tow in with a kite

[gulfsurfer]

i agree with broosta, it looks pretty gay to me. I dont care if people want to do it, but they need to go down the beach where theres not alot of people in the water. But instead, most of them come to the pier or one of the jetties where theyll probably kill someone.

[meister]

if youre having trouble catching the big waves, go get a jetski! being whipped in gives you more options, twice the air and you dont have to keep holding on to a silly kite.

[Dopey]

[sinistapenguin]

I'd love to give it a go, but finances are preventing me - I also don't know enough about wind and sailing to try.

I have to say that I have seen some awesome waveriding done by windsurfers, so I don't see why anyone should have a downer on kiting, at least it's still using natural energy, unlike Jet Skis, which pollute.

Windsurfing is different from surfing, Kitesurfing is different from surfing so it's impossible to compare them, they are DIFFERENT and each is cool in it's own way.

I agree that anyone buzzing surfers should get their a$$ kicked in the same way as surfers dropping in on surfers. I also think if a surfer deliberately gets in the way of a kitesurfer (not sure how he/she would) then they deserve a kicking too!

Everyone should just respect each other - the ocean is a free playground and no-one owns it. So respect each other, respect the ocean.

Karma!!

[Oisin]

For the idiot who said kitesurfing looks gay. Do you think gay people don't do plain old surfing! Keep your homophobia to yourself. I live in the south east of england and kite-surfing or windsurfing are the only options here as the waves aren't great. Great fun!

[surferdude_scarborough]

i dont think it was meant as a homophobic comment but to express that it looked lame or some other negative adjective. the point is gay should not be used as an insult but thats the way the world is.

[Oisin]

Maybe its a cultural thing as its not used that way here. Anyhow, it owuld be nice to think something as liberating as surfing is free from that xxxxx.

[Broosta]

Kitesurfing does look gay tho .

[Dopey]

[Broosta]

I'm not seeking respect for my opinions. I don't need to.

Actually, I bumped into an old windsurfer mate yesterday who has converted to kitesurfing now and he again was trying to sell this kiting thing to me. I watched him and his mates set up and even helped them launch by holding the kite and letting them fly it out of my hands. Then watched for about 30 mins as they steamed about and got a good few big airs with spins and stuff. These guys are prety good at it and one of them competes in the national comps and does ok. Didn't know that uk has so many of the top guys on a global level . Think he said the world champ is from uk.
Anyway I had good objective look at the sport and decided nothing had changed since last time I saw it. Verdict = still way too much hassle, need too much space, and if the kite goes down in the water way too much grief to be fun cos you have to retreive the board and then get to the beach and start again.

But apparently Cabrinha Kites (= Neil Pryde Sails) are or have developed a sail that allows you to just forget about it once on a wave so you can then just surf it and then according to Pete Cabrinha its the nearest thing to tow in surfing. I'd like to see this first before I cast judgement tho .

Oh yeah and just to put the record straight on how much wind is required - you need the same amount of wind for both windsurfing and kitesurfing. If you use lightwind freestyle windsurf gear you don't need much wind to do all the tricks.

...and kitesurfing still looks gay .