I'm going to start kiteboarding this summer. I took kiteboarding lessons a few years ago and have been snowkiting for two years. Currently I ride a 11m Frenzy and skis on the snow.

I am going ride at different places, including some that don't have enough space to launch the kite on the "beach".They, however, have enough shallow water (75-250m from the trees). I'm thinking of dragging the kite out in belly down position with the LE facing me (like you would leave it on a beach). When I'm far enough from the trees (~3x line lenght) I would need to turn the kite around to relaunch it. This is easily done by pulling a back line but the other back line tends to go over the kite, which leaves me with crossed lines! How do you relaunch a kite from this position?

I want to be able to kite in 12-22 knots, especially the 12-14 knt range is important as that's very usual wind here. I can figure out what kind of kite to get (Kahoona, Vision, Qx, Rally,...), but I'm a little unsure about the kite size on water and especially the board size. I weight 75kg. These are the options I have thought about :

1. a 12m kite with good low-end.

2. a 9-10m + a 13-14m

I have little idea about the board size really, could you recommend me something? :puzzled: I'm thinking ~138cm x something... I've heard the board's width is important but I don't know what to look for. They seem to be in the 40-42cm range.

Also, does my height matter at all when choosing a board? Like I said, I'm 75kg BUT I'm also 2m tall.

Thanks for any answers to these pretty basic questions!

Here is a video I made on how to drift launch a kite. Your conditions seem ideal for this method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq3PB2G7b88

At 75kg a 10-12m kite is a good starting point, 138cm board is what I have. Started with a 145 and weigh about the same as you. Now my kites are 8, 10, 14.

definitely 12m . the board width is more important than length, like 42cm + wide,

avoid concave bottoms (@ 30knts different story!) you want slick and fast as this will help on low end more than kite choice

rally is pretty friendly unit ...drift launch is all about line management KEEP ALL ORIENTED til you let it go , the less you do the better

There is a device called Turbo Launcher for this . The didn't exactly take off but I think they work.
Here's a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_QECLqzGPE

Thanks for the tips about the board, PHREERIDER. Now I know roughly what I should look for.

I've already seen both, the video and the "Turbo Launcher". I don't really like the Turbo Launcher, but I guess it would be helpful when driftlaunching from a boat. I'm not sure if I need to driftlaunch anyway, I will probably have someone with me who can hold the kite / I will just drag it on the water with the lines already unrolled.

How do you land your kites in water? I think I could just land it and then wrap the front lines around the bar a few times before I start winding them all.

I really just need to try these things out in a safe place...

Ok, so I was looking at boards and found this:

Brunotti Onyx Blue 2013 140x42.

I could get it for a nice price and it seems quite suitable.
It has a single concave and pretty flat rocker.
I know probably nobody will have experience with this board, but would you say it would be OK for my needs? And what windrange should I expect together with a 12m (delta) kite?

Thanks for your help!

choice board!, you need a float plan for the spot! and work from that point ....entering advance launch area as a newbie is gonna be challenging. a sketch launch spot is not what you want , even with a spotter things get jacked quick, modern 12m delta have a ton of range 10-25 knots. to start it will give confident power, but you will want smaller soon

are others kiting this spot ?

I'm definitely not going to do my first kiteboarding at that spot...
We have a nice 6km beach which isn't that far away from here.
There are also a few other good places for learning.

Having said that, tricky spots are pretty normal here. I haven't seen anyone kite at "my" spot, but it definitely seems a lot better than some other places people kite at. The spot has about 250m of shallow water, 50 of which are <50cm deep. The ground is sand and I haven't found any rocks in the water.(which is pretty rare around here...)
There is enough space to set the kite up on land.

I have asked some locals and they told me I would curse the 12m piece of cloth the whole summer long... They told me to get a 13.5m and 9.5m. The 13.5m is necessary for the usual summer winds (10-14knt) and the 9.5m for winds >16knt. Those kites would be Best Kahoona V4's.

Go with local advice on board and kite size. Also I would be concerned about wind shadows with the tree line. Best bet would be to have a launch where there is a consistent flow of air and less obstacles.

Wind shadows aren't an issue. Trees a few hundred meters downwind won't cause any problems. From snowkiting I remember very well how close I can get to the trees before the wind gets bad.:D Trees upwind would be much worse. There's a lot of space upwind so that isn't an issue.

Obstacles? Well, there's the tree line but that's it. No rocks etc. anywhere close. Imo this kind of with launch with a helper in shallow water has to be safer than launching the kite on land in limited space.
I know one very popular spot where they pull their kites up right next to the trees and they all say it's just a matter of time before something bad happens...
That's the spot I also took my kitesurfing lessons at. The water was also full of rocks, some of them underwater. Funny situation when you've got a kite hooked in for the first time and the instructor tells you to watch out for this rock and that one + the big one right in front of you...not to mention the one I almost hit when being pulled on my face by the trainer kite.
Seriously, I'm not tempted to go kitesurf there anytime soon.

Quote: Originally posted by UnknownAX

. How do you land your kites in water? I think I could just land it and then wrap the front lines around the bar a few times before I start winding them all. I really just need to try these things out in a safe place...

I think you are asking How do I SELF RESCUE ?
If they didn't teach this to you I would be asking for my money back.

He taught me tought how to lie on the kites LE and use the tip as a sail, if that's what your asking. He did not tell how to wrap the lines around the bar, I guess that doesn't matter in an emergency. With the frenzy I would just wrap either the backlines or the 5th around the bar and then continue winding them all. I sometimes had to do that because the wind was too strong to simply run to the kite without securing it. Of course, walking up the 5th line is also an option.
With a LEI, I would wind the "safety" line / "mini 5th" / "virtual 5th" around the bar a few times.

Btw. The instructor forgot to tell us about the right of way rules and some other stuff that I later looked up on the net but haven't ever needed. I guess I should learn those now as I might actually risk bumping into another kitesurfer!

Ok, so I got the opportunity to rent kitesurfing gear at a surf center. They had a huge Airush Square One board and a 2007 Airush DNA 12m + a Wipika of unknown size (they had gotten it for free...)

I was practising twice, the first time the wind was too little to do anything except bodydragging, practising waterstarts and learning to relaunch the kite. (Running towards it, flipping it on its back, etc. It wasn't just a matter of pulling a steering line...)

The next time I went out at half past 4am so I could practice alone, without having to watch out for all the other kiters. The wind was 18-20knts and in those 6 hours I learned to waterstart and ride to the left and later to the right, even turning was suprisingly simple. I was eventually doing a few runs at a time without having to walk upwind all the time.
However, I found edging the board or going upwind very hard, the board just wanted to lay flat and skid on the water. I took my feet way out of the straps and stood on the board with my heels on the edge of the board but it was still difficult to edge.

I've bought a board (140x42) and should get my 12m kite soon. Now I'm just waiting to get on the water for the 3rd time, it certainly feels pretty different than on snow! :D