There are numerous skills that will help you kite in less wind. This guide explains these light wind kiteboarding skills in detail, including:
00:00 squeezing the most power from a kite
02:11 using your board efficiently
03:52 how to avoid dropping a kite
04:57 managing apparent wind
06:29 the importance of kite angle in light wind
08:12 light wind launch tips
08:46 the importance of light wind skills
Access our playlist to watch all tutorials in order:
• Kitesurf lessons in or...
Access our playlist to watch all tutorials in order: kzhead.info/channel/PL41dAinz_9ZeaG5FJ_XU8vyBAE_HL_Cgl.html
Your instruction is as clear as crystal excellent great video and thank you for your help!
"Is it worth the hassle?" Of course it is! You get to go kiting! Do you have something better to do? There are a LOT of worse things to be doing. LOVE the videos.
Thanks Pete
That’s exactly the Spirit - better than sitting at home any day of the week 👌🏻
Now whether it is worth the money is another argument 🤣. £1000 a kite that will wear out in a few years. Rich man's sport!
Great video. Also a useful tip for relaunch kite on deep water which is sticked to the water, is to pull one stearing line and opposite front line for low V. Bend the knees and do some sort of push to avoid dragging. I'm using such technic for my contra 17. Sorry in advance for my English)
Amazing explanations with the graphics. Your videos are hands-down THE BEST kiting tutorial videos out there.
Best videos… especially with the explanatory illustrations
Thanks so much.
😳👀.. 6 knots??.. What a skill!! I do not think I kited less than 12 knots recently... Thank you for the tips..
Hands down these are the best kite tutorials on youtube. Not only they are well explained but also well filmed from every angle.
Thankyou
@@kitesurfcollege Thank you! Not only are these videos extremely informative, but also you get straight to the point! On some other videos they waffle on for ages.
As always your tutorials are the best! Great great job. Thank you! I personally consider that practicing light wind to very light wind is an absolute must
Very well explained with the wind theory and animations to help out! Thank you
Fantastic video. Exactly what I was looking for!
This video is so underrated. Great job, as usually!
Amazing video. Summing up all my issues and how to overcome them. Thank you so much!
Thank you very much for all these advices !
Great tutorial, thank you! Was struggling with light wing few days ago...
Right on. A way to learn, instead of being disappointed!
Thank you so much for this video! As always, your tutorials are amazing and among the best in KZhead! Keep up the good work !
yup, what Apostolos said....
Great video as always. Wish people appreciated light wind flying skill more. It's so important and actually great fun especially with a big foil kite haha
Excellent ! Just what I needed to hear about now... out in NC just waiting for wind and an uncrowded beach. The light wind dilemma is so gnarly, and the Air Foil Kites are wonderful but so expensive and they don't float like the Inflatable ones. Such a long learning curve for the kite sport. Injuries galore and wipeouts too ~
Great advices... and if there is not enough wind to ride, take this opportunity to practice all those good tips on the sand of the beach 🤘🏾
I always learn a lot from your vids compared to others they are really the best!
Thanks! As usual such a great tutorial! I am addicted to all your videos! So helpful! just would like to come in your country and have you as instructor!!!!
Excellent video. Learnt a lot. Cant wait to get out there and try it 8 knots tommorow. Not going to be bored at home hooray
Thanks man, awesome tipps!
Thank you so much for the tuttos and great tips that you are sharing! it really helped me to understand what to do and when to do so!!! I watch a lot of kite channels (in French or English) and I found yours very clear and precise. Bravo!!! Warm regards from damien of Toulouse/France
Great instructional videos!!
Amazing tips ! Looks like a normal day in Southern California :)
Great tip and advice as allways 👏🤙💪
tres bon tutorial et tres clair. Bravo
Great video. Very well done !
Amazing tips. Thanks so muchn
Really good one! Thanks very much
Great Thanks for all your awesome videos!!
Tomorrow I am going to be exactly where you were recording, I will be practicing a few skills as we have 14 km/h winds. I am sure I have seen you there as I recognize your kite and size Aswell as color. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos, they are very educational. 🙏✌️
Excellent video as always. Thank you!
My pleasure!
Excellent video, if it weren't for light wind kiting I wouldn't get to kite very much.
Great tutorial, i notice many of the addressed issues in my own kiting. So this is def helpful for me!
Great to hear and I really hope it helps. I wrote this based on the mistakes I see people make in light wind.
Amazing tutorials! Such clear explanations and shown examples. Gold!
Thankyou very much Haasgen
Nice usefull video! Thanks!
Dude, you are a natural at instruction. Thanks for another great tutorial vid. 👍
Cheers Barry
Thanks for these tips. My son and I are taking lessons. Our next is a waterstart lesson. I used to windsurf and we needed whitecaps with 15 plus mph to waterstart. Any less and it’s not worth going out. Kiteboarding looks like fun down to 10 mph winds.,
Excellent video! Thanks!
Cheers Ben, glad you liked it
Great tutorials. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure!
Excellent Video! Should be mandatory for all Kiters. Thanks for it!!
Cheers Don
The other reason beginners like me tend to pull the bar in is to trying to pull yourself up to standing - this may be a legacy from windsurfing days, I don't know. Great tips, thanks for taking the time to make this!
Actually I do a bit of this and find it effective : I do like a start with my kite (up and down) but sheet in when it comes back at 12 to pull me out of the water and then I do like in the video but I'm already out of the water. Sometimes I'm the only one with a twintip able to ride and my kite is not bigger...
I must admit that your demos are amazing! I often ride on lakes nearby home were winds are light and gusty and even with a 15m foil kite (flysurfer soul), I thought that it was always disappointing and waited for stronger winds . But on these windy days the gusts will be also quite strong and too much for my kite size, so I got also good unwanted air jumps on 30kts gusts and kite falls just after the gust stroke 🥴 With your good advices I will try again with decent light winds and I am sure it will be better and safer (in addition I got a small tiki which is helping me a lot) 😎 The only difficult point is the shore vegetation with very high trees which perturbe the wind quite far from them and are quite dangerous when kite is nearly to fall down. Improving light wind skills with your help will so be a great asset for me. I am just a bit surprised you didn’t highlighted water start and kite stability with kiteloops Thanks a lot 😎
Great video! Thank you!
Thanks Roberto
Excellent video 📹👏👍👌😀
Thanks !
Thank you
Help us a lot Thank you for a great video ❤️❤️❤️
No worries, you're welcome
Great video. Thus will help me overcome some of my recent challenges. I was also hoping to understand how to use kite loops when out on the water in light wind. Is that covered in another tutorial?
Спасибо!
Great videos man! Keep it up
Omg. I didnt realise that the voice of the kiter is you. I was.thinking more like a 60 years old british man, strong accent. Anyway, ur vids are excelent, i will subscribe for members too.
Thank you super usefull 👍
You're welcome Benjamin
Thank you! This is great info for those marginal days!
Pulling the center line has another effect when the kite is low near the center of the wind window. The kite will become parallel with the wind, therefore lift (on the kite) will be created instead of lateral pull (on you).
Another thing to add is ufyour havi g trouble getting started when your underpowered you might want to do 2 power strokes while pointing the board fully downwind to get momentum
Correction i meant 1 power stroke
it is master peace video
Great video! I've got a question nevertheless. In light wind and with a mtb (not a board) along the sand of the beach, kite can backstall and go sometimes directly in full window. Steering out is not enough and I lose control of the kite as it's going really speedy. What is the best technic to keep oneself safe in that case? thank you for your answer.
I would say going upwind and pulling thé front lines but i am not a specialist.
Amazing. Was that a Juice 15 meters?
hello, i know the best light wind kite will be the aluula flight and the reach from north or the dlab juce from duotone, does somebody know a very good cheaper option?
Hi there! I`m still under impression after watching this tutorial. I suggest making the same video on board shapes (twintips) as beginners often make wrong choices being mislead by either salepeople or adverts. You might tell about such techs as sizes and weight, rocker, width, flexibility, NACA channels etc. All these factors influence greatly one`s gliding, jump levels, going upwind and managing the board in the strong wind conditions. There is also a lot to say about direct boards, I suppose) Best regards from cold Russia
Hi. You're completely right. Marketing often means people understand less about products. I am working on a video explaining board-shape differences at the moment.
Great news! ! We'll be looking forward to seeing it!
Can I confirm that was a duo tone Rebel 12 Meter? If so what is the lowest wind range you think that could be used in? (I am still fairly new to the sport)
btw what model bar do u have on the vid? tx
Excellent vlog. Out of interest, what size kite and board were you using?
Thanks Mike. Mainly a 15m2 kite, and a 136cm board. 136 is a bit small for light wind at my weight, but since it doesn't have much rocker the board does ride with low drag once it gets going.
I have troubles starting my 17qm XR4 Core below 7kts - Any tricks?
How many knots was the very first person in this video kitesurfing with? And what size kite? Also any idea of that riders weight? Thanks! Kind regards
WHAT BRAND KITE BAR BOARD?
I find it very difficult to get upwind once the wind drops a bit (10-12knots ca). I kite with the slingshot RPM and a freestyle board with boots. I mean I can land a raley-to-blind, but fuck me it's hard getting upwind when the wind drops. Any tips about gear that is a bit trickier to get upwind with?
Great vid as always! 6knt?! You sure you don't mean 6 m/s? Haven't seen any inflatable kite being able to fly in 6 knots ;) what size was it?
Thanks Clement. Yes, the wind was so light, it was difficult to even get the kite over to the water. But if you can get up and moving then you don't need much power after that. It was 15m2 kite and a low rocker board and I literally rolled forward so hard the kite didn't need to pick me up. It also helps that I'm kiting in a puddle (so super flat with no bumpy waves in the way and so shallow it provides "ground effect" where the board is squashing water against the sand for increased pressure). It's a bit dangerous to kite in such shallow water but my usual filming spot is closed during lock down. I couldn't have done 6kn in open ocean without a foil. Although for many years I taught waterstarts in the caribbean behind a sandbar in 7 knots, which was no problem when using a barn door board and a light wind kite, and making sure the student didn't pull the bar or dive the kite below 45.
Kite-Surf-College Tutorials and Tricks okay I see. Quite impressive :) thanks for the detailleddet answer!
Excellent video. How does this fit in with standard trimming? Overpowered = trimstrap in. Low & med power = trim out. Light wind = back in again?
Hello Gerard, yes that's pretty much right. Light wind, center line trim in or shortened (to shorten center lines compared to the steering lines to reduce drag). Medium wind, center trim extended to jump higher or glide further. Stronger wind, center line trim shortened so that you are not having to reach forward all the time to place the bar in the correct position. Or, another option, stronger wind, trim extended to break your jumping record :-)
Hi Alexio, at 0:29, when you say "shortening the steering lines compared to the center lines", it's only valid for the clickbar as the triming system works on the steering lines instead of working in the power lines (center) as the whole bars using the traditional trimming system right?! I've figured this out when making the translation to Brazilian Portuguese. Thanks again for the nice work and high quality content!
Hello Renato. The lesson still applies to a center line trim system. With a center line trim, when people "power up" they are actually increasing the length of the center line trim. If you extend the center lines, then the steering lines are shorter compared to the center lines. In light wind, this can pull in the steering lines too much and slow the kite.
ah.. I see what you mean! The relative movement is the same no matter how the triming system works. Thanks!
Great tips mate. but can you please do one with foil kites?
Hello Fernando, I will make some separate videos just for large foil kites. It's on the list.
Are directional boards more recommended for light winds rather bidirectional boards? Great video, thank you very much!
Hello Socrates. Whether twintip or directional, it very much depends on the size and the shape. Bigger boards will do better in light wind. Also, straighter boards (with less rocker) will be able to ride in less wind. Directional boards are often bigger so may have more light wind potential, but not always. For example, my low rocker straight railed 136cm twintip is better in light wind than my 155cm wave board which has lots of rocker and curved rails.
@@kitesurfcollege Thank you for your answer. Just to help me vizualise better the comparation between your boards, can you tell me the models of your boards?
Hi Socrates. For directionals I have a WAM and WHIP. You could compare those shapes. Whip will ride upwind more easily and with less power. If you look at the shape it has much straighter rails. For twintips, I have a team series and jaime. The Jaime goes in less wind (for the same length of board). The team series needs more wind as it has more rocker and a more curved rail. Any more questions let me know.
Perfect!! thank you!
Awesome spot,where is it if u dont mind to share.
No problem. The first drone shot is Breede River. Most of the other shots are Noordhoek beach after a 10m swell flooded it.
At minute 8:06 when you do the downloop, what is this technique you are using on the backlines? I see some riders grabbing the backlines during a downloop and would love some clarification as to what this does and how one does it. Many thanks! 🤙🏻
he's pulling directly from the steering lines to have more levered than using the bar. It makes the kite turns faster.
Hi yes exactly. I'm pulling the right steering line with the right hand. As the kite loops I also reach behind the bar with my left hand, then pass the steering line from right hand to left hand so that the bar flips with the kite. To keep things simple you can simply steer with the lower hand (right hand in this case), and then flip the bar later on.
@@kitesurfcollege Thank you so much for the clarification! Great videos! They have helped me tremendously along my kitesurfing journey.
What's the kite size?
I was out yesterday in 7-9knots on a 17mtr and 155 cabrinha Stylus. My shins hurt after about 30 min to a 1 hour. I noticed that I'm lifting my toes trying edge up wind. If the wind is to light how do I maintain an upwind edge. I'm on a off my edge, working the kite to keep the apparent wind over the kite. When I packed it in I had to work the kite just to walk back to the beach to land it.. it was light mite take the surf board next time see if the extra board area helps. PS 92kg 6ft3
Hello Aaron, if your shin muscle is getting fatigued, try moving your foot back a bit a let the weight on your heel do the work.
@@kitesurfcollege cheers Azza from Mandurah Australia 🤟 you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work
Hello, I was wondering if you would be interested in making a video on LIGHT wind foil transitions? I ask because no one has one out there and there are MANY questions that could be very helpful if answered. I am an intermediate foiler who would love to avoid the dreaded self-rescue in LIGHT winds. The specifics I have questions and confusion about has to do with best techniques for transitions. Maybe you could help with the following: The board and actual transition: Logic would dictate that we make as sharp as a 180 degree turn as possible, as the longer carving turn would slack the lines and have the kite drift, which in light winds seem to be an issue. So, do we 180 pivot our board/body rather than turn so to keep line tension? Can we successfully carve a slower turn while keeping line tension? The kite: Most everyone agrees that downlooping is the way to go, but for me, in the beginning, I had a better chance keeping the kite in the air by a slow power stroke. That kept my line tension…well, sometimes. Now, I am a bit better at foiling, but still don’t know what technique is best because the lines slack often. So, Option 1: Prior to transition, bring kite high up (close to 12 and starting SLOW downloop? Advantages: maybe keeping more tension? Disadvantage: hitting kite tip in water and not being able to relaunch. Option 2: Quick downloop: Seems here, most of the time my lines still slack. Option 3: quick downloop with the kite ending in an upstroke. So far, this seems ok, with less slack. Option 4: medium speed downloop with kite ending in upstroke. This seems to be the best option through my own failed attempts. Option 4: Carving redirection of kite: Similar to surfing in the power zone; throwing your kite 180 in opposite direction with a quick pivotal point (as opposed to bringing kite up to 12 and down again in a power stroke). This has worked sometimes without slacking the lines, but not consistently. What the brain trusts opinion?
Hello Todd. We're working on that video, as it's easy to down the kite during a foil gybe. You need to turn the kite first, while you still have good line tension. You turn the kite until it's aiming back across the window, so you're turning the kite about 180 degrees. Then you gybe the foil. Try to gybe quickly so you don't ride far downwind. You will loose line tension while aiming downwind, but once you turn the board around fully line tension should come back.
WOW I can't believe you managed to water start with a twin tip in 6 knots! it's really possible?
Hello Gaetano. Yes, in those water start examples the wind was hovering aroudn 6kn. Which is probably a bit light to have fun in (without a hydrofoil anyway). My 15m2 kite helped. Also, this was filmed in a shallow puddle (too shallow for safety really), so my body wasn't sunk making it easier to get up. I also used a lot of core strength to roll up quickly onto the board.
@@kitesurfcollege super! probably I can't because where I kite is always present some chop, also in light wind
An LEI kite wont fly in 6 knts that is totally misleading.
@@GaetanoCrisci absolutely, if there's any chop then you need a lot more power to plough through it.
@@davidl3115 Not only do they fly they can be great in certain situations. I'm often out in 6kn with a juice (my light wind LEI) and a hydrofoil with a 950cm2 front wing. Not only does the kite fly perfectly but it feels bloody strong and the board shoots along in 6kn.
When flying at 6kn what size kite were you using?
15m2
@@julestube3799 thanks. Much appreciated
I learned in my early kiting days from trial and error that pulling front lines would help recover a falling kite . Didn't realize I was making apparent wind.
Hi, I'm writing from Turkey and 71 years old.may be little bit late to begin kite surfing:) but since a long time I plan to.My question is which kite I must buy My weihgt is 105 kğ and I'm 187 cm tall.Can you please advise me the kite and board please.Thank you
Hello Serdar, you can definitely learn. Being 71 means it will take a bit longer, but I have taught older students. I would strongly recommend a 9 and 12 evo. Smaller kites like 6 and 7 are for strong wind that you must avoid for quite some time. Larger kites like a 14 or 15 can be great, but they do require a little more skill to use, so you can maybe consider one later on. A good board for your size might be a select 141. During lessons you are likely to use a bigger board so you require less power to ride. Also you need a really good instructor - and there are many aweful ones so you may need to search around. You need an instructor who is able to fully control what a student does with a kite. If the instructor's student is crashing the kite hard or wiping out during waterstarts then they simply do not have control over the lesson. I don't know your local instructors so I can't give you any further recommendation about that. Also, I wouldn't purchase anything until you've tried a couple of lessons. Best of luck to you, Alex.
What size kites are you using in this video?
Hello Stuart. Mostly 15m2 juice or 15m2 rebel.
Great video although my only critique is using this bar for instruction. This bar does not have the common depower/trim function. It makes it confusing to understand for a new person.
Hello Anthony. You raise an important point and I thought about this very carefully before creating the video. I will be making a little video explaining the difference between steering line trim and power line trim. Ultimately the reason I chose to do these demos with steering line trim is that it's now by far the best options for new or average kiters. The click bar is the simplest to understand for new kiters and has much better longevity and trim range. It's so much better I expect this to become standard within a couple of years. Already the click bar is the most common individual bar choice you see, and is by far the best selling bar on the market. Also, it is simpler to understand for a new kiter. With steering trim you simply think about your steering lines and their tension. With center line trim you have to think how does center line length change relative steering line length (which is not complicated but adds another step in the thought process).
@@kitesurfcollege thanks for sharing your thought process. I really have learned so much from your videos over the past couple years. I actually haven't used the bar although it seems really nice. As a relatively new kiter I just recall not really understanding the real impact of what is happening when pulling on the center line trim. It was never explained to me in the beginning as well as you have done in this demonstration. That being said, if I hadn't previously been so interested in this bar and looked into it, I would be questioning how in the world the one side click changes the length of both lines. So it has to be a bit confusing to people that aren't familiar with the mechanism in it that makes it possible. Thanks for your videos. Every technique you share is potentially saving people from running into making catastrophic mistakes and I thank you for that.
Bup bro
What kite does its job on 6 knots (but don't talk bout 17m+ kites) :D
15m juice but it's not just about the kite ... technique, flat water and a big straight board all play a part. Also it helps that I spent about 6 years teaching in gentle North Caribbean winds (lessons were run in 6 to 12 knots as it rarely gets stronger than that).
7
Gr8 videos, but still geting ads even thoug i payed
Hello Thomas. To watch without ads go to the members playlist. It's on the channel homepage. Also, I will add the link below.
kzhead.info/channel/PL41dAinz_9ZdKf2ppvVtxM8pLmdsDT57A.html
The videos in the members playlist are grouped (ie several tutorials in one longer video). There's kite principles, twintip tricks, unhooked etc. Any questions let me know.
Dude I have already a hard time with 14 knots 13.5 m kite. Now not anymore :)
Have you managed to get a bit more out of your 13.5m2 now?
@@kitesurfcollege yes today I had a session with 15 knots and 13,5 m kite. It was the first time, I was able to do a good waterstart and kiting downwind a bit! Your waterstartvideos helped me a lot too. Thanks for the help and for asking how I was doing. :)
@@emilvdv9391 15 knts is not low wind, that's My perfect wind speed. 9 knts and lower must be low wind.
@@justgotravel6646 where are you from? Because in my country no one kites with 9 knts. The wind is then too unstable.
@@emilvdv9391 i live by Kenya Coast. I was out today, guess it was 9 knts with a 12 m. We have some gust up to 12 knts. Look up Malindi Airport on wind finder. Btw, we are out of season so the speed is during the Day from 3-10 knts, and if we are Lucky 12 knts. In 1-2 weeks we get good winds 😄. Now it's All about the right tide and wind.
That is some dirty water!!!
Friends dont let friends kite in Light wind
So boring to kite in light wind. Go paddle boarding or something else
It's great for learning the kite and focusing on basics.
Go foiling man
I will rather go kiting in low wind than play golf in strong wind