Kitewingers in New England

[Mini44]

Hey i got my kitewing recently and while on my first time out with a pair of roller blades i found out that angleing the wing down into the wind at high speed is bad. I took a nose dive and the front( right in the middle) got scraped up and tore some stiching. I was wondering if there were any materials, like nylon straps or ect., that would be applicable to this area to elongate the life of this certain , commonly struck, piece of the wing.
Also I live in Danvers Ma. and I was wondering if anyone knew some one with a wing from around here.
Thanks alot
Jon

[Iceglider]

Hello Jon,
My name is Rick and I purchased a Skimbat 4.8 this past March, which I used on the ice up at Lake Sunapee, NH with a couple of other Skimbat pilots and a few kiters. Our group is always looking for new faces to come join us, so feel free to drop me a line if you like.
I live in Lunenburg, MA, and I do most of my sailing in winter these days. I've been sailng windsurf-type sleds for years, but I find the "freesail" concept to be easier to work with. I also tried a couple of kites out last winter, but a Skimbat is much easier to set up and handle than a kite.
Anyway, I hope you can join us this winter. There was a pretty strong showing of kiters, sled/iceboard sailors, and iceboaters up there last winter. It was also one of the best places for ice in New England at the time.
Hope to hear from you.
Rick

[jpal]

Hey Jon, I just got my Kitewing in Dec 06 but I havn't used it yet. I origionaly wanted to use it with a snowboard but we havn't got any snow this year yet. I just bought a Dirtsurfer and I'm trying to learn how to ride that at the moment so I can use it with my wing. I'm right down the road from you in Amesbury, Ma. Post a reply if you'd like to hook up, or I'll probably see you at Sunapee as soon as it freezes.
Hope to hear from you.
Jeff

[SWAT]

All the info you need on riding Dirtsurfers with Kitewings can be found here.

http://www.wingsurfer.co.uk

SWAT

[calle]

Comment to Mini 44 when angling the wing down at speed, which led to a nosedive.
Solution: tighten both ropes at the sail leach properly, and so that the wing gets a clearly reflexed S-shape at the leach area. A reflexed shaped wing profile effectively minimizes nose diving in all "tailless" wings like a Kitewing or a hangglider. (In aviation the small stabilizer wing at the rear section of the plane eliminates nosediving)
When properly tighning both ropes in your Kitewing, especially the one in front of the rear one, you will note that the wing stabilizes itself in any wind and speed and its rather impossible to get it nosediving at all.
A reflex profile increases positive pitch stability to talk in aerodynamic terms. In hanggliding this is still more important as no pilot wants to make a nosedive in the air. (Some hangglider producers have in fact installed a stabilizer in recent years)
Always tighten the sail at both masttube extensions properly as well, as we have a built-in reflex batten and sail twist in the sail tip area for the same reason, ie avoiding nosediving.

[jpal]

Hey SWAT, I saw your vid with the flexi and I was wondering if you find it easier to ride a solid frame or the flexi. I bought a flexi deck and I'm trying to learn how to ride it (without the wing at first) and I'm not having any luck. I go to the top of a grassy hill and when I try to start it down the hill it seems to bounce me off balance. I can't get my front foot in before falling. Should I just use it with the wing and forget about learning on a hill first or should I learn to use the dirtsurfer first? I'm thinking it might be easier with the wing holding me up.

Thank you
Jeff

[SWAT]

Hi Jeff

The rigid frames are only very slightly easier to learn, the flexis are a little higher so are more twitchy. The wing does hold you up more, but it accellerates you into trouble a lot more quickly if you are not used to the board. Therefore you need to be able to ride the board before you use the wing.

The way we teach new riders, on any board is as follows.

Find a very gentle slope and with the aid of another person, stand on the board and balance by holding the other persons shoulder. Ask that person to walk slowly until you feel comfortable enough to let go. Do NOT look at the front wheel - this will make you think you are going to fall off and you will !

Keep practicing this until you can let go after you just get moving.

After that you need to learn to launch yourself. (You may find it easier if you remove the front foot strap initially)

Insert your back foot whilst stationary, and perhaps whilst using a tree for stability, push off and practice positioning your front foot. Keep practicing this until your foot knows to go without thinking about it.

The key thing to remember with Dirtsurfers is that the faster you go, the more stable they are. Infact learning to start is the hardest part.

Once you have that, take a look at this link to see how to combine the start with a Kitewing.

http://www.wingsurfer.co.uk/generic/template.asp?ACT=nav&mID=204

Good Luck, let me know how you get on.

SWAT

[Race]

Hey my name is Eric and Im from Groveton, NH, a small town up north, and i was wondering if there is any place i can try a wing. I have been looking at them for awhile but i would like to try one before i buy. If any of you know a place i could try please reply.

[Iceglider]

Hey Eric- Rick from Massachusetts here- I'm not sure what you want to use the wing for, but I hope to be sailing someplace in New England- possibly Lake Sunapee but farther north if not- this coming weekend. I'll know more as the week progresses and the ice/weather reports come in.
I have a 4.8 you can try out if you can make it. In the meantime, we have a Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nasaskimbat
Most of us are Kitewingers from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and mid-coast Maine. We've got a bunch of great pictures of and a lot of useful information. Check it out! Rick

[Race]

yea i live UP north. Like 30 min north of Littleton or Berlin if any of u guys r familiar with them. my parents own a camp on a small pond so im thinking about using a snowboard with the wing in the winter. It looks really fun. i would love to try it out.

[Iceglider]

I know where Groveton is, I've done a bit of drive-by exploring up that way. Having a camp on any kind of water is great but you might find you'll need more room. At 30 mph (easy to attain on a firm surface), you cover a tenth of a mile in only twelve seconds. Also, most of the smaller ponds up that way are surrounded by fair-sized hills and mountains that do wierd things to the wind. But- you're not far from Umbagog Lake, and there's a few lakes in the Northeast Kingdom of VT, such as Willoughby, not too far from your area.
Equipment is another factor. I've ridden snowboards on the slopes for many seasons but I'm using skis with the wing. I often find myself "skating" for apparent wind, something you can't do on a board. For a board you'll need steady consistent wind and more of it depending on the surface. A lot of us also use "Nordic Skates" (nordicskater.com) on clear ice. For learning on snow or ice, I recommend skis or skates if you know how to use them.
I would like to try to sail with my board, but I'll wait for the right conditions. Having the wind die while you're on the other side of the lake is no fun but at least I can skate back with skis on- a lot of work but still faster than walking.
I'll keep you posted on possible sailing this weekend in case you might be able to join us. R.

[Race]

yea the pond isn't too big but i think it would b big enough to try a wing. I dont know if u have GoogleEarth but if so u can check the pond out. Its in Stark, NH and is SE of Christine Lake and on the southern side of the River. The pond is called south pond even though there are multiple ponds attatched to each other. And outside of winter how well do rollerblades work. Thanks for the information its helpful.

[Iceglider]

Checked out the location on Topozone and there's a small mountain on to the west and northwest- not good for the most favorable wind directions in winter. Posibbly a north or northwest wind could sneak through the gap on the north side but don't be surprised if it's very shifty and turbulent.
Still, if I had a place on a pond I'd try to sail on it anyway. The good news your pond has about 0.2 miles across the short way running west to east or vice versa, so you'll have just enough room if you get it going. You might have fun on skates with clear ice at least.
By the way, we're going to try for Lake Sunapee tomorrow but the wind forecast isn't favorable. The new snow is apt to slow it down even more.
We usually set up and sail from the end of Soo-Nipi Park road off NH 103A. The ice was still holding last weekend with a few holes here and there. Hopefully it will be strong enough this weekend too. Whether it will last until next weekend is anyone's guess. Hopefully there will be something left farther north if not.

[Race]

well thats nice knowing i could use the wing on the pond. i snowmobile on it and can get pretty fast so i think it would b fun to try a wing. thnx for all the info.

[Race]

wondering if anyone used there kitewing in this weeks storm. u got guts if u did.