VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

hey, is this a place to talk about strapless kiting? Or restricted more to strap-on posting wars? Yeesh, some wind is clearly needed!

Anyways, I haven't tried strapless riding yet. Closest I've got is my surfboard only has the front strap. Coming at this from surfing, my left foot forward is regular stance ... if you have very efficient toeside riding upwind, is changing your stance really needed at all? Could just stay left foot forward the whole time (or vice versa, if goofy).

Though for me, in critical situations needing maximum upwind capability, I have had to stop, park the kite at 12 and change feet position. Which is a hassle. Next spring, I intend to work on this strapless riding, so I guess all this fancy footwork is in my future.

http://www.iksurfmag.com/issue35/?page=71 'play me'

that's not a duck tack, more like a back tack, since the rider turns backwards, down-wind, or opposite the board's direction of rotation.

When the rider rotates upwind in the same rotational direction that the board is turning, this requires "ducking" under the bar and hence the name.

Have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNVF9MCs ... r_embedded for a true duck tack.

Or http://www.iksurfmag.com/issue28/?page=89 for the British way to do the same thing, with one arm off the bar to wave at the chicks on the beach

Foot movements are a lot simpler, but still challenging to nail all the time. Maybe easier on a floaty board, like a race board or one of those big freeride Airush board, I dunno, only have my 6' surfboard.

From the KSurf magazine JL linked to:

http://www.iksurfmag.com/issue35/?Cover

Coastal Currents -

http://vimeo.com/17932863

juandesooka wrote:hey, is this a place to talk about strapless kiting? Or restricted more to strap-on posting wars? Yeesh, some wind is clearly needed!

+1 - keeping this thread limited to strapless kiting content would be ideal...

juandesooka wrote: Anyways, I haven't tried strapless riding yet. Closest I've got is my surfboard only has the front strap. Coming at this from surfing, my left foot forward is regular stance ... if you have very efficient toeside riding upwind, is changing your stance really needed at all? Could just stay left foot forward the whole time (or vice versa, if goofy).

I ride my surfboards regular most of the time. The nice thing without having straps is that you can move your feet around as needed. I'm 85% as efficient upwind toeside as I am heelside and with a tweak to my foot/body position it's very comfortable.

Having said that I'm working on riding switch frontside and toeside as comfortably as possible. I think the ultimate freedom and fun on a strapless board is when you can ride it anyway that works best for the conditions without thinking about it.

So starting regular or goofy and sticking to it is fine. Once you have been riding regular strapless for a while you'll start riding switch just to get some variations going.

Note that some beaches are going to require you to waterstart and ride away goofy if you don't want to try waterstarting toeside regular.

GregK wrote:
Or http://www.iksurfmag.com/issue28/?page=89 for the British way to do the same thing, with one arm off the bar to wave at the chicks on the beach

I like that. I need to wave and point at the hordes of pro-photogs that follow me around the globe...

Mark in Baja from KSurf Mag:

http://www.iksurfmag.com/issue33/?page=129

JL wrote:I was wondering about tacking. Thanks

Here is another one:

http://vimeo.com/48003850

Vik wrote:Note that some beaches are going to require you to waterstart and ride away goofy if you don't want to try waterstarting toeside regular.

Haven't tried toeside water starts yet ... seems awkward. So some switching is required, somewhere along the way. That'll be the benefit of strapless riding.

I also like the idea of riding switchfoot in waves so that you're frontside whether on a left or right. Being ambi-foot-rous would be ideal! For me, though, never been very good at riding switch in snow or skating, and in surf haven't put in the time to get comfortable at it ... so backside will continue.

Watched some of these videos while waiting for halloween kids. Some really good ones ... I really like that Andantroy one. Good riding and nice cinematography. I'm not a fan of the flippety flip-flip jump tricks myself, more about nice lines in the surf ... so my complaint is their repeated quick cuts for one carve slo-mo shots. Wish they'd show the whole ride -- even if a wipeout or less dramatic wave, gives the feel of the session better. As well, too bad they don't zoom back a bit and show the kite once in a while ... would be interesting and helpful to see the kite's behaviour while wave riding. Given these videos are made by kite manufacturers, kind of ironic that you barely see the kites. Still, very nicely put together video. The last minute, with all the local kids, is pretty cool.

juandesooka wrote:[

Haven't tried toeside water starts yet ... seems awkward. So some switching is required, somewhere along the way. That'll be the benefit of strapless riding.

I can't waterstart toe side. Riding switch isn't that hard. Just pick a day that's chill and dedicate a % of your riding to switch stance. You don't have to be great at it. I can ride switch heel side pretty easily, but switch toeside is what I have to work on.

Documenting kiting is tough. If you zoom in on the rider you lose perspective on the kite and if you show the rider and the kite the details of what the rider are doing is lost. The videos that can tie the two together with multiple cameras and tight editing are the best for sure.

My favourite strapless video is this one I posted on the first page. Nothing epic and not the best quality resolution, but they capture the flow and the fun of kiting on a surfboard.

http://vimeo.com/14028167

Riding "wrong" side forward was one of the first challenges on the kiting learning curve. Hard enough having to learn to manage a kite, sure would have been easier for me if it had been left foot forward. I think a good thing a newbie can do before taking kite lessons is to try wakeboarding with a kiteboard ... but try to practice waterstarts with the less-dominant foot forward. You're going to need it, may as well tackle it behind a nice consistent pull from a boat.

As a surfer / snowboarder / skater coming to windsports late, I have been amused by conversations with people who started out in windsurfing, and have no concept of regular/goofy foot ... they have no dominant stance. That's pretty cool.

As for "switch toe side"......fahgetaboutit! Not gonna happen for me... ;-)

juandesooka wrote:
As for "switch toe side"......fahgetaboutit! Not gonna happen for me... ;-)

That's what I said when Pasta kept telling me to ride strapless. No way. Impossible. Can't do it! I tried it once and had an epic then didn't try it for 12 months.

Then when the time was right he lent me an easy board and I jumped on cruised around without any problems. It's all a matter of starting wherever you are and just working on what makes sense at the time. Eventually stuff that seemed impossible is within grasp....

Last year in Baja my GF was just happy to be up and riding without a jetski behind her. She freaked out if the swell got big or if I suggested she try anything other than mowing the lawn. As I am getting ready for Baja this winter she wants to know which surfboard she can use and asking for tips on jumping.

Naish TV in Mauritius:

http://vimeo.com/38660120

After Storm:

http://vimeo.com/32631402

Shades of Green 35 min movie...a little too much talking, but some longer segments of kite surfing.

http://vimeo.com/7462419

Ideal for watching during those productive winter days at work...

Wake Skating Maui:

http://vimeo.com/52852106

Fun days down south...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 5RckV_M01w#!