Oldnbold

Thanks for the tips guys ... espechially TOM 183 . I should be out this weekend so will persevere . Another quick question .... i have a board leash ...the part that hooks onto the board that is made of brass has broken ,it has snapped and no longer closes enough to be used....... any idea where i can get another one from online .. i really dont want to spend £40.00 on a whole new leash, also i need water shoes .... any recommendations of good websites to order from ?

I got into kitesurfing because of a friend who wanted to take lessons and needed a buddy to join him. I use land kites ... blade lll and a buggy so i thought it would be perfect for me . Have taken lessons and know all the safety e.t.c. Have no problems flying the kite body dragging e.t.c. I am really struggling getting my feet into the board ... and when i do ...i find the kite is in the wrong place in the sky ... by the time i tug bar left or right to compensate i have been dragged away ! Is this normal and takes time or does it mean i am gonna be crap at kitesurfing ! Can anyone give me an indication of how long it has taken them to learn as i do not want to give up !

OK thanks , i am planning to take the kite out again this week if the wind picks up so hopefully will find out the problem , the lines where twisted on a couple of occasions and the wind was very gusty , so it could have been a combination of the two .

I have been flying my blade III 4.0 with a bar up until now , today i have changed it to handles .... the brake lines are set up correctly but i have had problems with the bridle lines and wing tips catching up and flapping , is this normal ? I never seemed to have this problem when flying with a bar . The wind was gusty so maybe this has something to do with it .

I have the 04 Maui Magic aviator and have been told that the strap holds down the spreader bar but was not actually told how to do it .. the way i have been doing it is by going over the top if the 1st piece of the hook and then through the middle and down..... is this correct or should i be going over both pieces of the hook and then back down ? or are both of these incorrect as when i pull up the hook it seems to be no different when the strap is attatched than when it is not attatched .

I introduced a friend of mine into kites with this ....... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2569&item=5907253474&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW great fun and great price !! The free kite is fun as well !

Thanks for your help , i have been having real problems finding tide for camber , that is a great help .

Hiya , does anyone know of a website apart from windguru that will give me low tide times and wind direction for camber sands ?

Look here http://www.rye-tourism.co.uk/home/accommodation.asp any place that has Camber Sands listed as location will be perfect. You should have a couple of great days .

If you are willing to travel this far, this is where i took my lessons http://www.ryewatersports.co.uk/ They supply all the gear for you so all you need to do is book and take yourself along. You should be able to pass part 1 and 2 of IKO certificate after course.

Had lessons last year and a refresher course Friday at camber .Went to Minnis bay today with a fellow amateur ( never been there before ) .... was a little crowded and paranoid about tangling up with another kite so just did some body dragging and getting the feel of things , was a good ....got real windy and then started to pour with rain so packed up , then sun came out and was perfect conditions ! Belblade ... If you fancy going out sometime for some practice let me know ok, do you have any kitesurfing gear ? I can borrow all the gear 12 mtr oceanrodeo bronco board /harness e.t.c. and need somebody to practice with . BTW what time does car park close this time of year, i went up in week to show a friend how to use kite at 7:00 and said 7:30 on gate so decided against it . Does it change or always 7:30 ?

Just set up where u plonk your gear ...........once inflated and lines attatched... if you are with a buddy get them to walk your kite down the beach with you( if not a fellow kitesurfer will help you ) ........ as a genaral rule you do not launch until your feet are wet , apart from saving you the hasstle/energy of walking down the beach while launched it avoids ******* off locals or getting dragged along beach........... pretty much most kitesurfing accidents happen while not in the water.

I would definately recommend lessons , i have used land kites and done a small amount of buggying and land boarding . The infomation an instructor gives you is well worth the money , getting started on the right foot is a must .... i have only been doing kitesurfing for a short while but see " experienced " people doing silly things like launching kite at top of beach and walking 1/4 of mile to water or using wrong size kites for conditions, trying to get going on board and not powering up correctly .... things i would have not known without lessons. Also handy to know what to do if you get stuck 1 mile offshore and cannot relaunch as lines twisted or kite has burst .... or worse .... wind direction has changed .

cheers , looks like about 3:30

Can anyone tell me the low tide time for camber sands on sunday 15th ..... and also a link to website that will give me the info in the future .

Anyone go today and if so how was it ? A nice south westerly or no wind or in wrong direction.

Thanks for your advice everbody . Apart from the buggy having to be small to put into the car it needs to be small to store at home . I will only be useing it ocassionally so cannot really justify spending a couple of weeks wages on one that will not be used to its full potential. I think this post has convinced me that the PL folding buggy is suitable for me and my needs as in genaral it has had the thumbs up . Thanks again all for your input .

That is what i was hoping to hear .What kite have you been using with it and are you on grass or sand?

Hmmmm scary in what way ?

I am after a new buggy that is under £300.00 and going to be easy to put into car . Have been looking at the PL folding buggy but a little concerned as it has no rear axle .Am wondering if anybody owns one/knows of somebody that has one and what they think of it .

OK , sounds like from what you are saying that bar is best suited to leading edge inflatable unless you are using a board with a ram air. It looks like i need to get myself a set of handles for land . I have stuck with the bar as having to use the window rather than stall the kite will gain me good experience for the sea but by the sounds of it i need handles for safety with ram air.

Anybody out there that has done Kitesurfing as well as buggying ? The reason i ask is that i was introduced into kiting through a 2 day course of kitesurfing , obviously this means using a bar rather than handles . Due to weather and wind directions i have not got to kitesurf after lessons although i am hoping to next summer . Since then i have bought myself a 4.0m blade 3 with a bar and have been using it with my brothers buggy/landboard. It seems to me that buggy/landboard users tend to use handles rather than a bar as u have "brake " with handles, until i used handles on my brothers kite i did not know of "brake" and always thought that you had to use the position of the kite in the sky to control the power rather than make the kite stall. I have stuck to using a bar in the hope that it will gain me experience for when i begin kitesurfing in the summer . Since then i know of a few people that have had serious accidents using a bar on land. The point that i am getting to is .....is it wise to use a bar on land ??? I have stuck with it as need to gain as much experience as possible for the sea ....or should i use handles on land as it is too dangerous to use a bar . Looking at photos/videos on websites it is rare that u see somebody using a bar on a board/buggy.

I am fortunate enough to work someware that has stainless tube , bending and swaging machines and i have welding skills . Might be working after hours the next few weeks :-)