Trainers

[sodman]

Just getting interested in kitesurfing. I'm in college so I don't have unlimited funds but I want to get into the sport. I don't care about having the best gear or how it looks I just want to get out there and do it.


I see that trainers are the way to go when you don't have any experience and here are my concerns

1) will any trainer do.
It seems like some trainers are 99 (at the low end) all the way up to 300 and above (high end). Does it matter? Will I learn just as much by buying a 99 dollar, I'm assuming smaller kite and fooling around with it and re selling it and then moving on to an actual setup? Can I drag myself through the water with the trainer? Or is a trainer just a kite, and is meant just to be able to learn how to keep the kite in the air? What I'm asking is is a trainer much different than a regular kite used to surf only smaller? What can I expect?

Where I live there is a lot of wind. Don't know if someone was factoring that into what size trainer to get. I'm around 175-185 about 6 feet tall and athletic. I snowboard, ski (water and snow), and also sail, which I assume will only shorten my learning curve.

2) If I spend, lets say 20 hours with the trainer over a few months. Spend 99 dollars (the local going rate for a 2 hour lesson) and watch a bunch of videos and whatnot online, is it unreasonable to believe that I can go out and kite around? I also have a boat and I'm sure friends that will chase me around on it.

I'm just trying to get a feel for what I can expect since I have really no idea. I also don't mind putting in extra effort to save money. I have a fair amount of free time (especially on the computer) and the want to learn kitesurfing.

Thanks in advance for any help that anyone here provides me

[MistralWind]

Hey man, you'll be fine if you use your trainer for a couple of days maybe even weeks and just get a simple lesson from a good instructor. Sailing will help you a lot as well as snowboarding and wakeboarding, you already know how to edge boards consistently to gain and loose speed and that'll help a lot! You just need to get out there and fly a kite to get the feel of it.

I suggest getting a Best 3m trainer they sell for around $150 complete with bar and lines and are really good quality and are powerfull. If you get another kite I recommend something bigger than 2.5 meters just so you can really feel the power and real handling of a kite.

Go for it dude with your boarding skills and later on your kiting skill youll be up and riding in less than 2 days. Just search a lot of info online or just buy a good intructional dvd before going on the water and taking lessons.

good winds!

[sodman]

Hey man,

Thanks a lot for the response. Ill be looking around for one of the best models.

Now will this be able to pull me around? If I wanted to kinda wimpy try on a sandbar or something? just to get the feel. I'm not really the type to just jump off the biggest jump first ( if you know what I mean) Ive seen my friends get hurt doing that so i usually like to take it reasonably easy at least until I know how ill get hurt when I"m about to go for something

I assume something like this will do?

http://cgi.ebay.com/BEST-3M-TRAINER-KIT ... dZViewItem" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[gandulf]

Dont waste your money on trainers, go follow kite lessons and they'll learn you how to keep the kite in the air with a trainer, won't take more than one hour... certainly not if you have sailing experience etc...

If you do want to get a kite to be playing with (when its too cold or so), get yourself a good powerkite (ozone, flexi, hq) with a basic 4 line bar... slightly harder to start with, but at least you'll have fun with them for years...

most shops sell trainers to very young kids and girls so they wouldn't get scared off the sport

[MistralWind]

Hey man,

Thanks a lot for the response. Ill be looking around for one of the best models.

Now will this be able to pull me around? If I wanted to kinda wimpy try on a sandbar or something? just to get the feel. I'm not really the type to just jump off the biggest jump first ( if you know what I mean) Ive seen my friends get hurt doing that so i usually like to take it reasonably easy at least until I know how ill get hurt when I"m about to go for something

I assume something like this will do?

http://cgi.ebay.com/BEST-3M-TRAINER-KIT ... dZViewItem" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yup thats the one, I bought mine for 150 and then sold it for 100 so its really an awesome deal.

Regarding the reply saying to just go with the lessons I think its not something cool to do. At least on my experience. Learning to fly a trainer before and seeing how kite flying and playing with it is what made me kiteurf in no time. With the trainer try to fly the kite with one hand and not looking at it the whole time. Make something natural of it, this is not possible to do this without practice. You'll also learn to respect the power of kites.

I think that if you go with no sense of what your doing on a lesson itll take you longer to get everything to click in. You cant make flying a kite something natural on your first day. Its just not possible, kitesurfing is 90% kite control!

Feel free to go directly with lesson but be aware itll be sort of awkward to allways have to look at the kite to see where it is. When first getting up on the board youll want to focus on the board instead of the kite+board. The experience on a trainer will let you be more at ease with the kite and really focus on how to ride the board, handle the chops and waves and that sort of stuff.

good winds!

this helped me a lot! -----> http://forum.bestkiteboarding.com/viewtopic.php?t=1786

Edit: A trainer doesnt have the power to get you up and planning on a board, but you can try kite skimming or kitelandboarding with it. It does have the power to lift you a couple of feet once you get the feel of it on high winds though.

[Floridavid]

I still use my trainer all the time, especially in the winter. I keep it in my truck with my skateboard. I have the small Slingshot wasp2 and the larger B3. The wasp is supper quick and crashes easy. Builds good skills though. The B3 is very smooth and goes up wind much better. Even though it's more powerful, I can hand it to a beginner and they can get flying it pretty quick. I love this kite. Our local shot used the B3 in there lessons with a fixed chick loop attached to give students a feel for flying with a harness.

The Best 3m is cheaper but much smaller that the B3. Don't know who can't measure. A friend has broken the lines a few times and replaced them. Have also flown the 4m Ozone 4 line. Very expensive and complicated. Not near as fun as the B3.

I can ride my 10-6 surfboard with a trainer and my 8 year old son uses the wasp to pull him on a skim board. There are lots of fun things to do with a good trainer so don't think you need to sell them later. Also, they are fixed power so you can kill them in high wind. In general if it's so windy that it will park straight up then you'll probably tear out a bridle line if you further fly it.

David

[sodman]

Yeah Sounds like the B3 is good but I just don't have 250 dollars to throw down on a trainer.


Thanks everyone for all the advice. It will be a few weeks before I buy but ill make another post and keep everyone updated.

Maybe i can get it used or something. Ill post before I buy

[alpower]

Edit: A trainer doesnt have the power to get you up and planning on a board, but you can try kite skimming or kitelandboarding with it. It does have the power to lift you a couple of feet once you get the feel of it on high winds though.[/quote]

Not necessarily true. I watched someone kite on a 3m trainer in Hatteras in 50mph.

But anyway the biggest difference in trainers is 2 line vs 4 line. The advantage of a 4 line is that you can easily relaunch by yourself. It also gives you some feel of depowering the kite and if you live near snow you may get some use out of it on the ice (true for 2 line as well). You will need to get a harness for the 4 line but will use that regardless.

But I would highly recommend being comfortable with the trainer before taking lessons. It will make lessons far more productive and will easily pay for itself.

[carkeek craig]

Ocean Rodeo offers 2 training kites that are actually small inflatable 4-line marine traction machines designed to generate enough pull to yank grandpa Joe, or some rug rat, onto to his nose, and send him to the hospital.
http://www.oceanrodeo.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They should be treated with the same respect as any other traction kite.
One is a 4-line C style, and the newest is a 4-line SLE.
The 1.8m Stinger, and the new 2m Rise.
Both kites come complete with bar and lines,ready to fly, complete with bags for good portability.
A training kite can offer some one the chance, at any level of ability, to practice basic skills of traction kiting.

1. Proper rigging of a 4-line traction kite. This is super critical for a successful session.
2. Assisted and self launch techniques
3. Learning where the edge is, and flight patterns through the wind window. (power strokes!)
4. Sheeting contol
5. Crashing, safety release and recovery technique
6. Landing the kite safely.

The new 2m Rise is real kick in the pants to fly from what I've read.
"Ride 4m smaller", thats what they claim about this kite design.
That would make the 2m pull like a larger kite, like the other Rise's.
I might just have to get one of these little power suckers.
I wonder if its a one pump too.
http://www.bellinghamkiteboarding.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



The 1.8m Stinger


Jeremie Tronet(OR's International team rider), just put together a video tutorial for the Stinger that is really laid back, cool to watch and informative as well.
I especially love the sound track on this vid.
(Is it just me, or does it sound like he's breathing helium when he speaks)
check it out....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v408tNSc ... ainers.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sodman]

ok I bought my trainer finally. I got a b-2 slingshot and took it out for the first time today.
Not really enough wind to really have a ton of fun but I was still really stoked to see her in the air.


What should I be working on with the trainer. Its not difficult to fly, for me at least its intuitive and I can really fly it and keep it doing whatever for as long as I like. I can do smooth figure 8's as well with little or no variation in speed of the kite.

Should I be able to fly the kite by feel alone? to me this seems impossible at the moment. Seems that you need at least your periphery vision to know where the kite is and what it is doing.


Also flying this kite made me feel like I want to take the next step and buy the real deal. I plan on making the kite board myself. Any comments on this? Also If I'm going to be buying one kite what size should I get. I feel like my area has consistent 10-20 and most likely closer to the 15-20 range. It seems to vary so Its not that big of a deal to hunt down a location with the correct wind speed. Also what is the cost that I am looking at. I really don't want to spend more than 500 on the kite. Is this realistic?

Thanks for any advice anyone can give me.