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We are thinking of adding wakekiting to our school as a training aid since we are located near Lake Gaston. It looks fun, but it looks more like wakeboarding than kitesurfing. The added use of a kite allows for some pretty good air. Why use a large tower when a kite can help you get boosted? It looks like a great activity on no wind days.

I wouldn't. Just normal wakeboarding is better crosstraining, cheaper and less risky. IMHO.

that Kite looks terrible! It inverts and hindenbergs on the last two jump...
Doesnt look like it give you that much lift either. Looks like a waste of money to me.

That is true that the riders didn't do a great job in this video. I am always interested in new things, and this adds a little flavor to wakeboarding by assisting with jumping. I don't think wakekiting has much at all to do with kiteboarding because the angle of attack is different. I know how to paraglide, so this must be similar. The kite must assist with getting air. For people w/a jet ski, this is a good alternative to getting a boat with a tower. I've talked to the people who have made it, and I can see the connection with paragliding. In any case, all of these sports build on each other in different ways. I've seen people surf behind a wakeboarding boat at Lake Gaston--I've seen everything. I tried kitesurfing once or twice in the lake, but the winds tend to be gusty, and it is hard to untangle lines in the water (no launching areas here). Thebest thing is to go to the beach--I didn't really intend to state that wakekiting could replace kiteboarding, but that it probably could develop some skills that overlap with kitesurfing. I know that my kiteboarding skills helped me learn how to paraglide in just one day Anyway, I am surprised how closed minded some people can be. We all have different likes and desires.

I think there is a quick release system when there is too much tension, that's probably what happened at the end of that video. Once the quick release system is activated, the kite completely depowers. I wonder how dangerous it is. By the way, wakeboarding can be dangerous, too. Also, who wouldn't say that some of the jumps people do in kiteboarding aren't dangerous? What about the guy who died in Hatteras last year on the soundside? They say he was just landing a jump, an experienced kiter, and they found him dead, floating in the water (it was around 30 knots, and I think he was equipped with a 9m kite). At least with a boat you can control the speed and drive under 20 mph. I bet most of the kiteboarding and wakeboarding injuries happen when people are overconfident and push themselves too much at too fast speeds. You are right, though, I don't think it is safe to teach this to people who don't know how to wakeboard. I heard from the people who work with Wakekite that the kite launches at 8-10 mph and you don't have to drive faster than 15mph. On a wakeboard, at 15mph, there is not much risk of injury because you can barely jump at that speed. Anything above 20 mph can increase the risk of injury exponentially.

I do agree that I'll think twice before investing in something like this because it doesn't look like it produces any more lift than someone would get from a standard jump off the wake. The tricks they are doing look much less phenomenal than the tricks people do with a tower and a wakeboarding boat. Does the kite just produce a lot of drag?

Tried it. It really is not that good. Five minutes of wake kiting and your arms and body are so tired you are wiped for like 3 or 4 days ( and I am in great shape,) The best workout ever if you want!!! Too gimmicky.

Wakekiting - Awesome "new" of making even the coolest wakeboarders danglers..

I guess it is probably like riding unhooked. I often go wakeboarding on windless summer days, and after two hours, my arms are worn out. I still am getting one for my school because I like trying out new things. This is at least a break from routine. I talked to a Hyperlite rep who rides them, and he says that the trick is how you hold the bar. He routinely gets 20 feet of air. Of course, that is nothing compared to the air I can get kiting I know I didn't land right in this last video--I was so shocked by the lift I forgot to redirect the kite in time... I tried riding unhooked more when kitesurfing over the weekend, and it has a lot of similarities to wakeboarding, and I assume with wakekiting.
I am still excited about the prospects of this new sport. I think wakekiting would be good cross training, just like paragliding on light wind days (I've tried that too!).