iirc, forum member Richard (also my name, ironically) is a kiter.

anyone else?

if so, what type (snow/buggy/surf/board etc) & what do you fly?

figured there might be a few more around considering the sport(s) are apparently a lot more popular outside of north america.

link to some pics from last weekends kite rodeo/kitercross races in montana, usa: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1844891

yup...i kitesurf sometimes.. but my BIL is the kiter...what kind of kite do you have, naish?

we ride a gaastra kite..he has a 9, a 12, a 16 and a 18

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i have a 4m radsails pro by eolo from spain & a viokite vr8-6 from japan. it's an 8m water relaunchable closed cell foil that can be "zipped down" to a 6m by cinching in fabric in the middle for really high winds.

this is my first full year, really - & i hope to get a bigger better rig in a year or so. (something w/ a higher aspect ratio & of course bigger sail)

I've had my kite for ages, but I haven't actually flown it much. To be honest, it scares the shit out of me!! It's only a baby too! 3.5m Flexifoil Bullet. It's been too damn windy lately to fly it though, so am waiting for calmer/warmer weather in spring/summer. The plan is to get good at flying the kite, then get a buggy. I tried using a skateboard deck with no trucks as a make-do board... hmmmm, I almost broke my hip!

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dci

i have a nasa wing, a big one! not so fast but very strong.

i wish we had that problem here! there's been almost no wind for months!

even last fall was pretty calm in areas that're almost always windy.. & a week or so ago in montana was very calm for that location too. strange winter we've had here.

i've tried a mountainboard a few times (i'm not very good) & managed to get going down a beach in oregon for a bit, and also in a park in vancouver.

only tried a buggy once.. & just barely, as the wind was deeeead. well, besides getting towed in one by a snowmobile on a frozen lake.

eventually i wouldn't mind getting a buggy, maybe in a year or two.

for this spring, i'm hoping to learn to kitesurf a bit. then in years to come, maybe do a little bit of travelling to ideal kitesurfing destinations.

Speedwing Progress 3,0 metrs wide.....nice and fast kite!

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FAHRVERGNÜGEN!

i've read that nasa wing's have the best pull:surface ratio. if so, i kind of wonder why more buggiers etc don't opt for nasa wings... especially since they can be homemade or purchased cheaper than a lot of other kites. do they not turn well or something? or is it just a style thing?

i've seen some pics of a buggier using a nasa wing on handles directly attached to the bridles - no lines! a friend was buggying with this guy in texas last fall & said he took one of his nasa's and buggy up to the roof of the hotel and buggied around if he had lines, that wouldn't have worked out too well at all! heh

hrmm, maybe someday i'll get a chance to fly a nasa wing and see what they're like.

can they be flown on a bar/depowered? that'd be interesting... especially if you were a really good kiter in great conditions... so long as you didn't down your rig, you could potentially kitesurf with one. (cheap too) i've heard of some really good, experienced kiters using open celled kites to surf before..

Got some kite's here too. Unused for several years . But maybe this year... Got some speedwings (6, 8???), a powerwing, deltakites, indoorkite, uuuhhhmmm, I really got to check them I think, 'cause I don't really know it anymore :o

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tried out a friend's first homemade buggy for the first time this afternoon:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1866235

it works, but needs some work.

went out w/ friends/others a couple days ago to boundary bay (pacific coast border of canada/usa) & managed to get up on a couple different kitesurf boards! yeah, i sucked & didn't get going too far... but i learned a lot and had a ton of fun and met a few others. 15 kiters in all came out - that's a huge showing for here! (there are only like maybe 50?) & i was the only one on a closed cell foil... there was one arc (pl phantom) & everyone else flies LEI's.

just thought i'd shared

went out a couple days ago and got some tips from a local - got up and planing for a good couple hundred yard run, it was AWESOME.

This is me, at Oostende Belgium last weekend
the first time for me.

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Brazen

;ww aandurven, tarten; ~it out er zich brutaal doorheen slaan, stijf en strak volhouden

here's a friend & fellow dubber/kiter, paul, in his mk1 kitebuggy prototype with one of my kites (4m radsails pro) @ one of the local beaches where we are both learning to kitesurf when the tide is in and the wind is up. (but when the tide's out, it's buggy territory!) oh, and the beach is located right on the pacific coast border between canada and the usa - you can surf back and forth between the two countries.:p (well, until the us department of homeland security decides to shoot down kites:p)

I had 9 speedwings,6 pro's and 3 super pro's in a stack,and a few little delta's...sold everything...

now i want 2 speedwing promaxx in a stack......

i just scored the best deal ever on a slingshot sx 141cm kiteboard from a guy in california who didn't know what it was or what it's worth. 2003 model, sold for approx $1000cdn... current value approx $400usd... i paid $150usd + $45usd shipping - it's on it's way via fedex now.

picked this beauty up downtown vancouver a week or so ago but have been to ill to even set it up until today... aah, my new summer lite wind weapon.

she's a 16m Caution Santa Cruz Spitfire II (big pimpin' kite!)

anyways, enough talk - on to the pictures! (which i just took 10mins ago)







my neighbour's 03 f-150 4 door for size reference...




little people for size reference :P




she'll be mated up to my 141cm carbon fibre slingshot ssx kiteboard until it gets too cold, & then if the winter winds are tame/i head back to montana for a winter kite rodeo weekend - the snowboard beside it. (or maybe a new one)




i've been kiting for a year or two now, but am quite new to kitesurfing. it's still a great accomplishment for me to get up and going a couple hundred yards down the beach, however, each time i go - it's feeling more & more natural, so i think i'll learn a bit quicker now. mind you, i'll have to learn a new kite at the same time... hrmm meh - either way, if i'm out there all afternoon and only manage a few short runs for a while yet, it's still worth every penny & every second invested.=) i can't wait 'til i'm well enough to take 'er out on 'er maiden flight in the nice summer beach breeze.

I kite-buggied a lot. With a Elliot Ekko 3.2. Nice kite with LOTS of power!