20 Years of Kiting!

[PullStrings]

Flew a 5.0 Wipika from a guy just on beach in July 1998...caught the bug...had to kite...saved some cash and got my own new 2 lines 5.0 in February 1999

[RickI]

Where did you first fly the Wipika? What sort of wind did you have to work with your 5 m kite?

I feel like we were flying (riding) Model-T cars, "you can have whatever color you want, as long as it is black." Or in other words, if it was inflatable, it was likely a two line Wipika in the early days.

Flew a 5.0 Wipika from a guy just on beach in July 1998...caught the bug...had to kite...saved some cash and got my own new 2 lines 5.0 in February 1999

A good goal Rob_85, keep at it, finding new things and challenges to maintain your interest!

[matt-0 kite]

Thanks Toby and Rick, it's nice to see everybody's experiences here.

I started in 1999 with a friend. I bought an old snowkite with handles to start with (Concept Air). I remember trying to make a bar out of a bicycle handlebar, using a harness that was made for something else; we went through a variety of foil kites (Anyone remember the Mosquito with the condom airvalves?). 40 metre lines, no chicken dick, no depower, no QR of course We were lucky we had a huge open beach to get dragged around on. My first board I tried to learn on was an old yellow surfboard that I glassed some webbing onto for home-made footstraps. At the beginning we had no idea that it was possible to go upwind, I just thought you had to ride downwind and then walk back up every time. Later we used wakeboards and other purpose-built directionals.

It was pure luxury when we got the first Naish AR3.5 with the turtle on it, figuring out about rolling up the tips to make it 4-line, making our own bar setups, then on to the Free Airs and the legendary Wikipa Airblast. We were scared shitless of that kite at first! Before that, with the long lines and the directionals, 9m was considered a big kite. Who ever heard of a kite that was 11.8 sq. metres? This was all in Japan, by the way, I was living there at the time and it was not easy to get equipment. At one point I remember owning a North Rhino 1, 22.5 square metres for the summer light winds. The leading edge was huge and wore myself out pumping it up each time...

Anyone else remember?:
Wrist leashes
The video "Air Sickness," I think i wore through 2 copies of that. (VCR of course)
The day when the news flashed around that it was possible to bodydrag upwind to get your board back; we stopped using board leashes then.
Using Wishard snap shackle quick releases or trying to invent your own
The (windsurf) harness line on your kite bar

Since then I've been teaching, and getting into other sports like windsurfing. I'm working on foiling now. It's interesting for me to focus on fine tuning teaching techniques and improving ways to help the student through the learning process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJzHx1L ... ksJ4AaABAg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJzHx1L ... ksJ4AaABAg

[lindseym]

I started in 2010 and I still feel like I have decades of much-needed practice ahead of me (that's a good thing btw ).
Thank you Rick for everything you have done for the community. Florida kiteboarding would definitely not be what it is today without you. And of course, as always, shout out to the Airstyle king and Kiteforum creator whose name I cannot recall at the moment

[Dave_5280]

My first kite was a big 2 line stunt kite with a 6 ft wing span, with carbon fiber arrow shafts for struts, called Team Hawaiian. I read an article about it in Sports Illustrated. It helped me learn how to fly a 2 line fast kite.

Then while on a vacation on Maui, I got bored snorkeling every day, and took kiting lessons from David Dorn at Action Sports, Wipika, 2 line, no depower, Velcro wrist leash, big trapeze like metal bar. To uncross the lines while body dragging you did an alligator roll. I got hit by a gust that lifted me out of the water, ripped the bar out of my hands, pulled the leash off, and I could see the kite get smaller and smaller as it went up and up, and the instructor went running down the beach after it.

To launch they piled sand on the wing tips then gave it a pull on the bar.

There was only one other student, he bought the gear, I’m glad I didn’t.

The equipment got so much better over the years, it was hard to imagine that it would in the beginning.

There’s a good history page on Action Sports and kiting at: http://www.actionsportsmaui.com/company-history/

[knyfe]

I just had to double check too when the bug actually catched me. It also must have been 2000 as the first digital pics I had were from 2001 making my own boards as TTs just came up and I was monkeying around with kites the years leading up to it. I could not handle the directional I had at that time.

I used the PL C-Quad - then windtools 5 and later 9 (what a monster!!!) - until I finally got a prototype Speedair 9 which was the first reasonable thing. My friend had the 2 line tube which I could just not afford as a student. Also made my own QR as the first Naish QR I saw would not work under tension.

Man am I glad I survived that time... not looking back at it. Still I did not deviate too much from my initial intend of getting air time. Never got into directional when they became a hot thing, nor switched back to foils - although I tried a few more, not really interested in foiling either. Thats something when my back or knees give way...

G

[or6]

Rick, my favourite board in the early days was actually that wakeboard. After mastering the art of edging upwind on my 161 Pickleforck I went back to it, and loved it. I no longer have it: I lost it in the Hood. Or somewhere in British Columbia.

By then I was on PL Arcs as well, went from Waterfoils to Arcs to Guerillas, then the Phantom.

In 1998 I took my wakeboard and 5 meter Classic to Tenerife. It was scary, didn't really get on the water, so I windsurfed most of the holidays. I remember seeing a bigger Classic going up and down the bay, and thinking l WOW!!! in hindsight, I'd say that was probably Mark Shinn.

The Arcs were the first user-friendly kites out there, back then. They were stable, had quite some range, but had their quirks as well.

I think it was around 2004, 2005 that the first kites came out that were like our modern kites. With range, some real depowered, stable.

I still have an 8.5 Classic, don't know if it holds air, should give it a shot really. Might be a laugh.

The thing that comes to mind from the early days is actually trying out something completely new, and having to teach each other. I started out with two mates. We had no clue as to what we were doing. Internet was barely there. No information there, either. We had some close calls

Nowadays, the gear is not only much safer and friendlier, but you can take lessons! From someone who actually knows what he or she is talking about. Now that's progress. My 10 year old son had his first lesson a week back. I observed the lesson, and she was a fine teacher. Much safer that way. Anyway: thanks for making me think back of those early days. It's been a ride!

[or6]

A C Quad! Wow. Respect, sir.

That's the kite that got me into kiting...it was seeing Kane Hartill, a really friendly Kiwi bloke and one of the early heroes, kiting on a C quad, doing triple rolls while on handles that got me interested.

There's quite a few early adaptors here. Or old farts.

[Toby]

Yeah matt, I remember the stuff on your list...

Here another piece of history not everyone knows:

My former business partner (kiteproshop.com and X-Shooter) and me developed the first spinable Kite bar. Based on a Wichard. We were the first having two depower lines thru the bar, the system you see now on Flysurfer and Core. Plus it had a depower on the steering lines, as you see on the click bar.

We invented it just after the fatality of Silke Gorldt, which was shocking for the scene...we were just heading to the event and arrived while everyone was waiting for info on her state when the horrible news came.

[a99]

Interesting to read this hystory. Would be nice if people will share more photos or videos from those early days as there are not so much materials about it visually.
I try to google about silke fatality but dont foind any information in google. What was there ?
I know that first kite in Lithuania was Wipika and was already in 1999 year summer season of one guy from Gargzdai town as i read in some media archives. Very astonishing having in mind how far we were (and are) that time from US where main development was of first kiting. Still on 2002 was only few guys who had kite in 2003 few more. Bigger wave of kiting came on 2005-2006 year where kiting community was already bigger. Sad but i started only on 2013 July.