On Monday April 11th, temperatures hit record highs over 80 degrees! I took full advantage of the day and went kiteboarding for around five hours! The wind was from the South South East, leaving the Sandy Hook Bay water completely crystal flat! Check out the picture below. With smooth flat water the bay becomes the perfect place in order to practice new tricks.
Also this week IKSURFMAG, a free online kiteboarding magazine released their 26th issue!
Now, that I have discussed basic jumping techniques a whole new world of tricks may be learned. Before I discuss back rolls and front rolls, there is one way of riding I am going to talk about called riding Toeside. Naturally when one starts kiteboarding they will be riding Heelside, which is when your heels hold the edge of the board. Riding Toeside is when you reverse and have your toes holding more of the edge. Below is a short clip of riding Toeside and how it can be initiated with a small jump.
Next are back rolls and front rolls, both are basically in simple terms small jumps with body and board rotation. Below are instructional videos of back rolls and front rolls.
So that is what riding Toeside, doing Front Rolls and Back Rolls look like. Next week I will post some videos of me doing those tricks and more stay tuned.
As I discussed in my last post, this week I will talk a little about some basic tricks of kiteboarding. The first and possibly the most important building block of all tricks is simply jumping and catching air while kiteboarding. No waves are needed to jump as the kites are designed to be able to create lift and pick up kiteboarders with ease. There are two ways in order to catch air while kiteboarding: one way to catch air is by moving the kite to a certain position in order for the kite to pull one up as discussed in the first video below, the other way to catch air is by leaving the kite in the same position and edging the board hard enough in order to create what in kiteboarding terms is call "pop".
Below is a short video clip on how to jump and boost big air.
Below is a short video clip on how to jump by "pop", leaving the kite in the same position.
Next post I will discuss front rolls and back rolls, stay tuned.
On Sunday March, 13th 2011, during my Spring Break Vacation, the conditions were perfect to go kiteboarding for the first time in 2011! The first day back on the water since December felt good. The air temperature was in the 50s, the water was in the 40s, and the wind was blowing average 25 mph gusting to 30 mph Northwest. The direction of the wind was preferred, Northwest when riding at the Hook. The gear I used for the whole three and a half hours I was out on the water for included my smaller kite a 2009 Best Kiteboarding Kahoona 7.5m, my smaller board a 130cm liquid force recoil, and a 5/4/3 NPX Assassin wetsuit with 5mm hyperflex gloves and booties and hood to keep me warm. With the wind coming from the Northwest direction that allows kiters to take full advantage of an area at Sandy Hook that is completely flat due to a sand bar that sits between it. The completely flat water while the wind is cranking allows for a faster and smoother ride where it is easier to practice new tricks. Below and to the right are pictures from the day.
Jumping in the flat water section at the Hook
Boosting a front roll! A front roll is when your body rotates
towards the front in the same direction your going while in the air.
Boosting air in the bay of Sandy Hook! In this picture
you can see how the bay can produce some swells,
when the wind is blowing over 25 mph.
My next post I think I will discuss more of the basic tricks in which may be performed while kiteboarding such as boosting big air, front rolls, back rolls, and more. Stay tuned until next blog post! Until then may the weather be warm and the wind crank.
Today would have been a perfect day to get back on the water with the air temperature in the 50s, water in the 40s, and wind averaging twenty miles per hour! Unfortunately for me I was unable to go kiting because the amount of work I have to get done by Wednesday that I won't have any time for in between today and then. Although in this blog post I am glad to announce that I was able to go snowboarding for the first time in my life on Thursday. I picked it up naturally and was able to ride intermediate difficulty slopes on the first day. Now that I have the ability to ride a snowboard down slopes I can't wait to advance and try snow kiting. Until next time enjoy this video of me kiteboarding Sandy Hook last summer.
A little more about the video: it was my first time using a GoPro HD HERO Camera - Wearable 1080p HD Video and Still Photo Camera. This little camera has the ability to shoot in 1080p HD! The video of me can be watched in HD on youtube if you click the on the video above and then switch the viewing mode. I would recommend the GoPro Hero HD camera to anyone looking for an extreme sports camera. Also In this clip at around 2:40 my main depower line snaps! Not a good thing as it is the main line in which most of the power from the kite is held. Luckily with the bar I was using it also had a separate red line depower line that I was able to utilize and come back to the shore line and land my kite.
