bladebrother6

If you really cant get any then there are places that will make you custom ones: bull sails in tarifa will make bladders to any size you need, and postage shouldn't be too bad. or if you get really stuck airtime do lots of aftermarket bladders for all sorts of kites, not sure what their www is now (think its airtimekiteboarding.com)

I'm not an expert laminater by any means, but have just finished my 3rd board and though i would share my experience. My first two where 'conventional' foam core and laminate types, this one is a ply base, with glass reinforcement and carbon skins. build went: 1 roughly shape 2x 4mm bit of exterior grade ply 2 set up chocks and weights to get the desired rocker line 3 glue the to bits together (putting a layer of fine woven glass matt between them) 4 When that was all dry the rails were shaped and the hard points were fiited into the botton of the deck (proper captive nuts if poss, if not chop down some wing nuts works fine) 5 then laminate the top and bottom decks, i used 70g/m*m carbon and epiglass resin for this bit and it worked a treat. the finished board it a little heavier than i had hoped, has very little flex left in it and may in fact be bulet proof! The next one wont have the grp inner, theres no need for it in this application. built one interesting feature in this board, soon to be known as the subtle assymetry concept. I always feel a lot more comfortable loading up on the toe side, dont know if its just me but ita what i've got to go on! So to take advatage of this i put a shaper rail on the toe side, and a slightly more pronounced curve in the rocker line. Only time will tell if it makes any difference at all!!! there should be a pic attatched, if not can somone tell me how to do that!

The club for the buggiers etc is being run by one of the local regulars. I do have his number somewhere. will pm you when i dig it out from the pile of papers that is my desk. And yes, i'd have to agree you, their take on kitesurfing seems to be the way forward. They think that the growth of the sport will tail off soon so overcrowding wont be as big a problem as some people think, and they're probably right.

spoke to the national trust at brancaster last night and discovered: re wheeled things. A club is being set up and the beach is going to be members only basically, althought they have got guest memberships too apparently. re surfing: basically ok as long as it doesn't get too busy. They are going to post guidlines and rules on the beach before the summer kicks in. (I guess to coincide with the arrival of the fair weather kiters.) So, still no definate news on Heacham, but will keep this post updated with info as i get it. ps i'm only going to post stuff that comes straight from the horses mouth so to speak, cause i'm sure half the confusion comes about due to chinese wispers syndrone! (within other organisations and between us lot)

Tattoo: cant send it back, such behaviour upsets my karma!

Tasty lookin beast if nothing else!

Q-bert. no i'm not a land only flier. yes i am an insured member of the bksa and yes saftey should be near the top of everybodies list. personnaly my saftey kit list goes: buoancy aid helmet mini-flares and a flying buddy at all times. Like you i taught myself about 4 years ago because it was the only option then. Its not that i disagree with what you said, its just that while safety is important, it should not be a reason to scare new comers to the sport, and saftey concerns presented in the manner used above are not as helpful as they could be, in my opinion. 'dangerous or fatal' , well yes, but so is crossing the road if you dont do the basics, like check for traffic! The need for saftey is a given among all but the most foolhardy of our brethren, i dont think its exclusion in this thread should be seen as a source of shame for all of us, as you suggested. It is simply a reflection that when kitesurfers get talking, they generally focus on the fun side of the sport, and the positives. If we where all doom and gloom merchants we wouldn't have started kitesurfing would we.

three simple steps. 1. go to kitesurf shop 2.look at boards 3.copy the one you like the look of!

Q_burt. talking of saftey i hope you're wearing a crash hat on the high horse of yours! And whats wrong with teaching yourself? as long as you keep the saftey of others in mind it can be bar far the most rewarding way to learn.

The only bit of that i can definately help with is which part of Holkham is private. In short all of it! At least whole bay and the dunes/beach adjacent to the bay, although this may not be the full extent of it. I'm heading out to heacham again early tomorrow and for the first time ever hope i run into a warden... might get some straigh 'ish' answers for a change. As far as brancaster is concered there is now a sign (national trust) up there that prohibits the use of 'unautherised wheeled vehicles including land yachts and buggies'. but need to check up on the geographical extent of there influence on that beach. I suspect it cover the whole streach of beach that is backed by marshes. given that the rspb are so concerned about the effect we have on their precious feathered friends, i cant believe they are not replying to any of my emails. But thats another story. Will get on to the national trust, see if they care enough to at least reply!

Best site i've found to check the weather before you leave for the beach. No forcasts but accurate present weather for a lot of stations. http://www.xcweather.co.uk/

Got there at 8.30 this morning but the wind wasn't even enough for my 19.5 ARX. (well there was enough for about 1/2 the time, buit didn't fancy swimming in after kite fell out of the sky in a lull, so no surfing to be had). No warden types about, so the latest news i have is still from the warden on sunday who said it was fine. Asked the rspb if they new of any relevant restrictions, but thet havn't replied. will keep you all informed of any new developments.

Want to set up my bigger kites on one of these for that wake style handle pass stuff (and to do away with chicken loops). Was just looking at prices though and they seem to retail at about $200. Am i just looking in the wrong places or what? Other question, anyone set one up from scatch? any pointers? Cheers

Get your self a good instructional video, it will help no end. All the kite shops sell them and its £25 well spent in my opinion. (or just head upwind more to slow down, or fly kite higher to get less horizontal pull, or pull the power strap in, or push the bar away from you!)

bob: just added it all up. set of four tfc fins, cabrihna straps, dekine deck pads. by my reckoning that adds up to about £100. As i only paid £120 (plus p+p) for the board its was pretty good deal. So basically i paid £20 for a ply deck.

Haven't been out on it yet. intend to fix that at about 8am tomorrow! To a point you're right Stu, if it rides well it doesn't matter what it looks like. My beef isn't with boards that aren't pretty, hell i've made and riden a few myself! My problem is with people who sell badly finshed boards thinking that poor finish is exceptable, as long as you call it a 'custom'.

I just purchsed an AM Custom board on ebay. It was cheap, and the straps, pads and fins where all good. But the deck itself was crap. crap hardpoints, crap finish, basically rubbish construction. I will probably bin the deck and make one myself, cause i've made better ones myself in half a day. I'm not posting this as some sort of personal vendeta against AM (who ever that might be) but just to let you all know that if you get offer one of these, look at it very carefully before you part with your hard earned. Or is it just that these 'zero volume' laminate custom boards are hand made by people with all the skill of a geriatric chimp? If so, hell, i'll start seling my creations!

Ah. so confusion abounds. Interseting to hear you say that kiting 'on or off the beach' is banned. cause if you're on the water then the only group who have any right to stop you is the admiralty! (I know thats not really the point, I dont go around purposly being pedantic and annoying wardens!) Will have to check up on this one, and at least get the name of the warden i spoke to to use in my defence if needed, will probably be heading out there agian tomorow so will endevor to find outwhat the situation really is one way or the other. will keep you posted.

stick me down for one. if they come in long and short sleeves stick me down for 2

Just read a post claiming that kitesurfing at heacham is banned. Dont know where that intel came from, but i was out there on sunday and had a chat with one of the beach wardens. I specifically asked if it was ok to ride there and she said it was fine. This was at the south beach. Is there some higher power that has enforced a ban, or what. Any ideas on this one would be appriciated cause its the only beach for miles that can be used in a southerly. Thanks

not so chap. talked to the beach warden there on sunday and she was cool with it.

just got back from heacham. wicked. turns out its very good in a south-westerly. but for those of you who dont know it, go at high tide.

Thanks for the feedback guys, when the patents have been filed and i've got a couple of prototypes i'll let you know.

Any one heading out to hunstanton or heacham way of the world tomorrow?

ok, try this one on for size. I'm just finishing a degree in applied fluid dynamics. I've been kiting for a few years now. I've designed and made a couple of kites. If i started producing them in the uk on a comercial basis would anyone actually buy them, or would you all be to cautious to be the among the first to own one? May not have the proven track record of wip or naish, but when they come in at about £300 kite only for a 14m (flat) lei, do you think they'ld sell? would appreiciate any feedback on this one as i'm seriously giving some thought to doing this.