Hello everyone.

I've just joined the forum. I'm new to landboarding and making my first attemps. I have some experience with static flying and want to progress.

In this first experience I've chosen a park located near my house. But I've found it pretty much frustrating. The spot is surrounded by trees, the “grass” is very dry in this season and very thick. The wind was low, about 9-12 knots, I weight about 242 lbs, my height is 6' 2". The kite is a fixed bridle Ozone Octane 5 mts. The mountainboard is a heavy scrub predator with channel trucks and 9'' wheels.

I tried to take the kite to the zenith and get on the board. Then, move it slightly into the power zone riding downwind, because otherwise the kite hadn't enough power to start moving. It seemed to have a lot of traction in the power zone and zero at the edges. Of course, the kite pulled me abruptly and took me off the board several times even when I was bending my knees . Every time I managed to start moving, the kite flew off the power zone and stop pulling me, so I suddenly stopped.

I don't want to spend my money in a bigger kite now. I want to stick with the octane at this moment. Maybe the location was not the best and I would better practice in a more wide open space and in a dirt road or something like that, not on thick grass. And I've thinking about changing my channel trucks for skate trucks and the 9'' wheels for 8'' ones. Yes, I know I'm pretty heavy, but I think this should be enough to at least get me moving The kite lines are about 20 mts long. Maybe, if they were 30 mts long, the wind window would seem larger and could move more my kite without getting it off the power zone.

Any suggestions or advices related to kite, board or location?

Thanks in advance.

You've pretty much answered your own questions. As you already guessed the simple answer is that you hadn't enough wind combined with a lot of rolling resistance. You may need to change your location and wait for some good steady wind. Many of us travel some distance for the right conditions. Line length might help you a little, but you're surrounded by trees, so be wary.

Location is a huge part of flying/riding. Bad wind in a bad location will make your flying time very frustrating, especially when trying to learn something new. Your 5m should be plenty of power for you to ride in the right area with the right winds and is a good size to learn with. A larger kite may not be the answer to your issues right now.

One thing that may help is to point the board at a 45 degree angle downwind, not directly downwind. Then when you get on the board with the kite at zenith, you can dive the kite down in the direction you want to move and the kite should be straight in front of you, making it easier for you to get the board moving and less chance of being pulled over/off of it. Once you get moving, start to carve the board across wind while signing the kite in an up & down motion directly in front. Heavy rolling resistance will make this harder to do because once you get moving and have to re-direct the kite back up, you will lose forward movement and stop.

Larger wheels are usually easier to ride on grass, your trucks should make very little difference at all and I would stick with the channel trucks. Longer lines will give you a longer time in the power while signing your kite but still may not be the answer.

Take a weekend drive and go scout out some other areas that may be better to ride on. Hardpack is usually the easiest to learn with. Make sure you have a good quality helmet!!! Some body armor, heavy duty gloves or at least knee and elbow pads would also be good.

Keep at it. It will start to come together.

Hope this helps.

to speed things up , make share the tires are rock hard. definitely need more power if on grass.


... rough grass no thank you , thats a huge element.

if the board won't flow its a no go. enough power to power through it might be a hand full to start out with, pad up! thats gonna be a rough education. find a good spot it will serve you, a rough spot will punish you

What Kent from Awindofchange said is bang on.

Pointing straight down wind means you will catch up to the kite. Your board needs to be able to roll a bit between power strokes. If the grass stops you rolling right away it is too long / soft. Try and start off at a bit of an angle and point your board toward the kite once rolling. Fly the kite in a sine ~ wave . Glide between power pumps ( if possible ) and lean back + point cross / upwind with each power pump once in motion. Try and take the kite back up for the next pump before it has traveled to the edge of the window.

If you start off at a bit of an angle and get your body low + back behind the board pushing out with your feet you will be less likely to go over the top. More likely to go back on your butt.

It sounds like a better surface and decent wind will make all the difference. I would try to find a better location before spending money changing out my gear. Getting it all to click isn't easy but nothing with great reward is. When you do, there will be no looking back.

Thanks for your answers.

I've just posted a video to show you the spot, the conditions and the "riding" so to speak

Of course, I wear safety gear, a good helmet and knee and elbow pads. Probably I'll need a crash pant. I have a body armour also, but I thought it would be pretty much being the wind so low. Falling over dry grass is a bit unpleasant. Also, small branches get attached to the kite lines during launch and it's all very frustrating.

I think the big problem is the rough grass. Too much resistance. Even so, I've seen some people riding slow with big depower kites there.

The tires were totally pumped up.

On the other hand, I don't live near the cost, so the winds here are almost always low (9-14 knots). That's what we've got.

This is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQuOiyCXD-0

Thanks again.

Looks a bit like you went straight down wind. Try and dive the kite a bit deeper into the window and cut cross wind as soon as you get moving. Then send the kite back up and dive it again before it hits the edge of the window. You won't be able to " park and ride " in those conditions. Flying a sine wave will be needed.

The grass doesn't look great but is better than I expected.

Yes, in that video I went straight downwind. By the way, I crashed the kite on the ground on its nose at the end of the scene so I just stopped moving.

I've uploaded another short video in which you can now watch the kite and how it's moving across the sky, so you can imagine how the wind conditions were. The kite had almost no power outside the main power zone and just drops. It had a decent pull in that small zone, but it was very difficult to get moving until the next time the kite crosses that zone or park it there. Maybe the wind was too slow.
I managed to ride for a few seconds, but couldn't record it when I went down through a gentle slope.

Here's the video, so that you can see why it was a "frustrating experience"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRycE7N7KLE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wH5_PRcvs4&index=1&...

afew tutorials I put together

I want to mention that the wind was gusty and changed direction constantly, so it was very challenging to find the right place for the kite..... at least for me..... probably, someone more experienced would be able to ride in these conditions.

I use the ozone turbo bar to control the kite.

Thank you, Carl.

I had previously watched your tutorial on youtube. It's really helpful for beginners and I had that video on my mind and tried to follow your advices. But you are moving in a very different kind of surface, hard packed sand. Your board moves smoothly and apparently with a little pull you manage to start moving. I think my problem was also the poor wind conditions. There were times when I just couldn't lunch my kite. Then, when there was a gust, I lunched the kite, but suddenly the wind seemed to change.

Anyway, maybe it's my lack of skill.

spot looks good . you just need a bit more consistent wind

Yeah, I was expecting worse too. More stubble than long grass. Your location is better suited to a buggy or is that out of the question ?

I dont own a buggy, so that option is not possible. I think there was not enough wind to move a buggy that is heavier than a mountainboard. Maybe with a high performance kite. I dont know.
Unfortunately, we dont have a lot of wind here. I live far away from the coast. About 400 kms. I think the trees are blocking the wind a little also. Its gonna be difficult. I will try to find a more wide open space with a dirt road with less resistance. That way I will need less wind to start rolling.

Yeah Jose, seeing the kite luft to the ground on your second video is an indication that you didn't have enough wind to landboard in that softer surface, and definitely not enough to "park and ride". Don't go out in crazy wind, but do try again with a little more wind. Or, if you do find a dirt road that's perpendicular to the wind, you may have better luck in that low wind, given the much lower rolling resistance. Keep at it sir, the more times you get moving, the more you will develop a "feeling" of where to put the kite in respect to the direction of the wind and your desired direction of travel.

Thanks for your encouragement.

I can't wait to try again. I wish we had a beach with higher winds near here. But I have to settle for what I have.

I'm even thinking of trying over asphalt on a rural road with very little traffic. I have a longboard and I've seen many videos on youtube where people practice "longboard kiting". You hardly need a little wind to start moving along and the longboard is pretty more portable than the mountainboard.

Seems like it's a lot of fun :duh:

This is my last video. Getting just a little better. I failed to push my heels over the board and put my weight against the kite pull, so I was getting closer to the kite. Finally, the kite collapses.

But yeahh.... this is fun. I was rolling a little downhill and so, that was a little easier. When I tried to come back to the other side uphill, I couldn't almost move. I'm afraid I weigh too much. I tried to dive the kite into the power zone, but I couldn't move.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LfAu6NraAY