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| Jumping the Australian Kitesurf Academy way
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How to Jump Higher to Boost Big!
High jumps can be achieved with good technique and good conditions. By conditions, there should be:
1) High winds
2) Smooth water
3) Fast board that can quite an edge
4) Fast-turning kite
5) Rider skill
You need speed to get high. This is the key
ingredient for boosting big. Speed will demand more skill to hold the
edge, and more physical endurance on your muscles holding that much
kite power down. To build speed reduce your edging so you travel
perpendicular to the wind, rather than upwind. This will bring the kite
back in the window a bit and your speed will dramatically increase. You
should keep the kite relatively low at this point (45 degrees to the
water) and as you reach the desired speed, slowly bring the kite up to
70 degrees to the water. If you're "lit", the kite will be pulling very
hard and the board will be throwing up a huge spray of water even up
into your kite lines. This is where rider skill comes in, being able to
hold down the power of the kite and not losing your edge, sending you
flying downwind or getting "teabagged".
At this point the kite
should be quickly sent upward or even slightly in the reverse
direction. While the kite is sent, you should be edging much harder to
hold the edge more upwind until you cannot hold the kite any longer. At
this point the edge should be released by pulling your feet up and the
board out of the water. You can even "jump" off the water to help the
kite pull you a bit higher into the air. Be sure not to let your feet
slip out of the foot straps, or your board will "stick" to the water
due to the added surface tension and you will wind up flying barefooted.
If
you feel you're too lit, you can bear off a bit downwind (not downwind,
but more even to the wind). Your speed will increase, but you can bear
off and "pivot" the kite to point it straight up. When its pointed in
the direction you want, push your feet forward and lean back and edge,
leaning as horizontal as you can go to load up the kite lines. You will
be torn from the water to heights never before realized. At this point,
spot your landing and claim it by pulling with your forward hand a
second before hitting the water. Bend your legs, take it, and after
steering downwind toward the kite a bit, sit back and edge and continue
off.
Just remember, as soon as you
leave the water, depending on your kite size, you will need to steer
the kite to control your flight. You don't want to steer it too far in
either direction, or you will be slung across under the kite and it
will hindenburg. Most likely, you will eat it hard a few times before
getting the timing right - do not worry about that. Most people have a
favorite kite that they are best with, also. The larger the kite, the
slower it turns and the quicker you'll have to be with corrective moves
- otherwise you'll have a stalled kite and you will plummet to the
water with a resounding thud. This is what impact vests are for if you
think you need one, get one. Some impacts from large jumps that were
poorly executed could result in knocking the rider unconscious. Start
jumping in stages. Don't go huge your first jump. Practice your timing
by "sending" the kite with progressively more snap each time you jump.
When you think you can go big, only then should you be trying to send
the kite in the opposite direction. Kitesurfing delivers a violent
surge of power through the harness to the rider which typically freaks
most riders out when they first go huge.
As you progress and
complete hundreds of jumps, you will be able to control the kite to a
point where your hangtimes will be much longer, and you will be able to
control where you land. Spins and rolls will come much easier when you
master the art of high jumping, which is undoubtedly the most
attractive feature of kitesurfing.
Kiteboard style for jumping
Small
boards need more power, large boards need less power. Keeping this in
mind, for any winds speed, use a smaller board in the higher winds for
more control and a larger board in the lighter winds for more planing
ability.
The more power the kite generates, the shorter your
session will be on a smaller board since the rider has to resist more
of the power of the kite with the legs.
Shorter boards are
better for jumping since they create less centrifical force while doing
spinning tricks, weigh less so you can go higher, and you can release
your edge with a smaller board more quickly.
A
thinner rail is more efficient than a thick rail for edging into the
water. The sharpness of the rail affects the edging ability, as does
the thickness. A longer rail is more efficient for edging.
Less rocker is faster due to less drag, but no rocker is slower. A plywood board will typically flex to create less drag.
Directionals are typically better for variable wind and light wind conditions due to their size and volume.
More
fins help you hold down more kite, but they can also slow you down.
More fins will also help to go upwind for the first time in learning
this skill.
Wider is better. Wider boards will "plane" up more quickly than narrower boards.
Can I Wear Booties With My Board Straps?
Basically,
a lot of people ask how you can wear booties in the footstraps of
your Crazyfly board (or any other board with footstraps and pads, for
that matter). Its pretty simple. There are two popular methods to
choose from:
1) Unscrew the kiteboard foot strap at each end and
put the screw through the outermost hole of the strap, making the strap
around your foot longer, so it can fit your foot and bootie. or...
2)
Unscrew the strap, and replace the screw with a longer one (stainless),
and use a small aluminum, or plastic, spacer to raise the strap
connection points off the board a bit.
Each of these
modifications takes a few minutes with a phillips screwdriver and will
allow you to ride with either booties, or neoprene socks in the spring
and winter.
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