Interesting upwind technique

[lovethepirk]

Long story short, an out of town kiter launched 4 miles downwind of me yesterday...I'd say 45 deg cross-wind. I couldn't believe how fast he got to me. Then we are kiting together in a flat water lagoon and the guy is pulsating his board....he carves for a second, then releases, then carves and releases, etc.

I was on a forward/flat flying NRG and he was on a Velocity, but the guy was angling way ahead of me. His board seemed normal so I don't think that was the issue, I just haven't seen anyone crank upwind like that on a TT. Is pulsating the board the best way to go???? Has me thinking that you are sining the board like you are flying the kite

I practiced it after he left and I think it helped, possibly b/c I was able to ride slower without stalling b/c you release the moment you feel the stall....weird, but this cat cranked upwind like I've never seen.

[dylan*]

Yeah, I do this too especially when the wind is light and only trying to ride upwind doesn't work too well. I don't exaggerate it to the point where I'd call it "sining" the board, but I will just let off my edge a little bit (onto more of a beam reach) to pick up some speed before leaning back into the edge upwind. With the light wind + current in the ocean here you need every bit of efficiency in technique you can get...

[jeromeL]

I have done that a bit but only when wind is super light.
Send kite up slowly as you flatten the board a bit to pick up a bit of speed to get on a plane, when you send kite down slowly and sheet in edge progressively harder trying not to loose plane.

I do that only if I can barely stay upwind, if I have enough power I don't really play around with that unless I pick up too much speed then it helps to redirect it more upwind because if you go too fast you will have less upwind angle as the relative wind direction shift a bit...

[BCKiter123]

Technique aside, Velocity is supposed to be a high(ish)-aspect kite? Perhaps that helped?

[geopeck]

I have done that a bit but only when wind is super light.

I do that too but not just in light wind, it actually ties into mid wind and kite size choice too. I don't think it's directly about upwind but more about on demand speed which then translates into upwind in this instance but also means come out a of transition faster, cross chop/swell with less loss and have extra juice for fast decisions on ramps and carves.

I didn't realize quite what a difference it makes until last summer when I was riding with a bunch of guys from a part of the state that regularly has lots of wind, where my spot has more marginal days (for them ). Solid riders my weight on bigger TTs were complaining about how hard it is to stay upwind on their twelves when I could upwind and play on a ten. They never needed to learn to work at high efficiency so their stance stayed more locked and they didn't work the surface of the water.

I was able to ride slower without stalling b/c you release the moment you feel the stall

Also you pump after the release just like skating a transition, I'm pretty sure that I'm not just minimizing energy loss but am also throwing some energy back into the system.

Kind of a subtle deal, barely reaches the threshold of describability because everyone has to do it some extent or recognizes not to do the opposite. If your body is prepared to channel all the available juice into speed it's very noticable though, more mechanical work for the body if you turn it up and more fun.

[geopeck]

on the subtlety front, I'm sure that at least one person is thinking "What these guys are talking about is simply what I call kiteboarding" - kind of interesting though that lovethepirk finds it to be a thing, a somewhat revelatory thing to ask if anyone else has seen it - and I'm sure he's a solid rider just like my friends who can jump and spin and loop but expect the wind to do 100% of the work. I've kind of considered it as part of the spectrum from inefficiency to hyper efficiency.

Efficiency is the hardest bit of kiting to teach for sure, I get in a bind with students because I know most beginners benefit a bit from having more power than an intermediate would need, but I also want to keep them safe and comfortable so I usually err on the side of less power and hope they can start feeling the mix of sine/edge/plane early on. Probably too optimistic. Really tough to talk about on the beach because it's deep into the territory of bringing rote knowledge into practice, there are a million ways to describe it but none are a perfect fit.

[matth]

When I am struggling to get upwind I usually realize I am going to fast. If you really want to make ground upwind try going slow and steady like a sailboat.
Have you ever notice when you get close to the beach you can usually grind upwind at a much higher angle than you thought possible. That's because you have slowed down and are more focused on eking out those last few feet upwind..

[GregK]

... If you really want to make ground upwind try going slow and steady ...

Agree except if you are fighting a wicked current running downwind. In that condition I find faster reaches work better than higher slower reaching.

[SENDIT!]

Technique aside, Velocity is supposed to be a high(ish)-aspect kite? Perhaps that helped?

Yes, the guy on the Velocity already had an advantage b/c that kite is an upwind machine.

[Peter_Frank]

... If you really want to make ground upwind try going slow and steady ...

Agree except if you are fighting a wicked current running downwind. In that condition I find faster reaches work better than higher slower reaching.

Sorry to be a "downer", but current does not affect upwind technique in any way, a simple physic fact

Just like some think that up or downwind current will make "bodydragging back to your board" easier or lighter - not true either, but most think so (well, actually just use it as an excuse IMO, if bad technique...).

Power in the kite, for your given kitesize might influence your technique, agree with that, but current and direction, definitely not, sorry to say

Peter