So I went into this BLOG writing thing thinking that due to
my injury I would have time to fill you guys in as there would not be much
happening between sessions, but it turned out there has been.
In the last 6 months I have done a bit of kiting,
but mostly I have been kept busy by the Kiteboard Tour Asia, Fantastic SA
Family visit and what is a big part of my life now, Cable Wakeboarding.
This last weekend however I was lucky enough to be back in
Taiwan and helping out at the 1st CTKA Kitesurf National event held at SPOT and it
reminded me of a post I started writing after my last visit here in the middle
of winter and thought: ”I should share it anyway, even if it is old news, as
this place is even better in summer!”
The kiters in this country are super
enthusiastic, genuine and welcoming and since writing the below blog I have now
met more - there were 70 riders at the event!
Here’s that original commentary on kiting part way down the
west coast and my re-introduction and 1st session back in the waves after my knee surgery and the
techniques I was reminded of that may help anyone new to a wave environment: -
18 February 2013
Choose to kite… Taiwan
Another week down and 4 more very diverse sessions in 3
different locations in 2 different countries and I have not quite stuck to my
rule of no jumping, but not on purpose… I guess that is what kiting is about –
improving, growing confident and having fun in the conditions. There is quite a bit I learnt / was reminded
of in those sessions that I will have to break them into more than one blog
post.
Last Sunday we arrived in Taiwan and headed down the West
Coast for about an hour from Taipei International Airport.
There is quite a little kiting community in
this area and growing, with good reason – not only is the wind super regular,
but the areas are un-crowded.
The
regular wind is thanks to the tall mountains of Taiwan and the airflow being
squeezed down the strait between mainland China and Taiwan.
For part of the year the wind blows from the
N/NE and is cross-shore from the right and then it changes and is cross-shore
from the left for the rest of the year.
The un-crowdedness is due to most of the Taiwanese being told that the
ocean and beaches are a dangerous place and there is even coast guard in some
areas that stop you from going kiting.
With
all the weather around there are currents and waves to contend with as well as
fishing nets and in some areas debris that washes down the rivers in the rainy
season, so caution is always advised.
Local advice should be sought before kiting in any of the Taiwan
waters.
There are many kiting spots around Taiwan and the locals are super friendly and helpful, so check the couple of links below if you are considering
going kiteboarding or kitesurfing in Taiwan.
The first of our kite sessions was on Sunday afternoon at
low tide at Qiding – this spot is the closest beach to the Cabrinha kite
designer’s house and man it is a fun location – with flatwater on the inside
and some nice waves on the outside. We
rode it in cross-shore conditions, but it will work in everything from
cross-off (great when there’s a nice swell) to cross-shore from the other side.
My challenge for the day was how to get over the breaking
waves without doing something silly to my knee.
So it was back to basics and getting to grips on how I used to do it
before I learnt to edge and pop over them.
It all comes down to timing… if you get out between the ‘sets’ then you
tend to just have swells to negotiate or
small bumps of white water. If you get
the timing wrong then you may have to turn in a hurry and high tail it back
towards the beach. This is when all that
time cruising and playing in the flat-water with your edge control, stopping
and turning in a hurry, carve turns, down wind and upwind runs at controlled
fast or slow speeds mentioned in my last couple of blog posts really come in
handy.
Before heading out you should check the spot – something you
should do for every location you kite in, but more so when you have waves to
negotiate, as they change from session to session and from the start to the end
of your session as the tide changes.
Not
only is there the wave size and formation, but also the change in water depth
and the amount of beach available for launching and landing.
We arrived at the spot a couple of hours
after high tide and our local contact Pat had checked it at low tide only a
couple of days before, so could point out where the rocks, sand bar, oyster
beds and fishermen net anchors were.
He
also mentioned that the waves will probably be biggest and cleanest at mid-tide
– handy knowing a local!
The wind was good 9m weather for me and this is the first
time since my surgery that I have flown in such windy conditions, as most of
the ‘flat-water’ locations I have been in chop up too much and are very
uncomfortable for the knee. The nice
thing about waves is that they tend to smooth out the water between them, so
even if it is windier the water is flatter, well in between the waves at least… BUT I still had to negotiate those waves. When a wave comes towards the beach you can
tell where and when it will start to break if you have been watching them for a
bit before heading out. So I chose a
line that meant I headed out straight into the small reformed waves and white
water close to the shore. As the wave approached I put a bit more weight on my
back foot and lifted my front foot up at the same time flying my kite up. As
soon as I was on top of the wave I’d fly my kite down and speed off across the
flat so that I have momentum at the next wave to again shift my weight back and
fly the kite up. Getting the timing of
this right in the small stuff really helps when the waves get bigger, as it
means that you are ‘lifted ‘ over the wave by the kite pulling up and then
pulled down the back of the wave by your kite coming down again. Fly the kite too aggressively and you will
indeed fly off the top of the wave, or if you are not aggressive enough you
will hit the wave like a brick wall and be pushed back to the shore. Same goes for the speed check on the board –
if you plant that back foot too hard you will not have enough momentum to be
carried over the wave, or don’t plant it enough you will go flying at speed
into or over the wave, depending at what formation it is.
So after a bit of practice back and forth and getting my
timing right for the sets and the wave break locations I headed out towards the
‘proper’ waves. A couple of times I
turned and sped off back to the beach waiting for the waves to lose a bit of
power before turning and heading out over them.
Then I was in the right spot and I had just the perfect formation to
carve onto the wave face next to a breaking peak. Not quite wave riding, but getting my
confidence back, these waves are a playground, not a danger zone.
My equipment choice for the day was still my easy to use
soft 140 Spectrum Board with small fins – so not the perfect set up for turning
hard or even riding a wave, but it was the right choice for me as I knew I
would not hook a fin and twist my knee accidently. I needed to improve my confidence and be
confident that I could get out of any potential danger and my gear choice
helped. So who cares if I was not riding
strapless on my surfboard – I was having fun and improving my skills.
Choosing to kite is way more important to me than standing
on the beach waiting for my body to heal or my skills to miraculously improve
without any failures so that I will look ‘cool’ while riding. The only way I will improve is by being out
there kiting in diverse conditions as regularly as possible. The fastest way to improve is by choosing the
user friendly gear – appropriate to your skill or current fitness level. The best way to improve… well I think that is
by choosing to build a good solid foundation of skill – by choosing to go for a
session… even if it is 5/4 wetsuit weather – like in Taiwan in winter.
Good winds and happy kiting.
:)
Some links for more info on kiting and stuff in Taiwan: -
CTKA - Chinese Taipei Kitesurfing Association - www.ctka.tw
Nico - www.nicowsf.com
Tony - www.spot.com.tw
Vito - www.facebook.com/IwAkeCablePark
