Not really into kiting as I like to be able to go out when it suits me and not rely on anyone plus not that keen on the big swim. Regarding wind though, a kite is flying about 25m above sea level. The wind speed on the bridge of a ship for example can be say 22 knots (which is anywhere between 25 and 60m above the water) and when I look at the water it is about 12 knots.
StormHI,
Naish and Hawaiian Watersports, both in Kailua, are the only windsurfing shops left on the island.
Moks is ok at high tide, or if you stay near the channel like most of the other windsurfers. If you get a quad wave board the deepest fins are probably 15 cm so not as many reef scrapes as the old 25 cm single fins.
I've had boards shipped over from Maui for $50 so that is also an option.
Try racing Formula if you want an aerobic workout, and pretty sure RSX athelete's are in the top 10% fittest of all Olympic athelete's
Wow this is quite the topic for a debate. Ive decided in the end Id rather learn windsurfing before anything else. Im not the type of person to be defeated easily. It may take longer to learn than kiting and sure its gear is alot more bulky. But I think once learnt properly it will be awesome. I think kiting would be fun but would never hook me in like windsurfing.
I worked out a few things today!
We windsurf because we can.
kiters kite because they can't windsurf.
pretty simple really
Today at Melville the wind was averaging around 11 knots.
Gusts to 13 possibly 14 and the lulls around 9.
On my 122 slalom board and 7 metre had a terrible day.
And I was one of the few who managed to get going a few times!
In this range of wind,the sport of windsurfing is not that good.
It can also become quite physical too,on and off the plane all the time.
The kiters were not going well either.
For both sports the bottom line is.........don't try and make the sport work in light air.
Has to be averaging minimum 12 knots to have a reasonable day,but i need 14 knots average to really make the trip worthwhile.
the root of windsurfing was longboarding
with a KONA, DIV II, Mistral Equipe, Fanatic CAT and even BIC Dufour 11 knots of wind is amble !!!
go back to the roots and have fun no matter what
The kite for sure is 12m - which is not a big kite nowadays.
Even ignoring the numbers, it's still impressive.
^^^^
Terminal, not your fault, but that has to be worst video clip of a product---ever Takes over a minute of a 3.04 clip before he even hits the water, with no close up of the foil design or workings
We all know how it looks pumping up a kite, then all we get is distance shots, and the clip end around the 2.43 minute mark.
hmmmm you get to the start doing 25 knots and someones lines come down in front of you 10 people are turned to human confetti ...
But all things being fair kiteboard racing does look bloody rad, the jumpie spinny bits don't really appeal to me (looks like figure ice skating or ballet) but the power, speed and wind range of that race discipline is sweet