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Low wind body dragging

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ham-er
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Low wind body dragging

Postby ham-er » Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:50 pm

Hello, bit of a noob question.
How much wind do I need to successfully practice upwind body drag? Is it the same as kiteboarding or will I get away with less?

I generally don't kitesurf in anything less than 12 knots.
I can probably keep the kite in the air from about half of that.

I feel the need to practice this essential skill a bit more, but wind looks very light at the moment. Wondering if it's worth the travel just to find out it's not enough to even do that.

Cheers

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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby Havre » Sat Aug 06, 2022 3:01 pm

You can body drag in lower wind than kiting on a TT.

Can be quite difficult if you need to spend a lot of energy just keeping the kite in the air though.

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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby Herman » Sat Aug 06, 2022 7:29 pm

Depends on the sea state. If you have plenty of chest deep flat water it might be worth a trip, but it might also be worth understanding how to practice light wind relaunch in shallow water so you can occupy your time if the body dragging does not work out. As ever, only try this if you are confident that should things go wrong you will be drifting to safety. It is not easy to go upwind in light air without a board and imho it requires more skill than basic board riding. Personally I doubt that you will find body dragging in much less than 12 knots very rewarding in anything but ideal water states. Just imho. Also when you say you can keep a kite in the air, this is much easier on land where you can move; very kite dependant of course!

Once you have gained more experience you can go back to body dragging at the limits. Not sure it is a sensible aim to become an expert body dragger before becoming a decent rider and so don’t set your sights too high in the initial stages. Might be more fun in light air to practice looping down wind with different types of loop as a precursor to loop water starting etc. It will be easier to keep the kite in the air after a little practice!

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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby Turbaani » Sun Aug 07, 2022 12:17 pm

When kite stays in air its enough. Kite will pull you only very little when bodydragging, so you need to aim at the proper angle manually, and kick with legs every now and then to keep speed. When wind gets lighter try to keep kite higher and higher. It will not pull, but it will fly and you have the most space to downloop if kite starts to drop.

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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby ham-er » Sun Aug 07, 2022 10:19 pm

Thanks for the replies.

I tried anyway and have to say, it sucked! The wind was actually less than expected, no chance of boarding and body dragging painfully slow and doubt I made any ground up wind. Just drifted down wind slowly while trying to keep the kite in the air.

Still nice day on the beach I guess

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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby alekbelia » Sun Aug 07, 2022 10:26 pm

For a successful upwind bodydragging, the body must be sideways in the water and as straight as possible without tension. One hand holds the bar and the other is stretched forward in the water.

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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby JakeFarley » Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:30 pm

Like alekbelia said keep one arm straight out while steering the kite with the other (the Superman position). You can body drag more efficiently with a twin tip board held in front of you edging the water. I find in marginal conditions when I get down wind and cannot ride back upwind, I can body drag enough upwind so as to get back to my starting point. I really do not like body dragging as it is trolling for sharks. I always look behind me to make sure I'm not being stalked by one.

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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby RRC1962 » Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:50 pm

I did OK today body dragging in sub 10. I was on a 17M Contra and my LW Wing 165 and found it hard to stay going on the board so I practiced body dragging. Then the wind quickly picked up to 20+ish and things got interesting, but that's for another post. Like everyone else said, body straight with arm extended.

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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby Herman » Mon Aug 08, 2022 7:49 am

Ham-er yep! Body dragging upwind at the low end limit does suck! It requires a great deal of delicate feel…….
Possibly the easiest mistake to make is trying to point too high. When you come back to it start by going on a beam reach and develop an awareness of how the water feels flowing over the body, actually I should say trickle over the body. Then as you harden up you can feel this trickle stop and stall, gradually you will find the limit……….but it will still suck!!!
These users thanked the author Herman for the post (total 3):
alekbelia (Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:08 pm) • Peter_Frank (Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:40 pm) • ham-er (Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:03 pm)
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Re: Low wind body dragging

Postby Havre » Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:24 am

It's boring, but a very useful skill to have.


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