I been landboarding and snowkiting for 8 month now, learned everything on my own without any accidents. Now I am thinking about going on water this summer as I live 5 minutes away from the beach.
I have Pulse 10m, which I plan to use, but I have no idea what board should I get. Any suggestions for 150 pound guy?

Also, can I do it on my own? Is there something I should know before I attempt going on water? I plan on using life jacket and a helmet, and my friends watching me in case something goes wrong. Thats pretty much my plan. Does this plan look reasonable?
Any suggestions or advice please.
Thanks

If you can landboard and not crash the kite then you'll be fine in the water. Just remember never go farther offshore than you are willing to swim. Another quick tip is to try this with your landboard. Start sitting down or laying down. From this position get your landboard on your feet and start riding. This is similar to getting your board to your feet and lifting yourself out of the water.

A surfboard with some footstraps will work just fine as well for starting out. If you deciede to stick with kitesurfing then you can invest in a nice board/s.

I'm riding the same boards I got back in 1999/2000.

Later-Scott

www.kitesurfingschool.org is a great site for basic instruction. If you can get your hands on a DVD lesson it would be a huge help. You can watch it over and over.

Learn how to body drag first and formost. The proper technique to body drag upwind is extremely valuable when retrievng your board also when setting out on an onshore wind. Pay attention to how to self rescue and practice it before you need it !

let's not forget, rear leg bent, front leg straight and pointing you best advice i ever got

Go for it!

Hi bloah

not much experienc e yet, but just been through this phase at the end of the summer. and I have read a lot.

don't step the body grad phase, really important to be able to go upwind. Imagine you lose your board, and the wind is off-shore.

get the larger board you can have. use a twin tip board, not a surf as I would be really impressed if you can ride toe side with a unidirectional board in your first rides.

I have used a litewave freeride 169x43 this summer. this board reduce the learning curve a lot. it turns well, it floats well, and has some rocker.

don't get a rectangle light wind board like a door with a flat rocker for the beginning. these boards have to be edged a lot otherwise they slip forward and you lose balance. and not ideal in the chops.

some suggestion of boards

undeground FLX 152 (not the 148 which has flat rocker)
liquid force proof 151 or 161
slinshot sx 157
litewave freeride 169
best chubby 140x46
spleene rip 140x47

If you take a shorter board, make sure it has a larger size if you want to get same float and balance.

you can still learn on a regular board like 140x40 but your learning curve will just be longer. reason is just simple: less balance, you will fall faster, you will ride less

As for my litewave, I wanted to sell it, but I have decided to keep it as it will be amazing in light winds.

Now I am thinking to get a spleene rip 138x44, for my kitesurf trip at the end of march

I plan on (re)learning this summer on a home made plywood board. Is this a good or bad idea? I think a plywood would float nice, help me start.

Quote:

Originally posted by buzz Hi bloah don't step the body grad phase, really important to be able to go upwind. Imagine you lose your board, and the wind is off-shore.

It is best to avoid going out in offsore winds on the ocean ( or great lake ) for the obvious reasons :o If you are on a lake it is a different situation.

Good you mentioned the Plydoor Buzz ! I have suggested it to people as a better option than a wakeboard but it is FAR from the ideal board to learn on.

Barnes, You can pick up a big old board for $100 easy . That would be 10 times better than the $50 to build a plydoor !

Quote:

Originally posted by barnes I plan on (re)learning this summer on a home made plywood board. Is this a good or bad idea? I think a plywood would float nice, help me start.

http://kitesurfingschool.org/board.htm

read that, they have the instructions to make a board with some rocker. Just dont use a door shape. Round up the tips.

thanks for advices guys, I really appreciate them !
Cheers
Bloah

Not to hijack the thread here (move me if it's hijacking) but......you can body drag yourself upwind?

Can't wrap my head around that one......

what is body drug anyways?

Quote:

Originally posted by bloah what is body drug anyways?

where you use the kite power to pull you around in the water without a board.

usually when you fall off your board, and try to collect yourself, by putting you kite back up to zenith, you'll be pulled downwind a bit. once you're kite is at zenith you'll want to send your kite at 45 degrees, and use your other arm to help guide you upwind to get back to your board.

simple steps to follow:

1. learn your kite ... water relaunching, etc
2. learn to body drag in shallow water
3. learn to body drag w/ kite upwind
4. learn to water start

... now you're ready for kiteboarding

Sample Video: http://www.bestkiteboarding.dk/video/instruktion/Tips_til_be...

an IKO lesson is worth all the money. It also reduces the learning curve.

I took just a 4hour private lesson and we had enough time to cover LEI water relaunch, safety release, body drag downwind and upwind, and water start.

You get all the tips for a good water start as how to position your body and legs

Then I was ready to practice on my own.

When you body drag upwind you want to get your body working like a giant rudder. Getting the underwater hand up over your head and using it as part of the rudder helps greatly !

Is this feasible with handles, or am I delusional to think I can do this without a bar? I like the idea of being handy with body dragging before adding a board to the equation. Not sure I would have enough rudder without that underwater arm extended in front. I guess I need to just try it.

with handles and a harness i guess it might be possible, but it would definitely be more fiddly, you really have to straighten your body out, like snowbird said, one arm on the bar, the other arm as a rudder, and your legs keeping you planing through the water... i've never tried it with handles though, might be fun to try and give us a report