Hey Guys/Gals,

I am getting back in to the sport after not kitesurfing for about 12 years, I have bought most of the gear I need to get back up and running again, I did have a hopefully quick question.

One of the kites I bought was a 11m North Orbit 2020 which includes the North Navigator bar, alongside this I am getting a 17m zypher v4 (seeing as I am a big fella and we have lighter winds) However, I note the pigtails are mismatched on the two brands, it looks like I can buy pigtail adapters to change my loops to knots and visa versa. However I seem to read that people say you can just change them on the kite/bar.

So my question, am I missing something really simple or do I need to buy these(not a cost issue only a few $ but if it can be avoided that is better 😄 )?

Bonus question, I have been thinking back on the old days, can anyone help me figure out what board I used to own? (would have been a 2002-2006 model I guess) https://i.imgur.com/SJs1fcY.png

PS I have taken a refresher course when we were visiting Cape Town again a month ago, so have gone over all the safety systems/changes but did not think of asking about bars, as I did not know what gear I was planning to buy.

I'm heading there next week on a family holiday, thinking about bringing my gear since there is a bit of wind in the forecast. Anyone ridden there and have recommendations?

Wondering if anyone experiences terrible tennis elbow after kiting for a few days.
People have told me it’s the bar pressure or that I should try a longer bar but I’ve been kiting regularly for 3 years now and have tried a lot of different kites and bars working with a local school and it seems to hit me regardless of brand or size.
The only thing I noticed is the more I loop the kite the worse it seems to get.

Wondering if anyone has any remedies.
Right now I just throw hair ties around my elbows and ice
(Not doing kite loops is not an option)

Every time if i switch bar size the right line get stuck until it gets power on it and snaps to normal position i changed leader lines and bar width inserts still same problem lines are equal length only when rotating bar end what can this be the bar itself broken inside? Rinse my bar after every sesh

On a mystic vandal, I had a couple of crashes, nothing out of the ordinary, but back of head hurt like crazy after the session. You like the vandal? It’s much better today, I didn’t feel sick just a little disoriented with big headache did last for maybe 20min. Thank you 🫠

Dear all, I am looking for a place to do a beginner Kitesurf camp in December with guaranteed wind.

Ideally, an affordable destination from Europe and which works for one week (less than 24h to travel destination - eg Egypt, Morocco, Cap Verde, Baléares, Caribbean, Sri Lanka) and which is pretty flat since we are only starting this kitesurfing journey.

Another possibility would be a destination where there are alternative activities to do during no wind days (e.g. visits, surfing etc).

Many thanks for your suggestions!

UPDATE – Knots removed, but I have a new safety question!

Hey everyone, thanks for all your replies! 🤙

Just to clear up a misunderstanding: I bought my Duotone Click Bar 2023 brand new about 3 years ago, and I’ve been riding with it ever since.

I only noticed these two knots during my last 2–3 sessions. I honestly don’t remember seeing them before, and I’m definitely not saying they were there when the bar left the factory! 😂

Another Click Bar owner checked his lines today and confirmed that his bar doesn’t have these knots.

I managed to undo both knots using warm tea and a needle. After removing them, the lines looked visually fine, and I even did a short light-wind session without noticing any problems.

Now I have a new question for experienced riders and kite technicians:

If these knots were present during just 2–3 normal riding sessions, could they have caused significant permanent damage to the line fibers, even though the lines look perfectly fine after removing them?

Would you personally replace the affected lines, or is there a reliable way to inspect them and determine whether they’re still safe?

I’m particularly interested in whether the number of sessions matters, or if even a single session with a tightened knot can significantly weaken a flying line.

Thanks again for all the help! 🤙

————————-

Hey everyone,

I bought my Duotone Click Bar 2023 brand new, and I’m the only person who has used it.

I recently noticed two similar knots approximately 20 cm below the kite-end pigtails:

• One on the right steering/back line
• One on the left front line

I’ve probably used the bar for two or three light practice sessions since noticing the knots. Neither knot has visibly changed in size or shape during those sessions.

I also previously found a knot on the red front line below the Y-split, where it was wrapped around the gray front line. I removed that knot, but I’m concerned it may have weakened the line. I can no longer identify its exact location.

The bar seemed to perform normally during those sessions, but I understand that doesn’t necessarily mean the lines are safe.

My questions:

1. Does anyone with a 2023 Duotone Click Bar have these same knots near the pigtails?
2. Could these be factory-made knots, or are they abnormal?
3. Would you recommend replacing the affected lines?
4. Could any of this affect the safety-release system?

I’ve attached close-up photos and contacted Duotone for technical confirmation.

Thanks for any advice, especially from Click Bar owners or experienced kite technicians!

Found this tiny hole in the canopy of my Cabrinha Switchblade 2024 (about 60 sessions). It's about 1–2 mm, on the canopy close to the leading edge, but not on the LE itself (photos attached).

Is it worth patching (e.g. a small piece of ripstop tape on both sides), or is it small enough to ignore? Is there a risk it grows if I keep riding it as is?

Thanks!

In one month I’ll be in Cape Verde for 10 days with 7 friends to kite as much as possible.

We’re bringing our own gear and have booked accommodation for half of the trip in Boavista and the other half in Sal.

All of us can ride upwind, and some are learning tricks and 5-7m jumps. We aren't planning to take lessons and would prefer spots that aren't too crowded.

Any suggestions, experiences, things to avoid, or top spot recommendations?

Thanks for the help.

I apologise in advanced because I guess this falls under advertising. But I also know it SUCKS losing your kiteboard. So I built a lost & found platform (honestly, I wanted to build it back in 2016 when working at a kite center and renters were losing our boards 😢)

I've just done rigorous durability testing on my new QR stickers for on your board and they've proven extremely weather and scratch resistant :)

So as apologies for promoting my platform, I'll send anyone free QR lost & found stickers, I'll only charge the postage fees. Just send me a DM and I'll get you sorted!

The platform is here: www.kitelost.com

Let me know what you think!

Hello,

I've been working on kiteloops for a few weeks in Brazil but I am quite inconsistent. Sometimes I feel like I get it (like clip 3), but then I do a "kiteloop" session and all of them seem off, and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong... Clips 1-2 were in choppy conditions and clip 3 in flat water, maybe this helped.

Also, so you recommend pulling the heli with the front hand or back hand? I've been doing front as it seemed more natural, but not sure...

Kiteloop 1

Kiteloop 2

Kiteloop 3 (better)

Thanks!

I've been kiting close to 20 years now. Getting older. Over the years I found myself upgrading my quiver every season, to every 3 seasons, to now going on 5 seasons. Last 3 quivers have all been C-kites. 2 runs of North Vegas and now the last 4-5 years I have been rocking Ozone Amps.

The kites are finally starting to show their age and I notice that no one is selling C-kites anymore. I am so far out of the loop kite-wise that I have no idea what to get for my next quiver.

What would you guys recommend now? I am 70kg, mostly do simple unhooked like raileys and unhooked backrolls but nothing that crazy and wakestyle. Have had the same Xenon board with Ronix boots setup for like 10 years but will probably swap over to straps and an Imperator that's been gathering dust in my shed. I don't plan on doing anything new, maybe just dialing in my F-16 and maybe learning some big air kiteloops. I occasionally ride a directional and have a shitty strapless foil setup I use once in a while.

Brand-wise I am looking Harlem, Ozone, or Core probably. Maybe Duotone.

I started Kitesurfing this summer and given that I windsurf and snowboard i had a pretty fast learning curve as the instructor of my kite course told me. I could already surf quite a distance after my first waterstort and am currently doing tacks and already small jumps just after half a season of kiting.

One thing I don't understand though is the choice of kite size for given windsituations. I have a 12m and 9m kite and I know which one to pick when but what I always wonder is that the Kite sizes are so much bigger than the corresponding sizes I would take in the same conditions when i windsurf.

So far the formula I kind of came up with is that the kites need to be around twice the size of my windsurf sails. If I would take a 6m Sail windsurfing I'd need a 12m Kite for kitesurfing to have a similar feeling of pressure. Why is that so? I always thought that the wind is stronger the higher up in the atmosphere we go because it can move more freely. And even if that is not the case how come that at a height of just 24meters of line length the wind changes that dramatically that I need twice the surface area to get going?
Or am I misunderstanding something completely (which likely I am)?

The only other explanation I can come up by myself would be that because of the (generally speaking) c shape of the kite the wingtips are not really affected by the wind and only there for steering so essentially you are really just using aprox. half of the surface area of the kite to generate pressure. But Foilkites aren't shaped like that and still use immense surface areas.

If anyone could enlighten me on this topic and explain the physics behind it I would be very thankful! So far I love kitesurfing and would love to understand as much as possible about it!

Confession: I’ve had a few sketchy launches.

Otherwise, these kites are 100% crash free, and most launches have been super calm. However, on two different kites and in two different spots the lines have stripped themselves - what is this? How common? How can I avoid it?

Replacement lines are on the way.

My theory: the lines have had a twist in them and then been subject to a pulling force.

So last season, Miami Kiteboarding was the concessioner for Crandon Park. This season, I tried checking their site before heading down (to look at the webcam) but while Miami kiteboarding is still in business, it looks like they might not be the ones running Crandon Park? They no longer have the webcam of the site, they page mentioning the site rules / rider pass is gone, etc.

Moreover, when I searched Miami kiteboarding on Google Maps, they no longer show up with the Crandon location. Google Maps suggests a new company, Padl, is running things there? And their site makes no mention of selling day passes. Is Padl indeed the new Crandon concessioner? Did they get rid of day passes to force us all into an annual pass?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help clarify what’s going on with that site.

Im currently 95kg and an intermediate rider (consistent 8m jumps with heli loops) in 20-25 knots on 12m.

My current quiver is a 15m soul, 12m xr, and 9m nexus 3.

I’m looking to replace my second hand nexus since it consistently feels underpowered and the boosting leaves much to be desired.

Most of my sessions are on my 12m which I can hold down until 25knots. I’m looking to progress into kite loops with my smaller kite. I may only have 2/3 sessions a year at my local spot that are over 30 knots and most likely would enjoy something that can be well powered and loop in 22-30knots.

The nitro apex is on close out near me but I keep reading that it has a poor low end, which seems like I would be in regularly. Evo is also $400 more for a model of the same year.

I’m definitely overthinking this and maybe the answer is to train on the nexus, I just feel like I can’t get the needed height to try loops out of it.

On the other hand the evo sounds like a great option especially if I want to sell my nexus and use it for foiling as well. Any suggestions on 9 or 10m and kite model? I think I could also be willing to sell the XR/nexus and just do a evo dlab 10m with the foil kite

After some guidance and advice on this. I've watched a lot of Youtube videos and read reddit posts to help me decide. I also popped a post in the Wing Foil reddit, though am after a balanced view from kitesurfers.

- 35 yr old athletic female. 65kg, 178cm. Already surf (though not super well), paraglide, ski, climb.
- Currently living in a beach town in Aus and can practise 2-3x a week

- I travel internationally and live between NZ, Aus, Canada.

- I need to chose a sport that's easy-ish to travel with. Carting sports gear around the world is something I'm used to! But need to strongly consider packing size and weight.

- I like the idea of self-launching so as not to be reliant on any one

My initial thoughts were KITESURFING! But wing foiling and parawinging look like less admin, and safer.

Any advice or guidance is appreciated!

Hey everyone!

I've been building a website that connects riders to riding spots, where they can share local knowledge, sessions, photos, and experiences.

I know spot guides and GPS tracking apps already exist, but spot information is often feels fragmented or outdated, while tracking apps focus more on individual sessions than building shared knowledge around specific locations.

My idea was to try bring these together into something more interactive and community-driven.

I won't link it here out of respect for the self-promotion rules, but I'm curious whether something like this would actually be useful to kiteboarders.

Ultimately, i'm curious if people would find value in this and whether anyone would personally contribute their local knowledge or riding experiences? Let me know what you think!

I bought the wetsuit for 239€ on Kitemana and used it for about a month, have around 30 sessions on it.

The glue on the inside lining seems to be falling apart slowly as well as the glue everywhere looking like it won’t hold for more than a few months.

Kitemana has offered me my money back in a voucher as long as I cut my wetsuit in half.

Now I’m thinking, should I buy another mystic majestic but a different year/model or should I stay away? I really like the flex and softness of the material, but I don’t want it to fall apart…

I heard they have some quality issues apparently…

Any advice on this matter?

Hi All,

So about 2 months ago I decided to venture out into the world of kite surfing, something I’ve wanted to do for many a years, and as I’ve hit my “cough”, I thought now’s the time to do it. I have had x5 2-hour lessons so far with some excellent instructors, however, faced some frustrating conditions which I feel have hindered me a little. This is my journey so far:

Initial Taster: 

Getting to grips with basic kite flying on land using a trainer kite.

Early Water Sessions: 

Working on kite control, safety systems, and body dragging. Though one of my lessons felt more like I was being waterboarded than learning that day due to high winds and large waves.

Recent Lessons: Transitioning to board starts, refining power strokes/downwind dives, and running through safety pack-downs on light-wind days. Sadly, I still haven’t managed to get up on the board to do the water start.

I’ve got to say, the kite surfing community and instructors in the area are fantastic and very welcoming for a beginner and will be continuing with lessons.

The challenge I have is that I’m finding it a challenge to align suitable conditions with lesson availability as they get snapped up so quickly and the gap between lessons can be a week or 2 at the moment. Short of going out by myself, obviously not recommended at this point in time, is there anything you would suggest to help my progress in between these lessons.

Many thanks

Made a quick impulse purchase as it looked like a good deal. A few questions

What exactly do I have here (model/year) and this appropriate for me? I am 90-100kg ish.

Is this set appropriate for wake foiling too? (I boat in the summer as well as kite)

Do I need to worry about the wear? Do I need to do any work on them

Will I need to buy foil kites? I currently twin tip on rebels.

Thanks for all advice!

Is there a way to precisely trim the lines ? I’d like to adjust just a few centimeters as the lines don’t match in length without using a complete different pigtail.

Is it possible ? I searched online but didn’t find anything useful.

This all the damage i managed to hack on to my board in the last 8 years
Is it repairable?
Is it worth fixing and if so how?
There’s cracks, delamination and scratches