Kite Boarding for Sailing Dummies

Yes....that is me causing that big splash in the picture to the right!

I must confess that I have put together a "mini-bucket list" as I have recently celebrated my 50th birthday. One of the items on the list for this year was to learn how to kite board.

While on vacation at the beach in South Padre Island, TX, I took advantage of perhaps some of the best conditions anywhere to attempt to learn the art of kite boarding.

For those who aren't familiar with kite boarding, essentially the power comes from learning how to control a very complicated but well designed kite of approximately 12 to 18 square meters in area. With the pull of the kite, enough force is generated to pull you up on to a board that is very similar in design to a wake board. The board has foot straps for both feet and is uni-directional with small fins on either end which help to create a bit of lateral resistance as the board is pulled through the water.

Over the fairly brief history of kite boarding, incredible advances have been made in the design of the kites, control lines and the harness. This evolution has taken the sport from a death defying adventure sport to one that is somewhat safe and approachable by the average person.

I will tell you in advance from my experience, I see no particular advantage in knowing how to sail or windsurf as a way to quicken the learning curve of how to kite board. In fact, I might even argue that having a wake boarding back ground is probably a bigger benefit.

Actually, I found kite boarding to be counter intuitive to sailing or windsurfing. I will explain my thoughts on this later. Let me first describe the initial learning process.....which I can assure you.....is not for the faint of heart.

Essentially, when you are first connected to the kite, it must be similar to the feeling of being strapped on to the back of a bucking bull with no real clue as to how you are going to escape if things get bad. All you can hope for is a "rodeo clown" to be near by to save your ass if things go really wrong.

In this case, my rodeo clown was a great guy named Jerry with Windsurf, Inc. on South Padre Island. They have a great set-up and it is truly a great place to learn.

The great thing about the bay in South Padre is that the water is only about 4 feet deep for as far as the eye can see. The wind consistently blows at about 12-20 mph almost every afternoon. The water is smooth and clear and it really is an ideal venue for windsurfing and kite boarding. I found this spot for my windsurfing outlet every afternoon when the kids were tired of being in the sun at the beach and I could sneak away for a couple of hours of high speed windsurfing.

I have been interested in kite boarding for quite some time but I have never been willing to bite the bullet to take the time necessary to really learn. I imagine it is a similar debate that many snow skiers have when given the chance to learn how to snowboard. "Why do I want to give up a perfect day of skiing to beat my brains out learning to snowboard"? I made the switch to snowboarding several years ago and have never looked back. Would the same thing happen to me with kite boarding?

The first step is to start off with a small training kite while standing in the shallow water near shore. During this process, you learn the basic nuances of keeping the kite in the air and learning to steer the kite from side to side. When the kite is straight overhead (12 o'clock) the kite is in neutral and there is little pull. When the kite is dipped down to 10 o'clock to the left or 2 o'clock to the right, this is called the "power zone" and where the kite generates the most amount of pull. If you get the kite down to 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock, there is a decent chance the kite will keep plunging and will crash. So the key is to learn the subtleties of how to feather the kite between the power zone and 12:00 to control the power of the kite.

I started off standing in the Windsurf, Inc. building with the back garage door open facing the bay. They laid the kite out and made sure all of the control lines are straight and inflated the kite. The modern "Bow Kites" are much, much safer and easier to control than its predecessor, the "C-Kite". Essentially the Bow Kite has highly inflated leading edge with inflated "struts" that run from the leading edge to the aft edge of the kite that serve has "battens" for the kite and provide stability.

The kite is laying on the ground with sand bags on it to keep it from catching wind. I was then hooked up to the kite using a bridle system that attaches to a harness that is essentially the type used for hanging from a trapeze on a sailboat or for windsurfing. There are a two "quick release" options that one can use if things really get scary but my guess is that virtually no one would ever have the presence of mind to actually figure out to use these mechanisms when flying through the air. One of the release features essentially attempts to completely de-power the kite and the other is a complete disconnect from the kite which I am told, usually results in the complete loss of the kite.

Once connected to the kite, Jerry slowly walked the kite out into the water and I followed in an attempt to keep the control lines straight. I just held the horizontal handle-bar straight out in front of me and Jerry stepped into the motor boat with the kite in hand. Slowly, he motored out as I followed walking into the water. Eventually we got far enough away from the shore and Jerry stopped the boat and laid the kite in the water and it filled with wind as it it was lying on its side.

Jerry was able to communicate with me using a hand-held radio that broadcast to the helmet I was wearing. It was actually very effective and he was constantly able to advise me, no matter how far away I got. I couldn't communicate with him and in this case....that was probably a good thing for him. I don't think he would have liked to heard some of the things that I was saying!

The first trick was to launch the kite from the water. At the initial launch, the kite is floating on the water on its side. By pulling hard on the top control lines, the kite begins to try and square to the wind and start rising. You have to be careful during the launch because the kite will go through the "power zone" on the way to neutral (12 o'clock) which can provide quite a jolt to the unsuspecting. I found that the best thing to do it was to just let the kite drag me through the water and during the initial launch and if I stayed calm, it could get the kite to neutral and then I would be able to stand in one place while I collected my thoughts (and nerve).

A fair amount of time is now spent practicing the art of powering the kite while body dragging and somehow learning to have the presence of mind to bring the kite back up out of its "dive" while being drug through the water. Jerry kept reminding me that this step was actually much harder than actually being up on the board. For some reason, I was having a hard time believing him.

Once I became somewhat adept at keeping the kite where it needed to be in the sky and relaunching the kite following a crash, the next step involved learning to fly the kite with one hand with my eyes to the sky while I simultaneously positioned my board and attempted to get my feet into the straps. I am considered "normal footed" which means I skate board or snow board with my left foot forward vs. "goofy footed" which has the right foot forward.

Usually, you don't change your feet in the straps so for me, going off to the left (port tack..well...kind of) meant having my more natural stance in place. So, with that in mind, the initial take-off was always to the left.

I was brutally reminded several times that flying the kite is the most important part of the process and to be patient with getting on to the board. Getting drug by the kite as it is diving through the power zone with one foot stuck on the board and the bulk of the board between your legs is not much fun!

Eventually, it really did become somewhat second nature to fly the kite and this allowed me to locate my board and even body drag myself in either direction if I needed to chase it down. Keep in mind that Jerry was always standing by to find my board and bring it back to me. How anyone could do learn this crazy sport in deep water with no one standing by to help is beyond me!

After an hour or so of getting comfortable with flying the kite and getting my feet in the straps, I was ready for my first run. Jerry instructed me to make sure that I kept the leading edge of the board facing pretty broadly downwind and I started in a somewhat tucked position with my legs bent and my feet in the straps. Once I felt the kite was powered sufficiently in neutral, I quickly pulled the left end of the handle board towards me and down and allowed the right end of the handle bar to go away from me. This caused the kite to dive quickly into the power zone and I was miraculously yanked up out of the water.

Generally, two things usually happen for a first timer. Either you power the kite too much and you don't stand up fast enough and you get face planted with a thud or you don't have enough power and you stay in the water and the board sort of heads up into the wind and you have to start over.

I managed to survive several pretty good crashes but each time, it started making a bit more sense. The hardest thing to remind myself once I was up on the board was to not pull the handlebar towards my body because this actually chokes the kite. The proper way to do it is to just stand up and try and get your weight fully on top of the board and actually push the handlebar away to a full arms reach position. This is actually the optimum way to fly the kite once you are up and going.

This is the part that was super counter-intuitive for me! When I felt I needed more power to keep myself standing up, my tendency was to pull the handlebar towards me in my attempt to "trim in" like I would on a sailboat or a windsurfer. Believe me when I tell you this! This was really the hardest part for a sailor. When more power is needed, let the handlebar go away from your body!!

I tended to getting standing up and then felt like I needed to hang on to something like the kitten in the "hang in there" posters. All you need to do is just let the handlebar out and off you go.

Finally, I put all of the pieces together, and like magic, I was zipping across the water. Once I was up on the board, I was able to pull the kite out of the dive that pulled me up and I was able to keep the kite in that 10 o'clock time zone and it really was almost effortless. Only very small tweaks of the handlebar kept the kite exactly where I wanted it. If I felt that I was going too fast for comfort, I could rise the kite up to 11 o'clock and it was really pretty simple and straight forward.

Now...keep in mind.....I have not even attempted to go the other direction (non-favored foot forward) or have I even really dug my heels in which allows the board to make progress to windward but I really think I have a basic idea of how to go out and zip across the bay.

Even with this knowledge, I am not sure that I am going to be a candidate to give up my love of windsurfing for kite boarding. Number one....I like to have something I can float on until I am rescued if something really bad happens. Number two....I really like the idea of being able to just let my sail lay in the water if suddenly a 40 knot gust comes along. With kite boarding, I don't view it as a very solitary sport. If you don't have a partner or a rescue team near by, the consequences could get pretty dire in a hurry if you aren't careful.

The experts say that kite boarding is far easier to learn than windsurfing. And as I think about it....they may be right. In windsurfing, their are steps that you take that sometimes take several months in order to reach high speed nirvana. Once you have learned the basic maneuvers, it is then time to try sailing with the harness and then, eventually, getting both feet in the straps and hauling some butt. That all seems pretty natural and easy to me now but I think the average person could probably get up and going faster with kite boarding than windsurfing.

I would love to hear from anyone else who has tried kite boarding and see what your thoughts are on the matter.

Later this week I will be at the NYYC 42 Nationals in Newport, RI sailing with Glenn Darden on "Hoss". I will try and update the blog from the regatta and give a full report on how it went and what I learned.

Which Leeward Gate Mark Do I Round?

I am writing this post from the beach down at South Padre Island in far South Texas.....far, far away from the race course. I am here for a week of fun and family time and have a fair amount of "down-time" so I thought would try and put into words some ideas that I have been kicking around about the leeward mark rounding when using a "gate system".

It seems like lately, almost every regatta that I have sailed has utilized the leeward mark gate system. As a rule on most boats, I don't think quite enough planning probably goes into choosing which leeward mark to round. It seems as if for many boats, it really becomes a last second decision...perhaps one based on what side of the boat the chute is on and which mark provides the easiest way to take it down to round the mark.

The introduction of the leeward gate has really added a new dimension to the game. It has allowed another opportunity for picking off (or losing) boats that really was not afforded with the conventional, single leeward mark, port tack rounding. When behind, it gives the opportunity to split from the leading boat.

In some cases, I think it might make sense to start thinking about the gate rounding on the upwind leg prior to the run. If one side of the course upwind is particularly favored, it will probably make sense to defend the same side of the course downwind and to try and position yourself to round the gate that is closer to the favored side of the course.

If neither side is particularly favored, then I try to go through a mental check list of all of the variables that will impact which gate mark to round.

It goes something like this:

1) Which gate mark appears closest to the course that I am sailing? Usually, the less distance sailed...the better.

2) Which gate mark will allow me the easiest and fastest leeward mark rounding? Trying to make a "bat-turn", jibe-dowse usually is not a very fast way to exit the leeward mark.

3) Which gate mark will allow me to sail in the clearest air immediately after rounding? If you round a leeward mark immediately behind 3 or more boats, the odds are good that a few of the boats will remain on the tack they rounded and at least one boat will quickly tack. This will result in bad air regardless of what tack you choose to stay on, at least for a while.

4) Which gate mark will allow me to avoid the majority of the spinnakers and wind shadow of the fleet that are still sailing downwind? In a big fleet, I think this is really an under estimated consideration.

5) Which gate mark will allow me to to stay in touch with the boat that is my closest competition in the race or perhaps the regatta? If in the lead, it makes picking the correct gate that much more important. The odds are great that your closest competitor behind you will choose the opposite one!

6) If behind, which gate mark will allow me the best chance to escape the inevitable close cover that will come if I follow the boat that is my closest competition in the race or regatta? If behind....try and keep the boat in front of you in the dark as long as you can as to which mark you will round. In fact, consider giving them the impression you are going to round the "non-favored" mark if possible. Maybe you will encourage them to choose poorly.

I think there is a trap that is easy to fall into when choosing which gate to round. It is all too common for the 2nd place boat in the pack that is entering the gate area to automatically choose the opposite gate from the one that the lead boat chooses. While clear air is important, it should not necessarily out-weigh all of the other strategic reasons to possibly follow the lead boat into the rounding.

For example, if there is a very strong reason to be on starboard tack upwind and the right side of the course upwind has had an advantage, I think it is better to follow the lead boat around the port tack gate and to instruct my crew prior to the rounding to be prepared for a tack to starboard as soon as the spinnaker is stowed and the boat is up to speed.

I think this is better than rounding the starboard (while downwind) gate and probably being stuck under the spinnakers that are coming downwind (most probably on the port tack jibe since the port side of run---starboard side of the beat is in phase). This will get me to clear air and also get me in phase with the wind shifts soon after the mark rounding.

Usually, with oscillating wind shifts, with everything else being equal, I would choose the gate mark that allows me to most easily get in phase with the wind shift that results in the best angle to the next windward mark.

There are however, other strategic considerations to think about. For example, in the 2008 J-22 Mid-winters, we had about a 5 point lead over former World Champion, Terry Flynn, going into the last race of the regatta. Unfortunately, we ended up with a bad start and Terry had a pretty good gap of boats in between us on the first run. Instead of staying with Terry and trying to grind down the boats that were between us, we automatically chose the opposite leeward gate mark than the one he had chosen in an attempt to try and get a bunch of boats back...all at one time. Not a very patient approach!

From the history of prior races and the first beat of that last race, the left side of the course upwind had been favored. We ignored this fact and panicked and chose to go the other way. Had we just been patient and followed Terry to the favored side, the odds are good we would have picked up all of the boats that had rounded the port gate and chosen to go to the right side of the beat....and possibly would have preserved our lead and the a regatta win!

In closing....consider running through this mental check list early in the run and keep assessing your situation...all of the way into the gate. Most importantly, constantly verbalize with your team what you are thinking so that no one is caught off guard if the plan changes at the last second. Try to always preserve your flexibility if possible. The odds are that things will constantly be changing based on how the boats in front of you choose to round and be prepared for a last second change of plans.

With all of the chaos, try not to lose site of the bigger picture when choosing which leeward gate mark to round.