Tips for my gusty inland lake conditions?

[rofer]

Matth: Hmmm, now you've got me wondering if I should get a freerace board and start learning that a bit sooner than I was planning

Hardwater kiter: Compared to trying to kite in Pittsburgh this wind is a dream. It's not smooth, but at least the direction stays the same and I can keep the kite in the air. There's no doubt I want it enough. I'm still so excited that this spot is usable. It should at least double my time on the water.

[rmaxwell]

I used to windsurf at Lake Arthur and Yellow Creek State Park quite a bit. Both places were generally gusty for windsurfing, I would think kiting at either place would be quite difficult. Now that I kite, I wait for a good forecast and take a weekend trip to Hatteras.

[rofer]

If Hatteras were half the distance I'd be there every weekend with wind, but as is it's too far to drive for just a weekend and too expensive for a last minute flight. I've often thought about it though.

Either ways though, I'm at a point where I'd much rather kite gusty winds on a weekday than wait around for something better.

At Lake Arthur the wind at least has a little time to smooth out some. The fact that I got planing at all in the light winds I had proves to be that it's possible. I'd looked at Yellow Creek too, but even to me that looked hopeless.

If you ever decide to try Lake Arthur again let me know and I'd come along. I'm pretty much always up for kiting if there's any hope for wind.

[skullcandy]

If the normal gusty conditions are light summer thermals (10 g to 20) then you need a good 17m kite with good top end to handle the gusts. Then, for us (at my inland lake local in the mountain desert) most guys will pump their 17 and then switch between 2, sometimes 3 boards to maximize that range (im lighter than most of them so I use a 13m Edge). It saves a lot more time than having to come in and then pump up different sized kite. Esp if the thermal window is 3 hours - sometimes just 1.

Gusty inland kiting takes some skill but if you learn in these types of conditions you can kite pretty much anywhere.

[rofer]

My hope with my 17m Flite was that it would work like you said, but so far I've just been using my 12m since it has a good bottom end, but can also handle the occasional 30kt gusts. I'm not sure the 17m would be manageable when the gusts got much above 20kt. I've got a smaller aboards z-series I could switch to, but then I'm not sure if I'm any better off than with my bigger board and the 12m.

[edt]

i wouldn't bother with a race board, go with a hydrofoil. You have nearly the same learning curve getting up to speed on a kite race formula board and a hydrofoil but the hydrofoil has a lot more potential. I've been on both a race board and a hydrofoil but don't own either yet, I'm definitely saving up for a foil my next purchase. Not really sure how well it will work on super gusty in land lakes I'll find out soon enough.

[rofer]

I was thinking if I got another board it would likely be a freerace rather than a full race board. Is the learning curve there really as high as for a hydrofoil? Note that I've only ever been on a twintip on the water.

I'm aiming to learn some freestyle and that looked a lot easier on a freerace board than a foil. Similarly, I think I've got a much better chance finding a cheap used freerace board. Either ways though, another board is at least a month or two off.

[skullcandy]

My hope with my 17m Flite was that it would work like you said, but so far I've just been using my 12m since it has a good bottom end, but can also handle the occasional 30kt gusts. I'm not sure the 17m would be manageable when the gusts got much above 20kt. I've got a smaller aboards z-series I could switch to, but then I'm not sure if I'm any better off than with my bigger board and the 12m.

Yes it all depends on the lull / gust range. As I mention, we are generally 10k g to 20kt so 17 Ozone Zeph is the weapon of choice due to excellent top end for a 17m. Boards range from Directional / Door TT to a 135 TT to extend that range.

If you are talking 10kt g to 30kt... well, that's not really ride able IMO as risk now is greater than reward (for me at least). If you are talking 15kt g to 30kt then (as an experienced rider) you can probably make a 9-10m work but IMO still introducing too much risk when the gust variance is over 15k. If you are using a 12m - what is your typical lull speed at that spot? If its below 12/13kt or so then 12m I reckon is too small and then too big for 30kt gust.

Over the years Ive learned that even though I love kiting, trying to force a session, whether it be too light or too gusty, is just not worth it. Found that the hour or so trying to make it work was me fighting for my safety rather than enjoying the session. There just comes a point or realization that its not a ride able spot under most conditions. Yeah you may get that 1 day out of the month where its pretty decent and you then crave that next session only to find that its too gusty and not really safe.

[rofer]

Today I'm seeing 16kt gusting to 32kt which is perfect for my 12m if accurate. Last time I went I was seeing something slightly less, maybe 13kt gusting to 30kt, however after my session I checked the weather station and saw that it measured 6-10kt for the base wind with gusts around 20kt. Having only been there once I'm not sure how much I can trust the forecast or the weather station so I aim to rig conservatively.

I've been in scary wind conditions before and I know it's more important to keep myself and my equipment uninjured than it is to be out whenever there's wind. My first session here proved to be that while the wind may not be good, it's good enough to kite.

[edt]

16 to 32 sounds good to me. You know it's not the high end gusts which are the most dangerous. It's the moments of zero wind. so what happens is your kite hindenbergs because there is no wind and right after it falls out of the sky the wind boosts back up to 30 then you go for a ride. On the water you just hold on and redirect land hot and pretend that's what you wanted to do. If you are near land tho if you see your kite fall down you have to punch out and swim in, not worth it getting your kite ripped up.