Hey everyone,

I'm jonsin to ride here now that the snowkite season is over. The plan is to at some point get out and learn to ride water but since fields are more accessible I was thinking of getting a board for that.

My question at this point is are land and water riding at all alike and is there any technique or board handling that crosses over?

In other words will the land board help me learn to ride the water?

Thanks!
Chris

I see you have an excess of chargers.... Want to sell me your 15???????

Landboarding in fields can be a pretty challenging way to learn. Having a good hard surface like an athletic field would be the way to go. Anything with clumpy grass or anything too soft will be tough. Other than that you'll be off an riding on a landboard in no time since you have the kite skills. Its just a matter of figuring out how to point your board downwind a little to take off, then edge back and little and you're riding.

Don't know how it translates to the water. I wish I could tell you.

point of sail all same, rides on land 10-15moh all fun !

kite control and board control for land is more refined , speed control with the kite is very important. the body position for land board is more upright and at lower speeds ON TOP of the board, as power and speed are added more and more heel side balance can be added

on water there is more speed and power and the body position is a strong balance to heelside on cross wind and up wind runs. its more speed but alot of sliding grip can be sloppy compared to land,,, on land at the same speed you can expcect a ton of powersliding and a straight grippy line will be very fast and sensitive compared to water.

20 mph(wind) on water with nice airs and huge carves all fun but put that on land you need to have fine control of kite and board spot on !!

for most kiters going onto the land board with skills to common trouble spots

-too much transition runout upwind producing difficult return line,,gotta stay more crosswind makes them easier at first( your first pull over when the kite and board angle are to different)

-downwind runs, board out runs kite. most are afraid to fly the kite faster and add speed to the board. gotta keep the board and kite hooked up.

slow cross wind lines and refined free rolling speed control with kite get this down add power and sliding (brakes!). get that wired first couple hours then the fun starts

If you can ride a board on land you can ride a board on water.

they both use a kite ....

Well since this is a kiting forum it is assumed that any sort of riding is done with a kite. That at least makes sense to me?

Similar, but it doesn't translate the same. It'll get you the basics, which I gather you already have from snow kiting. So I imagene you will actually learn very little on the loadboard. Fun none the less. If you really want to learn water, then just go do that If you're jonesing with no cure, then get a landboard and a landboard dvd like progression or drill1.

Need to edge more on the water and you can't go upwind as soon ... most of my sinkage appears to be from trying to go upwind as soon as I'm up. More board speed Scotty! I think you'll be fine, Mad Max.

Well after several failed attempts I finally had a half decent one hour session on the board. Here are a few things that I have been noticing for me personally anyway:

Tight trucks go a long way to hold a straight line.
Soft ground such as a field really makes it difficult and can lead to several face plants when the toe edge wheels dig into the dirt.
Sloppy stance and posture really become noticed almost instantly.
Trying to ride switch is harder (for me anyway) than snowkiting.
Really have to be pointed downwind more when taking off. The board doesn't slide out like a snowboard can when taking off.
More difficult to hold posture when turning the board.
Very wise to have loose foot straps so that you can slip out in event of bail. (doesn't feel good if you tumble over and a board attached to your feet cranks you in the forehead.)
Nice to just take board out to a small grade hill or path and ride it down several times to help get a feel of the board.

So far this is what I have learned from my sessions, will add more as I go along over the next while.
Shaggs

Sounds like you learned a lot there Shaggs. Makes me want to give it a shot. Thanks everyone for the info.

It's safer too - no bears on the water