Need a new term for being lofted horizontally!

[knotwindy]

There is a huge difference between a large slow kite in a flat pond overpowered and A small fast kite in the waves underpowered. Although we call them both kiting, they are essentially different sports. And can not be compared for safety or anything else when they require very different skill sets. Apples and oranges.

[grigorib]

Well, the 18m wing is on the border of paragliding sizes and lighter guys fly even smaller than that.

For our inland gusty winds anything 15m or bigger is almost unmanageable. Seeing forecast range 12-20, 15-28 is normal and my solution to that is smaller wing and a foil.
Last weekend I just couldn’t miss 25-45 forecast and took a 5m for a jumping session. So it gusted 50. Rodeo

Real troubles start upon a gull of 70 and that’s a scary thought to entertain. So far I was lucky not to get into one. Guys on Lake Michigan and Silver lake did

[plummet]

Yeah. I agree with knotwindy. We are talking apples and oranges here. You can't really apply the datums for one to the other.
Toby is correct for his style of riding. Big slow kite in lighter winds for airstyle trickery is definitely safer than small fast kite in higher winds.

For my most of my style which is kitebuggying sand dunes , wave riding, storm chasing hydrofoiling a small fast kiting is the safer option. When I switch to boosting and landboard jumping I use bigger slower more floaty kites.

How many tricks have I landed in the last 8 years? Very few! I am not interested in tricks.
What injuries have I had in the last 8 years? One twisted knee requiring physio.
How many high wind small kite crazy water/wind condition sessions have I done in the last 8 years ? hundreds upon hundreds!

[edt]

It's not the size of the kite it's the strength of the wind that matters. If you always fly an 18 you pack it in when it gets past somewhere around 30 knots, that's what keeps you safe. Once you get to 30, 40 or even 50 knots that shit is dangerous no matter what size kite you have. It's everyone's personal choice how much risk they are willing to tolerate for one of those epic big wind sessions. If you keep your top wind limit at somewhere around 20-30 knots it's pretty hard to get hurt, but for a lot of us that's no fun.

[plummet]

It's not the size of the kite it's the strength of the wind that matters. If you always fly an 18 you pack it in when it gets past somewhere around 30 knots, that's what keeps you safe. Once you get to 30, 40 or even 50 knots that shit is dangerous no matter what size kite you have. It's everyone's personal choice how much risk they are willing to tolerate for one of those epic big wind sessions. If you keep your top wind limit at somewhere around 20-30 knots it's pretty hard to get hurt, but for a lot of us that's no fun.

I agree that the windier it gets the more interesting and potentially dangerous it can become. However i dont agree that sub 30 knots is safe and always safer than +30 knots.

Take and extreme example. A dude on an 18m in 29 knots trying to ride double head waves is litereally going to die. Me coozing around on my hydrofoil in 31 knots on a 4m is an easy doodle by comparison.

Being overpowered is what is more dangerous than the actual wind speed its self.

[edt]

Take and extreme example. A dude on an 18m in 29 knots trying to ride double head waves is litereally going to die. Me coozing around on my hydrofoil in 31 knots on a 4m is an easy doodle by comparison.

Being overpowered is what is more dangerous than the actual wind speed its self.

Once you are on the water you are pretty safe. The most dangerous part of kiteboarding is 1) launching and 2) landing. Go back and look at the recent fatality reports. Even on the 4m it's quite dangerous to get a death loop on launch. And of course on the 18m there's an additional danger of getting lofted. The biggest danger from kiteboarding are not the double over head waves, it's the very ordinary launching and landing the kite in high winds. We launch and land the kites so much and it is so rare to have a problem that we sometimes we forget that's the most dangerous part of kiteboarding.

Keep killing it, and if you got a video of you riding those double overheads please share it!

[plummet]

Take and extreme example. A dude on an 18m in 29 knots trying to ride double head waves is litereally going to die. Me coozing around on my hydrofoil in 31 knots on a 4m is an easy doodle by comparison.

Being overpowered is what is more dangerous than the actual wind speed its self.

Once you are on the water you are pretty safe. The most dangerous part of kiteboarding is 1) launching and 2) landing. Go back and look at the recent fatality reports. Even on the 4m it's quite dangerous to get a death loop on launch. And of course on the 18m there's an additional danger of getting lofted. The biggest danger from kiteboarding are not the double over head waves, it's the very ordinary launching and landing the kite in high winds. We launch and land the kites so much and it is so rare to have a problem that we sometimes we forget that's the most dangerous part of kiteboarding.

Keep killing it, and if you got a video of you riding those double overheads please share it!

I guess we beg to differ then. I'd much prefer to launch a 4m in 40 knots than a 18m in 30.

Sorry no double head video's from me. But here's something reasonably silly that I did on the weekend. Kite buggying down a near vertical dune face. Look closely at the photo Yourl see a dude blazing down the steep. Ohhh that shit is intense. Down slope, downwind you need to loop the kite to keep line tension, loop to early and get plucked off the dune. Loop to late and yourl run over your slack lines and wind them around the wheels. Oh, there's no brakes and you stear with your feet. Anyway thats some silly shit and its happening in this instance in 15 knots. 35 knots on the water is way safer!

[Hugh2]

You guys in NZ have a lot more interesting places to ride than in the Midwest US flatlands!

[Toby]

Launching an 18 in 30 knots is stupid.
I launch in gusts max 25.

But then if the wind picks up I stay out and stand my man

[pj sofine]

Take and extreme example. A dude on an 18m in 29 knots trying to ride double head waves is litereally going to die. Me coozing around on my hydrofoil in 31 knots on a 4m is an easy doodle by comparison.

Being overpowered is what is more dangerous than the actual wind speed its self.

Once you are on the water you are pretty safe. The most dangerous part of kiteboarding is 1) launching and 2) landing. Go back and look at the recent fatality reports. Even on the 4m it's quite dangerous to get a death loop on launch. And of course on the 18m there's an additional danger of getting lofted. The biggest danger from kiteboarding are not the double over head waves, it's the very ordinary launching and landing the kite in high winds. We launch and land the kites so much and it is so rare to have a problem that we sometimes we forget that's the most dangerous part of kiteboarding.

Keep killing it, and if you got a video of you riding those double overheads please share it!

I guess we beg to differ then. I'd much prefer to launch a 4m in 40 knots than a 18m in 30.

Sorry no double head video's from me. But here's something reasonably silly that I did on the weekend. Kite buggying down a near vertical dune face. Look closely at the photo Yourl see a dude blazing down the steep. Ohhh that shit is intense. Down slope, downwind you need to loop the kite to keep line tension, loop to early and get plucked off the dune. Loop to late and yourl run over your slack lines and wind them around the wheels. Oh, there's no brakes and you stear with your feet. Anyway thats some silly shit and its happening in this instance in 15 knots. 35 knots on the water is way safer!


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Have fun,just don't live up to your name Maybe rename you "splat"