In general, for all board sports, short-assed riders have an advantage. It's seen in surfing, kiteboarding, snowboarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding, etc. And it's all about physics: short assed riders are able to do more turns on a wave, more spins, have a lower centre of gravity, less inertia, le...

I don't like Velcro straps for the reasons already mentioned. You sometimes forget they're on, leaving you stranded with your wetsuit stuck around your ankles when you quickly try to get it off in the middle of winter. The hook bits on the Velcro also stick to and slightly damage other things like n...

Because vests are dangerous! I don't see how a lifejacket can make the impact worse. The buoyant force (proportional to volume) is separate from the force of impacting the surface of the water (proportional to projected surface area). No matter how fast you're moving, the buoyant force is going to ...

Because vests are dangerous! They are not suited to the requirements of kitesurfing. Every so often we hit the water really hard or get rolled in a wave. Imagine jumping off a diving tower at your local pool with a floatation vest on. Also, when we get caught in a big wave, it's helpful to be able t...

There's a bit of confusion on this one. I don't think there is any doubt on kitesurfers vs surfers - surfers get rights to the wave all the time and we kiteboarders stay out of their way. What does everyone think about SUP vs kite? A lot of crew think we've got equal rights. Also, when I surf (i.e. ...

It seems like all pro riders eventually get serious shoulder injuries: Ruben, Bertrand F, Jeremy Flores, Adam Ratajewski, Youri Zoon, Aaron Jarman, Andy Yates, etc. Handle passes are great to do and awesome to watch, but his the cost too high? Maybe it's the nature of this sport: 999 times out of 10...

The interesting thing about this thread is that pretty much all the kite designers I know are following it, including some of the big companies. They all think it is interesting and slightly amusing. All agree though that the wind ranges quoted by Dimitri can't be accurate and that PMU is actually p...

It may look like this if we don't get our acts together.
PS: Those are kites in the 'barrow.

It is easy enough to test "2-4 knots". Just take the kite inside to a big indoor stadium like a school gym or a basketball court, where there is zero knots. Then do a "hot" downwind launch and walk backwards. Normal walking speed is about 3.1mph which equals about 2.7 knots. If you can keep the kite...

Geezus 14 pages. I quit reading after the first couple. Most kite companies are guilty of using marketing jargon that isn't accurate or backed up by anything. The term Bombproof is probably the biggest offender of this. What was the original criticism? kiting in 2-4kts? who cares. its not like kiti...