kiting this weekend 6-3/4

[Mark Johnson]

I have that same board (North Dragon) paid 400 last year and I love it. Great all around board. My 170 something pickleflork also comes in handy when I rig to small or light winds. I hope it blows tomorrow. I would be willing to let you try one of my boards if you need to get an idea on what you want.

[Kenny]

The board is more important than the kite in Utah because the wind here is rarely consistent. You want a long, wide, flat board with little or no rocker. Best bets are the Slingshot Glide, Flysurfer Flydoor, or Spleene Door. None of these boards are cheap, but having a good lightwind board can make the difference between slogging and going downwind and ripping and going upwind. I am surprised how many experienced riders have a full quiver of kites, but only have a small board or a large board with so much rocker that it is effectively a small board.

The only caveat is that you do need a smaller board when the wind gets strong. The best lightwind boards are terrrible in the chop and don't allow you to hold an edge when the kite is powered up. If I were learning, I would go with the big board because it would mean more riding time (wind here is rarely strong) and then buy a smaller board once I had progressed to the point that I was ready to start jumping. you will never get rid of the lightwind board, unless you move out of state.

A good example - Marty was out riding with a 13M kite in marginal wind today. Other kiters were on 20M kites and smaller boards. Marty was staying upwind and jumping. As I stated previously, the board is more important than the kite.

[MikE mAy]

ok. seems you guys are giving some great input so i'll feed you some more.

boards:
$150 delivered for the airush pickle fork. will i be laughed out of the water with a pickle fork? they look intriging to me. however, if i'll be the kook maybe i'll think twice.

dragon for $200. sounds like a good deal. i might have to buy myself a birthday present and get that. will 135 be enough for me? i'm 5'10" 170lbs. i think i'll progress quickly, so perhaps i should go for this deal...

i've also got a 7'1" mini gun surfboard that i don't mind beating up to badly.... i'm thinking i'm going to keep this in my back pocket for the really light wind days or for fun once in a while. i've ridden it behind a board and it's very fun. i think it might be a fun kiting board.


i'm hoping to drop by rush once this week after work or maybe sunday if the wind is blowing.
my friend and i went up to jordanelle last weekend (against my better judgement). we got my v4 up and flying and i body dragged for about 15 minutes. i then "crashed" my kite (more of a wingtip dip) and couldn't get it back up in the light wind. i got the lines all confused and self rescued in and we set up my buddies wipika 12m and then the winds died completely down. but, we did seccessfully launch and fly which was fairly intimitading, i'll admit. but, now it's no problem.



with all of that said, will i be better off with the dragon? i'm starting to think so....

p.s. any tips on getting your kite back up when it has crashed with the leading edge pointing towards you as you would set it up on the beach (with sand piled on it)? with stronger winds would you pull on one side of lines and let it drift to the edge of the wind window and hopefully the back edge will catch wind and flip the kite over?

thanks,

mike.

[Jacob Buzianis]

Get a BESTkiteboard Waroo kite. You just pull one of the back line on the bar and it will flip the kite right up in the air. It a great kite for learning and safer to learn.Check me out at Rush or at utah lake

Cloud 9 Sell Bestkiteboarding equipment and other kite brand. Check out their shop in Draper by the Malibu Boat Shop on 12600s. Ask for Steve or Mike. They can help you with question you might have

Jacob Buzianis

[MikE mAy]

yea, i will have to check out the hybrid style kites later. jon sold me the v4 for an awesome deal, and i don't have a lot of money to spend on kiting right now. i did fly a cabrina crossbow (i think) hybrid/bow style kite in maui and loved it. it was so easy to depower/ relaunch and the safety of letting the bar go seemed pretty dummy proof to me. i'll have to get into those later though when the price drops.

p.s. kenny- call me at 971-2380 or email at mike@mayfoundry.com. i'd like to discuss purchasing your board....

[Chris Hedquist]

Mike at cloud 9 has some of the Best boards for sale for pretty cheap that you might want to check out. they are flat wide boards that will work well in utah. I mainly ride a 134 liquid force wake style board. It works great with wind and tricks but i wish I had a wider flat board for light days...which is every day in Utah.
Save up too for the bow kite. they make a huge difference and can relaunch with little to no trouble, plus their wind range is huge.

[rizzle]

mike,
if your in salt lake stop by my shop we have new and used kiteboards onsale....

Ryan
X-nation Sports
1810 s. 500 w.
slc, ut 84115
801-908-6852