With a primary interest in surfing with a kite, I was all over the Ben Wilson instructional videos! He seemed to be the first or main kiter really focused on surfing. But interesting to note, before releasing his own branded wave kites, he was really focused on unhooking -- get into the wave, then unhook so you get the surfy feel, at end hook back in and go. Seems to me that unhooking fell out of favour with wave kites, as there wasn't as much need.longwhitecloud wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2019 4:10 amnot as much as the industry makes out though- watch ben wilson wave riding videos from 2006... better riding than 99.99% of waveriders today.,
juandesooka wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2019 6:10 pmWith a primary interest in surfing with a kite, I was all over the Ben Wilson instructional videos! He seemed to be the first or main kiter really focused on surfing. But interesting to note, before releasing his own branded wave kites, he was really focused on unhooking -- get into the wave, then unhook so you get the surfy feel, at end hook back in and go. Seems to me that unhooking fell out of favour with wave kites, as there wasn't as much need.longwhitecloud wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2019 4:10 amnot as much as the industry makes out though- watch ben wilson wave riding videos from 2006... better riding than 99.99% of waveriders today.,
Similarly, in my local, everyone was all about looping the kite. But this was never even mentioned in the BW videos, so I emailed the man to ask ... he basically said he loops once in a while, in light wind, but generally finds no need. The key difference being, the local riders were using freeride or freestyle kites that would backstall if drifted, they required constant active flying, forward driving in the window. There's another example of wave kite vs not.
Well, Ben would tell you that his kites were the first true wave kites, with weight balanced for good drift in the design brief from the very start. The reality of all the footage of Ben killing it in waves is that its all in side off conditions. He kills it no doubt, but that's a pretty major factor when it comes to how you ride in waves. It's the direct opposite wind direction to 90% of wave riders worldwide.longwhitecloud wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2019 4:10 ampretty much...
not as much as the industry makes out though- watch ben wilson wave riding videos from 2006... better riding than 99.99% of waveriders today.,
modern kites do give a better compromise of going back upwind and spilling the wind out when you dont need it though while waveriding.