you; this prevents the kite from loading up the board leash.
• When in the water separated from your board, bring your kite up to neutral, keeping it depowered as much as possible to prevent the board from becoming a tombstone.
• When you are retrieving the board, use the leash – it often helps if the kite is brought to the same side of the wind window as your board.
• Try experimenting with a calf leash. Its velcro strap is large enough to attach just below your knee, elevating a good portion of the leash out of the water and reducing drag.
• Wear a helmet or chest protector because unless you have a surgeon for a friend or in the family, stitches can be expensive.

PROS OF WEARING A LEASH IN WAVES

• In big surf you can go for anything and know that your board is always within arm’s reach.
• You won’t spend half your session on a fishing expedition.
• Your friends will no longer hate you for the countless times you body dragged through their set while looking for your board.
• If you’re headed out and the lip throws right in front of you, you can jump off your board and duck dive into the wave, collecting your board quickly on the other side.
• You have a better chance of getting back on your board before the next set wave rolls you.

CONS OF WEARING A LEASH IN WAVES

• Bad technique can lead to endless tombstones and whizzing boards.
• Leashes inevitably add drag while going upwind or dropping in on light wind days.
• Since your board stays in your vicinity you have a better chance of getting whacked in the head.
• If both you and your kite go down in turbulent white water, the board and leash can end up threaded through your flying lines making things much worse.

For me, unless I was in a dedicated wave spot which broke onto a reef or was kiting somewhere ridiculously remote I wouldn’t generally bother with a leash. I’d simply accept the fact that I was going to body drag a bit and get on with it.

The Final Word

If this all sounds like a very negative assessment of board leashes …well it is.

We used to use them, 2 smashed noses and a few trips to the hospital later, we vowed never to use them again. As a result of this decision our methods of teaching have had to adapt (and improve) and our students learning times have actually increased dramatically because of the changes we’ve had to make and the higher focus we’ve had to place on basic kite skills.

It also means I’m seeing far less of certain nurses at the local hospital…hmmm…maybe time for a re think!

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