Kiteboard Kitesurf

This years surf expo with be hosted in Orlando and will take place on Sept 12-14th. There will be all kinds of kite reps there showing off and selling gear.

Check out this years line up for kiteboarders:

Airush Kiteboarding
Cabrinha Kitesurfing
DaKine
Earthpack
Epic Gear
Epoxy Dingall
Go Pro camera
Ho sports/ Hyperlite
Hyperflex Wetsuits
Indo Board
Inland Surfer
Kite Ground Boards
Liquid Force
Maelstrom-KItesurf Protection Equipment
Monkey Kite
Nobile Kiteboards
Ocean Rodeo
Ocean tec USA

Not to mention many other water sports and surf vendors!

more info

Anticipated Movie The Kite Lines is now for sale!

Husband and Wife team John and Alexis Circled the globe for a full yar traveling with the world’s top kiteboarders to sweet kite locations in search of epic wind and wave conditions.

Best part 100% Shot in HD!

More info

The first time I saw a picture of someone kite boarding they were what looked to be 30 feet in the air upside down, I thought it looked so sweet, I started obsessively watching the videos and looking for a lesson. The first time I flew a 9M kite I dropped it down into the power zone, summer salted across the beach, ate a bunch of sand and let the control bar go launching the kite into the water and making my instructor go swimming after it. This could have easily been the end of my kite life, I was scared for sure. The next time I flew the kite I would panic at even the smallest tug and let the kite drop. I stopped kiting for several weeks, but sick of seeing my friends advance in the sport and getting to go in the water and up on the board finally pushed me to try and overcome my fear. I definitely took some steps to get back out there though, here are my tips that helped me get back out there and try, try again.First thing I started to do before I even went back to the kite beach was to:

List Reasons On Why You Want To Kite In The First Place
-Why do you really want to do this sport, its not just to show off is it? (For me I always liked the idea of wind power and the idea of being on the water mixed with acrobatic moves seemed peaceful)

Identify The Source Of Your Fear
-Learning what your exact fear is can help you overcome it, by knowing what your afraid of exactly can help tremendously. (I was scared that even the smallest gust of wind was going to yank me 100 feet in the air)

Research and Watch
-Read, look at videos on kite surfing and sit out on the beach and watch others kiters. Learn the whole process before jumping in and flying the kite. What are all the different kites available and what are the differences. Watch and practice setting up your kite, most Kitemares happen with just a slight error in gear set up. Learn by watching how experience kiters handle their kites, look for the small details how far they dip it into the power zone look at the cause and effect of their movements, what do they do when they are on the water, where is the kite in relation to the wind directions are all questions to ask yourself.

Body Drag, Body Drag, Body Drag
- If you like me and got dragged across the beach your first time out you may have quit before even getting to this step. There is no shame in body dragging even after you have had your initial lesson with a certified kite instructor, you don’t need to go out by yourself and try and get on your board right away. Body dragging in the water is much different then body dragging on the sand. You are meant to be pulled by the kite eventually you are going want to feel the power of the kite and the best way to get over the fear of being yanked by the kite is to get in the water (in a safe uncrowded area) and body drag around with the kite.

Go Out On Light Wind Days
-Make sure you go out on light wind days, you can still have fun kiting in 8-10 knots of wind. If they wind is constant and not gusty are good learning conditions. You won’t have to worry about the kite getting too powered up, but you will still get enough force to get pulled.

Focus and Visualize
-Whenever you can imagine yourself having successful kiting experiences, go through the whole process in your head. Setting up the kite, putting you gear on, hooking into the kite, launching the kite, flying the kiting, getting pulled by the kite and enjoying the whole process. This will help you place fear emotions with positive reinforcement emotions.

With time and experience you will overcome your kiting fears. With proper lessons, knowledge and gear you will be able to have fun kiting. You will get scrapes and bruises along the way, it is part of the sport, but keep in mind what brought you to the game in the first place and decide for yourself if it is worth it. The more time spent learning the basics the better your kiting experience will get, you have to build a solid base before moving onto new tricks. Before you know it though your thoughts of fear will have turned to thoughts to getting bigger air and learning new tricks

Don’t leave home with this kit; it fits all your kite repair needs into one container you can store in the back of your car, keeping from missing out on one kite sesh.

Kite Kit Includes:

Glueless patch kit
GluFix
Dacron Tape
Talc
Plastic bag
Scissors
standard adhesive tap
Marker-Pen

Price-55.00

Top Kitesurfing spots….

HOOD RIVER

Its still popular as ever and packs in the kitesurfers during the summer. Hood River Columbia Gorge is the place to be July and August. If you like kiting on a river that has been compared to “kiting on a treadmill.” Hood River holds a lot of fun and constant windy days.

Its getting crowded though so make sure you have your skills down or hit up a kite school there such as Kite the Gorge Kiteboarding school. Hood river has some tricks to it so make sure you know the flow before hopping in.  Its good for Newbies to stay by the sand bar for safety reasons.

The town has nice peeps and some good grub such as Big Horse Brew Pub. Also don’t miss the Fresh Ice cream at Mikes Ice Cream. If the wind isn’t blowing one day you can check out the Full Sail Brewing Company and grab some free tastings and tour the brewery.

MAUI HAWAII

This is a very windy spot, your going find wind all year around.  Best wind in the summer awesome waves for surfing in the winter.  You will not need a big kite in this spot.

• Best Wind February to November

On North Shore there is no kiting before 11am, so ample time for sleeping in.  Kite beach can get pretty gusty, so you really want to monitor the wind in this spot and have some skills.  You might want to hone your skills at Oahu, Kailua Beach a more beginner friendly spot.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND TEXAS

Great for beginners to advance, something for everyone here.  You will usually find uncrowded riding spots.  Miles and miles of waist deep water in the bay.  Sweet waves on the Ocean side of the island.  Very laid back island atmosphere.  Mexico only 30 miles away.

• Best time to go October-November and March-July
• Known as the windiest place in America.
• Ocean Wave riding
• Smooth warm bay waist deep water for miles and miles

Other Hot Spots

Key West Florida

Utah Lake, in Utah’s Happy Valley!

Steady 20mph with 40mph gusts.

Contact Derek Sayers-Utah Kiteboarding School-Lessons start at 7am, in a windy schoolyard in Spanish Fork near the mouth of the canyon.

Derek Sayers at 801-830-WIND

WHAT-Girls Kiteboarding clinic: Join Cabrinha pro rider for an intensive clinic open to girls of intermediate and advance kite level. Must be able to stay upwind.

WHERE-Grandon Park, Key Biscayne

WHEN-May 3rd and 4th.

PRICE-100.00

For more info and booking click HERE

So you want to make kiteboarding your life, but don’t want to sleep in you van (not that anything is wrong with that) think about becoming a certified Kiteboard Instructor.

A Few of Many Reasons to get certified

-Safer route to go, even if you feel you know everything you will learn more, like safety techniques.

-Support system; connects you with a large kiteboard community.

-Make more money, now a days people know to look for a recognized kiteboard certification.

There are different types of kiteboard certifications you can get, but the most recognizable ones are:

IKO- International kiteboarding organization: Have to be a level 3 kiteboarder and attend a 5 day class.

PASA- Professional air sports Association: Can get certification for different levels of kiting.

There are many different places and camps you can go get certified at as well, look into the options they are growing everyday. Its great to keep learning and keep your knowledge up to date in the sport.

So you have caught the kiteboarding bug, you have seen videos, watch kiters, read some magazine and your all about the sport now. The big question comes to mind where to start; with all the information out there the brain can tend to get on overload mode. I hope to ease you mind here with these easily simplified steps you should be out kiting in no time.

1. Find a Certified Instructor-Certifications to look for in your instructor; IKO or PASA.

2. GET SCHOOLED-Go get take some classes, lessons, kitecamp vacations. Alot of people think its okay to get out in the water and just try and teach themselves. This is NOT a good idea, this can be a very dangerous sport especially with any instruction. Plus this is a good time to try and learn about kite gear.

These are the First two basic steps, they are easy enough for anyone to get done after most people have taken classes and feel confident about getting there own gear and pursuing the sport is when things can feel overwhelming. Follow these next steps can save you thousands of dollars.

3. Go to Local Kite beach and talk to other kiters about gear and wind conditions in your area. Before the wind starts to blow most kiters will be sitting around on the beach this is a good time to walk around and meet some people in your area. Asking the questions about what type of gear they are using and what they recommend. Make sure you talk to various groups of people everyone has there own idea of the best brand, but many will have a good idea of what is the right size of kite to use based on the wind in your area. Make mental notes of what everyone is telling you when you get home write down anything you learned about kite brand, type and size.

4. Visit Your Local Kite Shop-Do Not purchase anything your first time to a kite shop. It is very tempting when you see all the gear at the store and to get pumped the employees kite enthusiasm. This is good time to boost you kite knowledge see what the sales associate has to say, take notes and mark down prices of things. GO HOME EMPTY HANDED! You will be happy you did this. By this time you should have some sort of idea on what type of kite you are leaning towards.

5. Research kite gear online and in magazines-Okay now its time to do a little research on everything you learned get online and read reviews on the different kites you may be considering. Some questions you may ask yourself while looking stuff up-Do you need a brand new kite, how much has this years kite model vary from last years (Kites have advanced A LOT in the last few years, newer kites are much safer and easier to use) Should you buy a used kite (Its not usually a good idea to buy a used Kite on Ebay because plenty of kiters will sell there first ever kite on there and it will not be in good condition. Make sure you can go look at the kite if you going to buy a used one) How much money do you want to spend on your first kite (You don’t need to have top of the line, most expensive gear out there for your first kite and you be glad you don’t when you slam the kite down on the beach and it gets pulled across the sand)

6. Throw you Local Kite Shop some business-If you can give you local kite shop the business then do so, especially if they helped you with you initial information gathering. Sometimes though you find an amazing deal online that is too hard to give up. If this happens see if your local kite shop can match the price. If they can’t try to buy some of your other gear there-i.e.-board, harness, bar and lines.

7. Purchase your gear-If you got to this step you can feel confident and satisfied that you purchased the right gear and probably saved and bunch of money from resisting the urge to impulse buy. Now go out and practice set up your gear until your 110 percent comfortable with it.