Wake kite

Has anyone tried that kite?
I was up at Ski World and I rode it as a demo.
•••••••• pretty tight.
The distance and height is unreal.

That thing has all bad written all over it! Remember the kite tube...people died. Sad reality, but true.

The real reason I don't like it, is because it contradicts all the fundamentals that we all work so hard for to improve our wakeboarding. All the proper riding technique is not possible with this thing.

If you watch the video (i saw it at a boatshow), the riders arms are extended out above his shoulders, board is flat hitting the wake (not on edge), etc. Reminds me of the Sky Ski--it's just not helping to progress the sport.

I dont Know man I kite surf and to combine the two sports I love together is great. If your arms are over your head it means it time to work out and stop playing video games. Basically try it before you rip it.

wake kite?
anyone got video?

Thanks but I'll pass. I will try to kite board one day, just won't use a 60K boat to do it.

That is the biggest waste of gas and time. Everytime the rider falls it takes at least 4-5 minutes to get everything positioned right again. Oh yeah... did I mention it's lame!!!

yeah i'v seen it ....I also kiteboard.....don't think I would fork over another 1500 bucks to do it behind the boat....and like jerm said it doesn't do anything for your wakeboarding.

I watched a guy with one for a while @ my lake and it looked like a complete cluster %&*$.

Hey don't knock it till you try it. I would try it if I had the opertunity. The price tag is a bit steep to go buy one first that is for sure.

I watched a video of someone doing it and it didn't seem like it took that long to set up once you fell.

Based on what I saw, kite surfing and wake kiting are very different. I think wake surfing would be a blast and I think doing it with a wakeboard would be even more fun. The wake kite attaches to you like a parasail and then you still have a rope attached to the boat. Here's a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHcqog8O1Bo

seems really dangerous, what if you got hit with a gust of wind, wouldn't it blow you straight up like the wego kite tube?

take the worst part of kiteboarding and the worst part of wakeboarding, put them together and you get wake kiting

100% correct JO!

I'll stick to the Boat. it's really not the same sport at all. The dynamics are very different

Seriously jo, you hit it!!

So can you do anything but a straight floated air? My god, how boring is that. The video had about 50 straight airs of various size and ugliness. Although I must say the donkey kick raley flail will definitely take over in traditional riding.

you dont see the guy getting dragged across the lake because the wind. then into the trees, then across the pavement. then into the hospital or even dead. i wouldnt even try it, let alone buy it.

It looks like it would be a blast. it may only be fun for one weekend but i still think it would be fun to try it at least once.

I talked to the guys who developed it and they were very aware of safety concerns and the design was well thought out. No matter how fast you go the kite will never take off like a parasail, the kite releases as soon as you fall. I haven't tried it yet but would be interested to hear from some who have. I agree that it may be a novelty item and get old quick but would still be fun to try.

I'd try it. Why not. If it sucks don't buy one.

It sounds like only one person has actually tried it and he liked it. Has anyone else tried it and not liked it?

hey if someone is willing to buy one for me then id try it haha.

gimmick

The small amount of knowledge and the huge amount of fear or lack of balls you people have is amazing.

(Message edited by wakeless on June 22, 2007)

Seems like you have everyone pegged. Your ignorance and rudeness is amazing. Why don't you go fly a kite?

I tryed it and it was a lot of fun. If you want a good workout you should try it to. I bet you people in here cant even fly the thing for 10 min you will be to tired. It was a lot of fun and you can land like 25 feet out into the flats with no effort at all. And you can also do like 360 and raleys all day long. But you people are talking bad about something you have never done Because it is a lot of fun. For all of you people that have bad knee problems you should give it a try the landings are so soft.

Sky Ski landings are soft too!

yes they at but not every body has a skiski or not every body wants to learn a new sport they at least know how to wakeboard and now all you have to do is put a kit in the air to and you have a wake kite. Just try it before you down grade it.

well today I got dragged into the trees and then on to the road. I guess I was to dumb to let go of the handle. If you prove you self this dumb then when you hit the water you quick release lets the kite fly away or maybe the people in the boat could pull their quick release.
For real the only way to get hurt is by letting go in the air 20 feet up.
Just don't let go!!!

i don't think anyone on here has tried the bunjee wakeboarding thing, and that pretty much sucked too!

Kite Surfing?

O.K. I just got my first ride on the kite yesterday, and I have to say, it was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. I mean, boom, I was able to launch 15' airs, and land like 25' into the flats with an impact like I'd only jumped 6 inches! IT WAS INCREDIBLE - NO MATTER WHAT ANY OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T RIDDEN TRY TO SAY Way too much fun to trash talk at all. Bravo to the inventors of this new contraption, just like bravo to the inventors of the wakeboard (or Skurfer as it was called - Thanks Tony)! Remember, the skurfer was a controversial "gimmick" when it came out; look what it morhped into! Give the kite a chance before you trash it - I did - and I'm glad I did. I'm eating crow on a few things I said before...

I second randy's thoughts... though i have not yet tried it, but i Really Really want to. I have both a mixture of skepticism and excitement for the wake kite. I should clarify myself and say that the skepticism i have is actually directed to idiots who will abuse the system to hurt themselves like the wego kite tube. (though the potential ease to screw with the system of the wake kite is allot more difficult due to the multiple safety features. Im sure the makers of wake kite are not ignorant to the wego incidences and have made necessary adjustments to compensate for fools)

Slingshot wakeboards came out at about the same time and was followed by both nay sayers and supporters to every extreme, but now the nay sayers are almost non-existant for slingshot, while supporters are increasing in number... all of this due to people actually trying it out and giving their More qualified opinion.

Give wake kite some time. sure your entitled to opinions, but try not to be sooooo strong on either side till you have tried it or at least have put some true thought into the stuff.

As for those who say the wakekite stinks 'cause the trick potential is limited... USE YOUR IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY!!! Just think on how easy it would be to add a rotating cup piece to the handle. (i've heard they are already working on it.) such an additional piece of equipment will open wakekite to all sorts of inverts and aerials without tangling of kite-lines. Think of a BMX bike... how do bikers spin the handle bars multiple times and still manage to have working brake lines? I think that if wake kite does not die within a year or two, than it will potentially open up realms for performing unique tricks after necessary improvements are made to the gear, such as some rotator cup mentioned above.

you couldn't do jack with skurfers, but now look what you can do!

check wakekite.com folks

I tried it last week and it was a blast. Downside is the setup time but as we got better that quickly improved. I was amazed at how easy it was to learn and the huge air you could get. I don't see it replacing wakeboarding by any means but it is a great way to mix up the day, like wakesurfing. My dad still wakeboards at 54 and he was starting to tire of it b/c he didn't want to try anything new. He loves the kite though because you can go huge with no impact, perfect for him. They are in fact working on a trick kite and a smaller version for younger kids, current is only for 135lbs and up.

yeah, im sure it would be fun if you tried it, but good lord, how could you take yourself seriously?... its a total cheat, and dumbs down wakeboarding, its almost an insult. Im sure your could get way good at alot of sports if you had a parachute, *cough* or kite attached to you at all times, to take you to humanly impossible heights into the air.... looks like fun but i would feel like a tool doing it, and its sad that it has any connection what so ever to wakeboarding.

The kite is absolutely worth a try. It's not wakeboarding, it's kiteboarding, different sport altogether ... skiers used to compare and condemn wakeboarders too. If you haven't ridden one, ride one. If you ride one, ride it for what it is. We hosted a clinic with the test riders recently, waiting on the photographer to get stills and video back and then I'll post on our web page www.blueturns.com

To Kalen - Yeah, I had the same questions going in, seriously, and I did feel like a bit of a dork there in the boat, as the kite was being pumped up...however, and this is a big however, once I saw my friend ride, I darn near s*&t the boat seat! He went huge, and I'm not talking wakeboarding huge - this isn't wakeboarding - he went monster huge, like 15' with a landing something like 40' into the flats, zero impact. Pump or no, I could not help yelling and grinning from ear to ear. Plus, we had like 5 boats trailing us to get a closer look. I had to try it.

Indeed, it can't be considered a cheat for wakeboarding because it is so different. It feels way different, more like un-hooked kite boarding. And the ride I got, while I only caught airs in the 4-6' range, had me sailing way out into the flats. It was unreal and I am more stoked to buy one of these (just about) than that new MC I'm looking at.

Junk sports......right there with Frisbie Golf.

They'll be banned, just like the Kite Tube. Mark my word...somewhere, at some point in time, some goon is gonna say "Hey man....what if we run 50MPH into a headwind and use two ropes at 140'???" Although I think it looks cool to do, the problem with that stuff is that you can't idiot proof it!

you cant even idiot proof paper and white glue

...maybe some surfers look at wakeboarding (or wakesurfing) and say, "ahhh man, thats totally cheatin'! Who needs a boat dragging you!"

Most people dont even know how to drive a boat corectley, let alone add one more variable.
Its 15 minutes of fame expired last season. Maybe market it to the resorts in Mexico, and put it next to Parasailing.

You know, the coolest thing I noticed about the kite when I rode it was that it had multiple release systems built into it. For example, just letting go of the handle caused the kite to release from the boat. Very slick. Plus, there was a release at the boat, as well as individual releases on the kite lines. Plus, we tried lengthening the rope to about 90' and it actually reduced the air catching ability. The longer rope made it too hard to bring the kite around in time, plus, the wake was way smaller back there. We definitely got our best airs on the stock rope that came with the product. I just hope that idiots don't ruin this new sport for everyone else in the U.S. Good thing I live close to the Mexico border; I'll just be traveling down there to ride if it gets banned here. Although, I don't see this as anywhere near as dangerous as the flying tubes, or kite boarding. The kite is really well engineered with safety a major design factor. I was really impressed. It was a lot like riding in a cable park, although with a fat wake and the ability to land super soft.