Friday was another superb day at my local – Shui Hau. This time well powered to just powered on a
10m Switchblade and using my trusty Spectrum 140 prototype with 25mm fins. You may think that this equipment is a
strange choice for a 70kg (yes – Christmas in SA and 9 months off the water
have not been that flattering) women who is a competent freestyler, confident
with unhooking and kitelooping. You may
be right, but every person is subtly different – my big difference is that I am
recovering from knee surgery and probably should not be out there yet at all.
Equipment choice is such an individual thing and depends not
only on your size, sex and riding style, but also on your location and what you
are trying to achieve right now with your riding. The equipment you choose is also not only
restricted to what kite and board you are using, but also what harness, wetsuit
(or not), booties, pads and straps, handle and if you are going to be wearing that
safety gear too.
So back to Friday – 10m Kite, 140 board and my kite shorts
harness. Nice low pull, no restriction
of movement in my waist and just very little restriction in my hips. Helmet on –
I always wear my helmet, just in case… not necessarily me being stupid (that’s always
a possibility), but also because there are heaps of inconsiderate / uneducated
individuals in our sport. It was nice
and windy – five kiters out in the morning thanks to Chinese New Year (CNY) and
flat water – super fun session!
So what did I do? Off
course there was the list from my last blog, plus the surface 360’s mentioned
by Megan and Blaise both toeside and blindside and the long blind runs – thanks
to it being so quiet. I also added in a
couple of new ‘tricks’ I have never consistently done before. The surface 360 with an Ole – that is
holding the bar above your head instead of passing it. The other is the surface one foot, taking the
back foot out of the binding while riding along and kicking it up and grabbing
it with the front hand. What fun you can
have inventing stuff – now I know what Toby (kiteforum.com) has been up to for
over a year and why we waited so long for those ’Airstyle” DVDs.
Other ‘tricks’ you could consider to improve your kite and
board control skills are:
Carving transitions from heelside to toeside,
Carve transition with an underloop,
Riding blind,
Riding along unhooked,
Surface 360 both ways and do one after the other without hooking back in in between,
Rotating to wrapped hooked and unhooked and riding along,
Butterslide or board wheelie,
Backroll transition, but without the board leaving the water.
Carving transitions from heelside to toeside,
Carve transition with an underloop,
Riding blind,
Riding along unhooked,
Surface 360 both ways and do one after the other without hooking back in in between,
Rotating to wrapped hooked and unhooked and riding along,
Butterslide or board wheelie,
Backroll transition, but without the board leaving the water.
The last of these is actually a great one to learn, because
if you go into it too fast or edge too hard before you roll, or if you move the
kite too quickly over 12 o’clock you will leave the water. This is especially important for somebody who
is keen to learn roll tacks for kite-racing to master, as this basic kite and
board control teaches you the timing subtleties required.
I am sure there were many more things I got up to and tried,
but towards the end of my session I started being silly and had my first
kiteloop lifted off the water crashes since my op and even those were fun – I so
love kiting!
Now I am in Taiwan – having a ball in the waves – will let
you know how my not leaving the water challenge goes before I head back to HK
at the end of the week.
Good winds and happy kiting!
:)