Kook’s Korner–Staying Upwind

[G-man]

Awesome...thanks for all the help and suggestions!! Looks like the wind is starting to pick up so I'm going to head down to 3rd and work on it. (Sonny thanks so much for the offer...I'll come and say hello...I'm on either a 12m Green/White Cult or a 9m Green/Yellow Cult).

To answer the questions people asked:

- I weigh 165 lbs and I'm currently riding a 134 Naish Thorn (was also on 134 Nobile 555 recently...long story), but I also had a similar problem when I rode a 142. Probably smaller than ideal for a beginner, but it's pretty wide and I was hoping to grow into it...maybe a bad call.

- Yeah, I definitely have a better time on the port tack at 3rd (and in general). I never considered chop/current...that is good point.

Thanks again. Will let you know how it goes!

[maxsteamer]

Hello G-Man,

3rd is not a how to spot!!!! If you can't stay up wind?? don't go out there.

[G-man]

Thanks again everyone for the helpful advice!

I was out at 3rd yesterday and did much, much better. On my third port tack back to the upper launch I actually pointing above it! I was so excited I peed my wetsuit. Well, I probably would have peed it anyway.

Making sure I built up some more speed before I started edging, flying my kite more at 10 and 2, more one handed flying, pointing my front foot toes up all helped. Maybe I was doing a better job focusing on a fixed object or maybe it was a more NW (vs W) wind that made it easier, too.

Riding a “soft edge” (more “flat board”) was also really, really helpful, especially in a lighter wind day like yesterday. I was definitely doing this wrong before. The Progression DVD really emphasizes leaning way back and edging. Now I’m only doing this when it gusts or when I’m feeling OP’ed and starting to skid.

Also, when I found my kite slowing, I immediately pointed more downwind and edged less to get some speed before I fully slowed down. This was important so I wasn’t doing the stopping/starting thing.

Anyway, thanks again for the help. I actually spent most of my time among the other kiters yesterday instead of downwind of them. I can see what people mean when they say the trick to staying upwind is not just one thing, but a bunch of little tweaks. I’m not making quite as much upwind progress as a lot of other people, but it was nice to actually have to use Ollie’s right of way post!!

Max – how are you, man? Hope to see you over at Alameda one of these days. I was extra careful the first 5 or so times I went out at 3rd. Introduced myself to people at the upper launch, told them I was a total newbie, had them help me launch, body dragged well away from the rocks, didn’t go too far out to the middle, made sure I knew all about self rescue, etc.

Sonny, I asked a couple of people if you were at the lower launch before my session yesterday and they hadn’t seen you, but I later found out you were there at some point. Will say hello next time I’m down there.

Gary

[adamrod]

so, it took me more than a year to learn to go upwind...really.

but having kited for what I would consider, a pretty long time, I can guarantee you're making the following mistake. Every beginner I see who has trouble going upwind makes this mistake. Every advanced kiter who goes upwind without even thinking about it doesn't make this mistake. ready?

You're riding too slow! Look at some of the really good kiters out there. they are probably blowing past you like you're standing still. there's a reason they are riding that fast. a faster kite means more apparent wind means more power to edge upwind.

now sure, there are other problems that could cause you to not go upwind, but I've never seen anybody riding as fast as an expert who has any trouble staying upwind.

so, dive the kite hard, engage hyper-drive, clench your teeth, go as fast as you possibly can, and set your edge and hold on. you'll be going upwind more than you've ever gone before....and even then, i'll bet you're not going fast enough :P

[joemount2004]

These posts have been very helpful for me as well. I'm in my second season now, and can scream upwind left foot forward but have the damnedest time on the opposite tack. I have to really work hard to get back to the upper launch at 3rd, about half the time i have to land at the lower. Really looking forward to landing upper every time... It's usually one bad tack where i lose a bunch of ground and i cant recover all the way.

[G-man]

Thanks, Adam. I'll definitely give that a shot when we get some more wind. As a follow-up to that....this may sound simplistic, but what is the best way to get going really fast? Is it diving the kite hard and pumping it up and down a couple of times? Or sheeting in? Or pointing downwind-ish with the board? Or putting more weight on your front foot? All of the above?

I've noticed that sometimes during a water start, when I dive my kite really hard and point my board downwind to get speed, sometimes I actually "catch up" to the kite and my lines get a little bit of slack. And then I have to edge away and pump the kite a few times to get powered up again.

Thanks :)

[windhorny]

thats the hardest part, this sport requires wind! Argh, just a few days without it and I am like a crack head willing to do dirty unheard of things for a little blow.

[elli]

Speed is pretty key. You can practice going fast to get comfortable with speed. Especially 3rd that gets big chop. It slows you down. If you can keep good speed going out (against the chop) it should help going upwind as well. When you crank upwind it can get you too slow.

Gear makes a big difference for upwind ease. I had a grunty kite that would sail and go upwind no matter what you did. Edge hard or not, kite high or low. Just step on the back foot. The performance kites are not as idiot proof.

Last tip: Time on water. Keep going and you will get it at some point. One day it will happen and you will just forget about it. Looks like you are almost there.

[jbirdmarin]

prior to bows and SLEs, for me it was always, "how do i slow this !@#$ thing down!?!?!"

[adamrod]

going fast:

1. dive the kite really aggressively
2. if you find yourself riding toward your kite and slacking the lines, edge!
3. straighten your back, stretch out your arms, and edge hard.
4. not too much back foot pressure (that works like a brake)
5. sheet in, but not all the way (if you sheet in all the way, you stall the kite, which puts it back deeper in the window which is very bad for trying to go upwind)
6. when riding in chop, bend your knees to absorb it. don't let the chop slow you down.

going fast isn't very hard, it's just a bit counterintuitive because you feel like you're going downwind and feel a bit out of control. however, it's an important skill because once you know how to ride fast, you'll be going upwind faster too.

next time you're at 3rd, come find me. I'm relatively easy to spot....ride LF HiFi's, wear a bright red and gray striped shirt...anyway, flag me down and we'll race :-)