i seem to have a small problem.

the beach here in san diego goes from north west to south east.

the wind comes in from the north west.

this means that the wind pretty much comes down the beach from the north. with a bit of western on shore direction.

the beaches not very wide.

the wind is about 7-15 knotts.

It is not to hard to get down the beach. kind of slow maybe jogging speed, tops. pretty much can go right down the beach swinging the kite east and west. or from south west to north east.

after going say a mile find myself walking back. i tried power diving the kite north east but the pull seems to be a very short window.

can someone tell me if its possible to kiteskate back up the beach. or is this the kind of the way it is??

Thanks Rich

The nature of kite traction sports is to "sail" across the wind in all directions effectively navigating to a desired destination and eventually returning to your starting point. If you have to walk back, you are not sailing and most likely took an incorrect line downwind. The idea is, don't follow the wind away unless you can use that same wind to return.

Coming upwind means positioning the kite in the sky where it will provide efficient power (and therefore forward speed on the ground) to come upwind in a series of upwind lines (reaches). If the beach is narrow, you will have to make many short reaches.

This could take a very long time if you have followed the wind downfield. Better thing to do is make the same short reaches downwind only a short distance and return with short reaches upwind. You never get ver far from camp doing this and if the beach is narrow, and you don't go very far before reaching the the end of your line, but learning and practicing sailing techniques is what kite sports are all about and will pay off when you find a more suitable location.

thats odd when sailing i never worried that we were taking a tack that would result in us no being able to go back im confused.

This is not a concern sailing in an open space (lakes, ocean, dry lakes), but kiteskating on the hardpack between the surf and the soft sand is more like sailing on a river (or roadway) with a side-offshore or 45 degree wind. You can easily take a long ride downwind but may spend an hour zigzagging your way upwind in very narrow reaches.

I suggested using short reaches to go downwind just to practice using the narrow strip of usable beach in the most efficient manner. Also to prevent a long walk back upwind.

The nature of Kiteskating (as well as the other kite traction sports) is to be able to navigate to anywhere you like and later return to your starting point when you are ready to stop. This can be complicated by the nature of your location. Certainly kiteskating on a road is more difficult than in a soccer field.