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kiting Portugal / Spain in July

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mnd12
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kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby mnd12 » Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:50 pm

I'm planning a trip in Europe, and over the month of July I would be in Portugal / Spain, planning to do some kiting along the way.

These are some of the places I'm considering:

- south-west coast of France
- northern part of Spain
- Galicia, Spain
- Moledo, Portugal
- Viana do Castelo
- Esposende
- Figueira da Foz
- Obidos
- Guincho / Costa da Caparica

Of course, I won't be able to kite on every single location, ... I assume a lot of these would be hit and miss, due to weather/wind conditions. If conditions are not good, we'll keep moving, and hopefully would catch some wind at next location.

As traveling from Canada, I have limited space on my kite bag, so I would need to choose wisely.

I have a quiver of 7m, 9m, 10m and 11m. I'm light weight 150lb (68kg) and riding 134cm twin-tip and 5'8" surfboard.

The plan is to take only one kite and the twin-tip (although love the waves on my surfboard, but maybe I would be able to rent locally).

The biggest question I have, which kite size I should take with me?

For July, I understand the wind is mostly thermal, and best in afternoon. What is usually the average wind range for afternoon?

I'm leaning towards 9m or 10m, ... but would love to hear suggestions from other people that have been kiting in any of these area in July.

Thanks!

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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby Guigassa » Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:24 am

In Portugal the 10 is imo the best choice!
Other countries I cannot advice you.
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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby romian » Tue Apr 30, 2019 8:23 pm

I´m 69 kg and know those areas quite well.

11 and 9 would be the best bet, but if you can´t bring both, then I´d go for the 10. Guincho gets stronger winds than the rest, though.

Water temperature around 17°C - 63°F (add +3 close to the Spain - France border).
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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby TazInGiro » Thu May 02, 2019 12:04 pm

So, I'm a Traveller and new to the sport (first post, hi everyone!)
So far been kiting in sout of Spain and currently in Lagoa de aveiro (Portugal) practicing new transitions :D

Everybody I've seen so far had a quiver of 9/12.. if you hit tarifa on a blowing streak you might want to have a 7 tho!

10 could be perfect for riding the lagoons but a bit OP in waves here...
If you can pack 9/12 you'll kite almost every day but beware: surfboards here are a ton of fun (especially for flatwater tricks)!

If I were you 10+surf (but it's only a matter of style)

Cya and have fun
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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby Al_Kiter » Wed May 08, 2019 1:10 pm

I would seriously advise you to try and bring 2 kites and a single bar (pack them in vacuum bags if you have to) and those would be the 7 and the 9 or the 7 and the 10.

If you absolutely cannot manage to bring 2 kites, then I would say that, with your weight and on a twintip, you could probably get by with the 9 (I weigh 82 kg naked and my biggest kite since many years of riding everywhere in Portugal (with a surfboard) is a 9 m)

Most importantly, if you are just looking for kite spots and do not surf (as in prone surfing) then forget about the southwest of France and the north of Spain. Those are great places to visit and great for surfing (even in July) but the rare thermals rarely go above 15 knots when they do blow.

Instead I would start a Kite vacation in the west coast of Galicia (Doniños in Ferrol) and then drive south from there. Moledo and especially Viana do Castelo are obviously mandatory as is Guincho, then perhaps Caparica and the area between Santa Cruz and Peniche. All the other Portuguese spots you mentioned are hit or miss and I would skip them completely and prefer to head south to the Algarve, where, in July, you can find some good days on the west coast (Carrapateira) and mostly on the south coast (Alvor especially).

The thermals on the west coast of Iberia blow from the right (NW), generally after 2pm and can go from 15 to 20 knots in most spots except for Guincho and Viana do Castelo where they can easily reach 30 knots with occasional 40+ knots days (those are the days you can use to check nearby spots like Esposende in the case of Viana and Caparica in the case of Guincho).
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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby dirtybeach » Wed May 08, 2019 3:41 pm

Guincho can be pretty gnarly when the waves are 3m+
Bring your A-game if you want to ride the bigger days.
Viana is a more playful spot, and much more forgiving.

Late August - pic
26E598F2-9EDC-484D-95FF-9065172C1DD0.jpeg
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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby Barryg101 » Wed May 08, 2019 3:47 pm

Spent all last summer teaching in Viana Do Castelo, really amazing spot and had good winds mostly in 20kts range so a 9 would suit you nicely .

Also done a roadtrip down and kited at most the locations you mentioned but found Viana had strongest winds. Guincho was a great spot definatley big waves .

I'd take 9&12 have an awesome time
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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby mnd12 » Thu May 09, 2019 6:15 pm

Thanks everyone for your comments, very much appreciated!

Wow, those waves at Guincho definitely deserve a lot of respect. For Guincho, is there any time in the day when the wind is not as strong e.g. around noon time or closer to sunset?

My favorite kiting playground is the Caribbean / Florida, where I'm used with steady, consistent easterly trade winds, usually in the range of 15-22 knots. Anything close to 30 knots and beyond would be probably out of my comfort zone.

The 7m kite I'm using it mostly in the winter, kiting on snow, ... which btw it's a lot of fun:
https://youtu.be/ZSA9C6OPY34

So far, it seems that Viana Do Castelo is my best bet, and if the thermals are pushing consistently above 14-15 knots, I should be able to run the 9m.

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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby Dirk » Thu May 09, 2019 6:21 pm

In Guincho the winds often starts around noon and then builds up to be strongest in the afternoon/evening. It´s quite gusty.

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Re: kiting Portugal / Spain in July

Postby mnd12 » Thu May 09, 2019 7:00 pm

Here are some waves I was riding last Dec at Juno Beach, Florida. One big difference, here it's open, a huge sandy beach with no hazards on sight, whereas Guincho seems to have a relative narrow opening, surrounded by lots of rocks on both side. That gives Guincho a very small margin for errors ...
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