What is your cold water red line, measured in Celsius?

[artificialname]

I’m in Canada. Mackite.com has the following advice:

“If the combined air and water temp is below 80…, well, that is where I draw the line. (Don’t kitesurf because it is too cold.)”

How do I convert that to Celsius?

40 Fahrenheit is 4.5c
And a combined temp of 9c is reasonable (although I suspect most people in 5mm neoprene would be happy going down to 7c)

But 80 Fahrenheit is 26c
Which is not a reasonable guideline.

What do people use as their cold water red line in Celsius?

[Windigo1]

5 Celsius air temp for me in a drysuit! The water temp I don't care. Also in in Canada! I have been in the water at home every month of the year except January and February! But it's snow kiting time so that's alright!

[TheJoe]

I go off of the air temp more as I live in Texas and the gulf is a lot warmer even in winter than a lot of places during the summer. But for me it is a wind to air temp ratio. I have been out as cold as 37deg and have had ice on my vehicle after finishing up my session. I don't know how some people do the extreme cold since I hate the cold and do not handle it very well.

[McLovin]

Drysuit temps for me are about 7 to 14 C but I try to enforce a SUN before FUN policy which always makes it seems warmer...

Less than <7C is about 42 degrees which according to H2G2 is too cold.

More than >14C is just normal wetsuit temps depending on water temps and inverse to how many days since you last kited

Hope that helps...and ALWAYS bring a TOWEL!

Mc

[PaulB2]

Bottled out of a good day today at 5c, and now regret it. It went up to 10c later

[Donniehall14]

I was out yesterday in 3 degree weather with a 5mm wetsuit, gloves, boots, and hat. The water temperature was around 6-7 degrees. My body was fine but once my hands got cold I was done. If I had better gloves and boots I could last longer. The spot I kite is waste deep. I don't think I'd go out in deep water at these temperatures. That was probably my last session of the year unless we get a sunny day.

[edt]

If the qr freezes solid on the water I switch to skis. 0c 2mm gloves 2mm neoprene socks. Everyone is different there's no set rules. Jeff is usually in 7mm boots when I'm barefoot it's all good. kite however you like there's no prize for kiting on the coldest temp just do what feels comfortable

Always add 5c to the feeling of the temp when it's sunny and subtract 5c if it's overcast. It might be purely psychological but it definitely matters

I always wear a wetsuit under my dry suit not because it's the warmest option but it gives me a feeling of security in case I get to rip in the dry suit I don't feel bad about going further out

Some of my friends have circulation problems in their feet and hands and once they get cold they never warm up so going cold for some is just not a choice

[Flyboy]

I’m in Canada. Mackite.com has the following advice:

“If the combined air and water temp is below 80…, well, that is where I draw the line. (Don’t kitesurf because it is too cold.)”

How do I convert that to Celsius?

40 Fahrenheit is 4.5c
And a combined temp of 9c is reasonable (although I suspect most people in 5mm neoprene would be happy going down to 7c)

But 80 Fahrenheit is 26c
Which is not a reasonable guideline.

What do people use as their cold water red line in Celsius?

Combined temp meaning the water temp & the air temp added up, I assume. So: if water temp is 34 F (1 C) the air temp would have to be over 46 F (8 C). If water temp is 46 F (8 C), air temp would have to be over 34 F (1 C). etc. That's actually pretty cold.

I've been windsurfing/kiting in Ontario for the last 38 years.. My standards are the following: air temp over 10 C I can generally go without booties & gloves. 6 C to 10 C is OK (with a 5/4m wetsuit), gloves & booties. Below 6 C air temp starts to get unappealing. The water temp in Ontario in October/November isn't going to be too cold - still 9/10 C at this point. With a good wetsuit you're not going to be too cold in the water - you're going to be colder above the water due to the windchill. In the spring it's a different story: the water temp may only be 3 or 4 C, so you're going to want the air temp to be correspondingly higher.

When it's cold, I wear a 2mm neoprene vest under my 5/4 suit, a PFD & a loose neoprene jacket over everything. In practice, if you're kiting hard you stay pretty warm ... but get cold fast as soon as you stop. And getting in & out of your wetsuit on a cold, windswept beach is a bitch.

Bottom line: if the conditions are good, it's probably worth getting out there even if it's cold ... especially if it's sunny.

[edt]

practice, if you're kiting hard you stay pretty warm ... but get cold fast as soon as you stop. And getting in & out of your wetsuit on a cold, windswept beach is a bitch.

That's the truth. Never cold while you're kiting but at soon as you stop...

[deniska]

anything in high 30s F is usually ok, unless a storm cell comes and shit hits the fan
this was a couple of years back: 40kts+ super gusty and crazy wind chill..


last year I had a sureal session on water in 30kts and 33F in heavy snow fall...
very comfy as long as you can rig in 5mm mittens..
You could see snowflakes slow down and stop during a jump as you catch up with the windspeed..