Tag Archives: Underwave

Riding waves in Off Shore Winds

March 29, 2018 CedFly

I spent last Week End in Cape St Francis. For those who don’t know, it is famous for it’s wave, (and yes I did dust the old Waveski and got a few good rides in ). So if you ain’t scoring wind, you got the option of an awesome wave with friendly locals as long as you respect their spot and play according to the rules (Not all visitors seem to understand that)

I was on a mission to kite it, to see how the wind was on the South Westerly direction knowing it would be pretty off shore.

Riding real waves in those conditions Â is challenging for a few reasons:

Firstly the wind is invariably gusty as it comes over land.

Secondly the timing and way of rinding the wave has to adapt to deal with the wind direction and where the kite sits in the window whilst on the wave.

The first day I went further down around the bay where the wind is a more friendly cross off shore to a spot called “Ducks”. The waves break on sandbanks and are pretty fast and gnarly. You also got some rip currents which canÂ create chop on the wave. The wind as expected, was gusty but manageable for an experienced rider. The close outs did catch me a few times, but I also got some nice runs and turns. The beautiful backdrop of the Cape St Francis lighthouse makes for a good picture.

On the Sunday, with the wind still around, I tried seals point where it is totally off shore. Â I realised that my board was lacking a little bit of volume to get me through the dead spots in the wind, so if I’d had the choice, I would have used a board with a little more volume.My Peter Lynn Kiteboarding “Swell”Â handled nicely as it has great drifting capabilities, I think without a good drifting kite, I would have battled in those off shore conditions. Another observation is that when the wind drops on you, you need to be able towork the kite to generate power. A quick and responsive kite definitely helps.
It was amazing to be riding such clean waves, but challenging to time the turns on the beach break. You almost need to turn a little late to catch the lip coming down so you stay on the wave.
The spot is also a little daunting because of dealing with off shore conditions, and I definitely only recommend it to very experienced kiters with the option of a rescue craft should things go wrong. (I had someone with a JetSki on standby)

During the Week End I came to these conclusions:

A slightly more buoyant board is an advantage as it allows you to surf the wave through the luls.
You need a kite that drifts nicely and is super stable even when depowered.
The timing of your bottom and top turns needs to adapt with the off shore wind so as to connect the lip of the wave.
Kite placement and anticipation is super important otherwise it wants to pull you over the wave.
Riding forehand (facing the wave) is a serious advantage to hold the power of the kite.

I Look forward to some more session there.

Thanks Manuela Borsato for the pics.

Kiteboarding

New Wave Riding Video

December 10, 2017 CedFly

In October / November, we get pretty insane conditions on the East Coast of South Africa.

Strong winds from the left and the right, and big swell pull in regularly. This year was no exception.

The spot featured in this video is not the friendliest, The waves are strong, there is a side current and lots of rocks downwind. Mistakes can have a heavy price. (a few destroyed kites here before). But the wave runs and is super powerful. It breaks of a rock outcrop to then run along these sand banks. The close out is very powerful and tricky to hit as it has a tendency to destroy you.

I have been surfing this wave for a long time, but it has to be way smaller than the swell on the video to be able to make the paddle out. Of course with kiting you manage to get over the white water and end up riding way bigger waves.

I always take a kite that is super reliable and relaunches quick. The Peter Lynn Kiteboarding Swell v3 is the perfect kite for this conditions. Not only does it relaunch super fast (you need to get it up before the next wave hits you) but it also drifts remarkably well. With such fast waves it’s super important.

Enjoy this little edit that kind of sums up what was a memorable Oct / Nov!

Ced

Kiteboarding

Airstyle – Old School – back to the roots

April 23, 2016 CedFly

When I first started kiteboarding back in the dark ages, it was all about airtime. I mean what other sport gave you that thrill of being in the water and at command get airborne ?
You just never seemed to get enough of that. Then we started to develop styles.

But then Marketing and the Kids got involved. And things got kind of complicated.

Much discussions have been trashed out on the battle field (forums) about what kiteboarding is for different individuals. And so you have wake stylers, free riders, wave riders, with boots, strapless, with straps, strapless freestylers, mega loopers, big air, Airstyle, mega crashers the grass mowers and the kooks. ( I might have missed somebody 🙂 )

A lot of people follow some kind of a police fashion; wear the pants, wear the shorts, don’t wear the shorts, fall on your face rather than put straps on, don’t be seen without boots, etc…

As with much of my life, I tend to disregard trends and kind of go where the wind blows. Excuse the pun.

So after much meanderings in the different aspects of kiteboarding, here I am looking at getting back into some floaty airs and some old school tricks (which seems to have evolved into Airstyle thank to Toby from kiteforum.com)

But like everything, things have changed, mostly the equipment has changed. Partly, the equipment is perhaps at the source of this fragmentation within the sport. 15 years ago riding waves down the line was impossible, the kite would front hindenburg as soon as the lines lost tension, and relaunching was a serious mission, especially in surf, everything broke easily, and boots were left to the wakeboarder.

The kites have evolved into very specific design for different types of styles and conditions…

Back in the day allÂ the kites were powerful slow beasts, perfect for Airstyle. Today you sit with this scenario:

standard kites on a standard 21m set up are generally too fast, the lines are too short and the bars generally not set up for hang time tricks. So you gotta do a custom set up. My first step towards re entering the realm of board offs and slides was to choose the right kite, get a shorter bar with a different set up and lengthen the lines.

My kite choice is a 13m Peter Lynn Fury because of the amazing float it has in the jumps being a high aspect ratio. At my weight (70kg) I could have maybe gone for a 15m, but I live in a place where the wind can get really strong… and in strong winds, Â 15 m becomes a handful. I find the 13m is comfortable even pat the 20 knots mark. Then 45cm bar with 24m lines which will probably get extended to 27 to get that maximum float time and slow down the flight speed of the kite. Â This gives you more time to concentrate on the board.Â I am also using the inside attachments at the wing tips. The Fury is fast as it is also a race kite, but I find with these settings it’s slow enough to do plenty and still fast enough to loop it during slides and other moves.

The ultimate set up would be a micro loop on the bar which allows you to hook in at full power and hook out as you touching down. However for now, the stopper on the de-powerÂ will have to suffice.

A small light board would also be ideal. But for now I’m gonna use my AXIS 134 Limited as I find it highly versatile. A bigger handle also helps. You also need to set up the straps on the board nice and loose so that the board pops off your feet when you need it to!

It’s a different type of riding. Lots of power, lots of time in the air and lots of losing the board whilst working on new tricks.

At the moment I m just working on the foundation for new tricks meaning getting my timing right with the kite and getting the board on and off. Also revisiting the famous dead man 🙂