Kiteboarding gay?

All I do is board.

When I first heard about kiteboarding the only thing I heard about was about how the people dangled around like fairies and how gay it was. I saw this video on youtube and it changed my views on the sport. It looks like riding a cable but you can go wherever.

check it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19fHdHbZqtE

I'd give it a try, but then I saw this video. Check it out..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nza6d7-8NDc&feature=related

yeah andre phillip representing kiteboarding the right way! Unfortunately most of the guys are still dangling like monkeys under their kites...
www.kitescoop.com

Well let's put it to the test!

http://www.whichisgayer.com/compare.html?w1=Kite+Boarding&w2=Tubing

And so you have it. Although this may not be a fair test as Tubing may be the gayest thing ever.

Kiteboarding is startng to look stylish. I like it as long as they don't dangle like parachuters after they do a trick.

if you are a kiteboarder just call yourself a much cooler kitesurfer which is less gay
http://www.whichisgayer.com/compare.html?w1=kitesurfing&w2=kiteboarding

kiteboarding is the illest thing you could do on the water way better then wakeboarding you try lauching 50 foot airs wihtout craping your pants before you talk smack

i'm thinkin of gettin into is because I don't own a boat (wish i did) plus gas is getting rediculous.
seem's like all you need is some breeze and a good spot to ride and the gear.

once i'm riding sideways i don't care about the pull... boat, ski, cable, winch, snowboard, skateboard, surf, kiteboard

found these other vids too..

http://cabrinhakites.com/gallery/?g2_itemId=210&
http://cabrinhakites.com/gallery/?g2_itemId=189
http://cabrinhakites.com/gallery/?g2_itemId=192

Take Lessons! You can get broke off if you don't know what you're doing!

We used to jump over boats in the florida keys! When you're 30-40 feet in the air looking down on all the rays and sharks you really get a rush!

It was starting like something worth trying until you said "sharks". The closest I want to ever get to a shark is watching Shark Week.

So are they just riding regular wakboards and bindings or do kiteboarders have boards/bindings specifically for their sport?

Kiteboarding is sick, no question about it! And once you buy your gear, you don't have to spend $$$$ on gas.

I think the progression of the sport has been incredible over the last couple of years. How can anyone not be impressed watching those 3 video clips that Paul posted above? Sliders, flat water moves, surf moves, wow!

I think I just got inspired to dust off my kiteboarding gear and get back out there!

They have boards but i always rode my wakeboard it sometimes made it harder to get up wind but i liked the feel of being on the board i liked.

We only had 2 bad run in's with bull sharks, for the most part all we saw were nurse sharks and they were more scared of us then we were of them. Sharks all depend on where you ride too.

Being in the florida keys you see a lot of them but nothing over 6 or 7 feet.

I'd sell my boat in a second if I had good wind here for most of the year.

^x2^

Move to my lake. It's always blown out. The only glass is WAY before I wake up in the morning. I'll even take the boat off your hands free of charge.

"Kiteboarding is startng to look stylish. I like it as long as they don't dangle like parachuters after they do a trick."

Huh? Lou was riding like this in 2000. Maybe not on sliders and ramps...but he created the wakestyle. It has always been around.

It is just hard to kite like that. When you go see kiters at your local spot...you will not see many people ride like that because they CANT.

People that say kiting is 'gay' are posers in my opinion. Do YOU all wakeboard because it 'looks cool'...or do you do it because you like to ride?

At a kiter...I hate the way the dangly stuff looks too. Most of the stuff I try to learn to do is wake oriented. I love to ride with a lot of speed, and load an pop without even sending the kite.

That said, when you are out there on the water and you send it once and a while....it is FUN. And that is what it is all about. When you boost 35' in the air...what else can you do but hang there? Grab your board maybe... One of the funnest things I do kiting is throw a big jump, overfly the kite a bit the other way, then down loop it fast, making a huge aerial gybe out of it. Yeah...I am just hanging...but it is so much fun...and that is what matters to me.

Go watch AWAKE and tell me you would not be totally jazzed to ride like Lou Wainman. Every one of you would give your left nut to be able to throw down like that.

(Message edited by kitewake on October 05, 2008)

(Message edited by kitewake on October 05, 2008)

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

One of the best "Ruben Lent10" riders out there, in his element. If you have never seen kiteboarding this would be the video to check out. Good amount of everything. And this is what you call freeridin.

Great crossover sport.

http://www.wakayamaent.com/adam/SLINGSHOT/LEN10/LEN10_Gorge_2008_480p.mp4

Killer video..
all motivated now...

Kiteboarding is not gay at all and it is awesome on jumps you can get atleast 20ft. Its hard to learn to fly once you get it down its alot of fun.

Ive been wanting to try and kiteboard for years! I havent gotten the opportunity just yet, but I am still going to try it as soon as I can. Maybe switch over to that and never pay for gas again!

Anyhow..I have ALWAYS been curious..what happens when a rider falls? Does the kite just keep dragging him until he gets back up, and how does he get back up!? I am obscenely curious!

When a rider falls the kite is connected via leash to your harness. When you let go or miss a pass you will automatically kill the kite. This means the kite is in a neutral state on the water and waiting for you to grab the bar and reset the safety system and relaunch. When you miss a pass the bar shots up the flying lines killin the kite and since your connect via leash to your bar or 1 flagging line you never lose your kite. Most kites are either 4 or 5 line and only 1 line kills the kite. Hopefully this makes some sense. If not check out Utube for all kinds of stuff related to kiteboarding.

One of the best things you can do is SNOWKITE!

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwopPk-TNKU&eurl=http://www.thekiteboarder.com/wordpress/?p=2001

I don't get it. Post a negative comment about tattoos on this board and you get an argument. Post about something being "gay" and nobody takes offense to that? What does being gay have to do with whether a particular sport is legit or not? I find comments like this particularly offensive, the more so because people seem to just let it pass. If you don't like kites just say that. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with it.

Hey, I get it!!! Thanks a to n man! Now my curiosity has been hindered!

If i still lived in Florida My 3 kites wouldn't be collecting dust in my garage that's for sure! I loved doing down winders from Stuart to Fort Lauderdale surfing the waves all the way down! That is a good 7 hours of riding and stopping at all the major beaches to take in the eye candy!

i dont think he was referring to sexual orientation of the kite...

Les now you are just trying to start a fire!!!

Brant, you acted like I offended you, and then you agreed with me.

JDUB....That's funny, but your beloved site says Wakeboarding is "gayer" than kiteboarding. hahah
http://www.whichisgayer.com/compare.html?w1=Wakeboarding&w2=Kiteboarding

Hey Les...you know how I know you're gay,

"I don't get it. Post a negative comment about tattoos on this board and you get an argument. Post about something being "gay" and nobody takes offense to that? What does being gay have to do with whether a particular sport is legit or not? I find comments like this particularly offensive, the more so because people seem to just let it pass. If you don't like kites just say that. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with it."

LOL...

Hey Luker, that is funny. But it does probably explain why people are afraid to confront idioms like "that's so gay." Other types of hate speech, such as racism and anti-Semitism are easier to confront because they are now, thankfully, less socially acceptable. Alive and well no doubt, but more often expressed only amongst like minded individuals in private. But homophobia is still hanging in there, and this is not a private space. This is a public forum. It took me about five years to eliminate this particular idiom from my kids and their friends common usage, at least in my presence. I don't know if I have changed their beliefs, but I do think people should at least be made aware of their discriminatory and hurtful remarks. I don't know if Paul (sidewayz4life) disapproves of homosexuals or not or if he just thinks kiteboarding is somehow less difficult, less masculine or less mainstream than wakeboarding. I am sure there are plenty of gay people who read this board and I see no reason to thoughtlessly insult them.

for the record, kiteboarding is WAY harder than wakeboarding.

I consider myself to be VERY comfy on any board and my learning curve for kiteboarding was about 3 months before i was totally comfy in my surroundings!

my .02

Kiteboarding is where its at. It is the next level for sure. Yes, there are some aspects that seem stupid because those who dont ride dont understand it. Its when those things get all the press that insiders panic because it misrepresents the sport.

For example, what if bunnyhop 180's were deemed the ultimate wakeboarding move by the media and all their wakeboard clips were of guys hopping back and forth? Sure, we all do em setting up different tricks but its not really considered difficult or really even a trick for advanced riders. Remember all the hate on raleys? its because they were getting all the attn from non-riders and they are the easiest trick in the book to do.

Thats what 50' jumps are in kiteboarding. They are not hard to do at all. Anyone who can stand on a board can do it just like anyone can bunnyhop. I had a hard time learning to boost high just like I had a hard time learning to bunnyhop high onto high rails, but it certainly isnt something to be glorified.

Non kiters think the big air is what its all about. So the industry capitalizes on that and start rewarding the dangle ballet in competition over much more difficult wakestyle moves. Just like wakeboarding had to weed out the stupid misconceptions about the skill level of riders, kiteboarding is having to do the same thing.

well said...

props to the guys that can ride a kiteboard

but i dont think anyone can say this or that sport is cooler, or this or that sport is harder, etc.

I started snowkiting last winter and then took it to the water this summer on my wakeboard.

Does anybody have a kiteboard for sale? Liquid Force or Slingshot?

kiteboarding is gay. only after you go to san francisco and marry a gay person who you love and then go kitebording. then its considered. gay and fun.

http://cabrinhakites.com/gallery/?g2_itemId=210&

what board and size kite is he riding in this video?

Looks like he is on about a 12 to 15 meter kite and the board is probably a 141ish..

Watching videos like that is missleading just like watching wake videos can be.

Dre is at the top of the sport and makes it look easy just like the top riders in wake.

I assure you the amount of control he has on his kite is so hard to learn. Can it be learned of course, but you are going to get WORKED along the way.

I've seen people get life flighted from the beach cause they didn't have respect for the power of the wind and they felt that ditching a $2,000 kite was worse than dying (or coming close to dying)

Yeah kiting can be pretty scary sometimes. Once you learn it and respect the power its a blast. Even then you can get caught some difficult situations from time to time. Last winter I thought I was going to have to ditch my kite while snowkiting, after a bridle wrapped around a wing tip and it started spiraling out of control. It just kept dragging me across the lake and I was getting closer and closer to shore but managed to get it under control before I had to release the kite. I probably would have either lost it or had to pick it out of a tree somewhere. It is a tough decision to let that much money go away, but I'm certainly not going to die or get hurt badly over it. Hurt a little maybe

Bryan, I'm mostly on a Cabrinha Switchblade 10m or 8m kite and always on the Cabrinha Custom 138 kiteboard.

It's funy to see the whole gay, not gay, or hardcore wake only mentality.

Before kiteboarding I used to wakeboard and surf but the thing is I didn't own a boat and never got to wake as much as i wanted. Kiteboardin came along and i asked the guy who brought the sport to Antigua to teach me...reason being i could basically wakeboard as much as i wanted (once there was wind which is free) without having to wait for someone with a boat to take me.

After I got the hang of it I could do all my wake tricks but with way more freedom than being stuck behind a boat. I still go wakeboardin whenever i can and still surf whenever its good too.

I think ya just gotta do what works best for the location you're in and you're situation. If you or a friend has a sik boat with a good spot to ride then wake. If you have a cable closeby then cable, if its windy near you and theres some good spots for kiteboarding then kite. its what gets u on the water havin fun that matters... it's all related.

fak this post is gettin long... i'm out
dre

thanks for the info. I am really looking to get into it as we have a place on the oregon coast that has some of the best surf and of course wind. Would be perfect for those morning when my better half wants to sleep in and I am not a sleep in kind of guy. Seems that the switchblade is pretty top of the line for sure when coupled with their harness and a good board. What is the story on kite sizing as far as do you use a larger kite for lower wind conditions? What about boards. I ride a watson 142 when wakeing. Is it pretty compareable? Has anybody investigate kite insurance or does such a thing exist? Would seem like a small premium to cover the investment would be a good idea if it was available.

(Message edited by pdxviperguy on October 08, 2008)

yea i hear the oregon coast gets some good waves (cold) and the gorge in hood river is a good flat water spot. if you ride a 142 u may wanna try get the Cabrinha custom 144. you can use your wakeboard behind a kite but the rocker on wakeboards are generally too steep so it just makes it more work to go upwind. never tried to get insurance but its probably doable. anyways... if u wanna get good feedback on gear, spots, find people to ride with or just talk shmack then logon to www.KITESCOOP.com

It is cold for sure but not bad with a good wetsuit of course. If you ever make it out this way look me up as I am always looking for an excuse to get to the beach or gorge and always am down for hanging with good people. I will check out that site for sure. Thanks again!