In my opinion watching this comp and All riders having to ride unstrapped to be judged high, the sport has just gone backwards 5 years, man how boring, probably the most lame surf comp I have seen. Thank god for the ASP.
^ I think Johnno was talking about the comp and KSP, not strapless in general.
please dont start up that debate aaaagaain!
Hey just what I saw on The KSP link, Keahi or how every you spell the young ladz name was amazing unstrapped a few weeks ago in far, far north of WA and blew my mind unstrapped in 6-8 ft heavy surf, best deep tube riding with a smile & a kite I have ever seen in person by 100%. Now that kid can kite surf.
day six
as the guy says they have the best guys in the world....... hmmmmm debateable me thinks?????
In their own right they are awesome. Awesome to do, boring as bat **** to watch unless you do it yourself and understand the technical skill, like the wake style. But, are we there to impress people from the beach or to zone into your own style. Rode with a strapless guy through the outer reefs at exmouth and it was awesome watch him actually ride the wave. Appreciated the skill. Me im not interested I got into kiting for big air, loops, rolls and transitions with the occasional pretty average wave riding, thAts what I like, spent a summer strapless riding and got myself bored ****less let alone those watching. Each to their own man.
I watched last years Wedge clip when I registered to enter for this years and the riding on the 'Pro' tour didnt look any better to me.
They do have to start somewhere though. The wave looks a bit flat which would make big turns hard. Hopefully by the finals there should be some good riding?
you guy's seem to forget kiters are the goat boat of the 20th century. It always looks better live and from what I saw there were a few big lips hit and progresion is being made. But.... would love to see some footage of keehi in the north west
If these guys were strapped they woud be ripping that wave apart. Sorry, but had to be said.
I skipped work the last 2 days to watch it and and really enjoyed it.... The riders had the option of using straps, the judges didnt add or deduct for them...why would you want straps if you can stay on your board without......(dont want to start that argument)
For me just the opposite of what eppo said.... I cant watch 5 minute vids of jumps and all those other tricks without being bored stiff...... Nothing wrong w/ it, to each his own.....
I support the ksp and hope they do well..... Cabo verde in dec. should be awsome......
Good job ksp, sky and kristin...................................
Initially I agreed that watching strapless kiting is cringeworthy as a public spectacle .However I do recall seeing some vids that included some rather unbelievable aerial work (can't recall the links) that has made me rethink . I think given time the strapless stuff will evolve and some really remarkable riding and flying through the air will continue to evolve . I really do think that strapped riding should not be discouraged tho.
Geez you guys are a tough crowd, yes I would like to see Keahi and a few Aussies competing, and I enjoyed watching the recent Portugal surfing comp more but it wasn't all that bad.
Select to expand quotetightlines said...
Geez you guys are a tough crowd, yes I would like to see Keahi and a few Aussies competing, and I enjoyed watching the recent Portugal surfing comp more but it wasn't all that bad.
Looks like a sic wave I reckon. Would love to kite it.... Seems to go for miles. Keen to see more footage. Keep posting it.
Day 7 looked alright considering it is KITEsurfing. Is it just me or does this really high level of riding that looks really good and is up to 'our'/ your standards doesnt exist? I have started to think that theres two styles of kitesurfing 1. Upwind strapless airs big s - turns n the occasional little coverup the bws style? and style 2. which is the euro strapped silly spiral spinny **** like the ksp before peru?
Funny I think. KSP strapless,
Middle aged euro blokes thinking their killing it in the surf
last year strapped. This year bringing out the phoneys.
Good effort for having a go, but got to have "THE BEST RIDERS"
to earn respect, specially strapless.
The final day had much better riding. They were doing nice solid turns in the pocket. Hopefully it wont take long for the rest of the riders to come up to that standard.
**** i turn down the sound when i watch these vids, sick of hearing from some dude about "the best riders in the world", its like they dont beleive it themselves and are really just repeating the same crap. wave looks better for surfing than kitesurfing, so long
Too many brazzos in there.I like Airtons style but anyone who has seen Keahi ride knows he would have smashed it..
Looks a fun wave.
Do they need judges for next event.
Select to expand quoteJohnnoKeys said...
In my opinion watching this comp and All riders having to ride unstrapped to be judged high, the sport has just gone backwards 5 years, man how boring, probably the most lame surf comp I have seen. Thank god for the ASP.
Definately av comp...but last time I checked the ASP was strapless..I reckon the best kiting in the world right now is happenning strapless like like Alldredge and co..That might change and could be a strapped rider in the future...lets see what happens..
Boring and more boring , a slight closeness to surfing Kiahi and ian, i think of kitesurfing as an extension above surfing ,surely the bigger manouvre above the lip looks way better than a smaller air than kelly slater unstrapped , no comparison only for the rider knowing that unstrapped is hard work making it look good. I wish i could surf better than kelly slater with a kite unstrapped , being 46 or any age it is not going to happen , might as well just surf and paddle in so your arms are free . Or strap on and go big every time with no limits , reo stevens is good at this.
Tough crowd
Wave looked a touch fat, and lightish wind, would like to ride it though
Would have loved to see some Aussies in there. They would have smashed the be-Jesus out of it
