Anyone try a wakekite yet?

$1100 seems pretty steep!

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?r=view&i=15134&pdesc=Superfly_Series_5 _5_Wakekite_Package&merchID=1008&str=wakekite

I always thought it looked real fun. But $1100...daaamn

gey

Pacifichigh, I don't think your reply is appropriate. It's misspelled.

grab a tarp. there you go. poor mans wakekite

Ok guys... Here is my two cents since I have been ridding this thing for over 3 years now constantly...

While $1100 may seem steep, if you compare that to the grand scheme of things its really not that bad.

Examples:
- A brand new high end wakeboard and binding package now a days can run you anywhere from $700 - over $1000 dollars.
- A 9 meter kiteboarding Kite: for just the kite itself without any rigging can run you anywhere from $800 - $1400 ... That is just for the kite with no harness no lines no nothing...
- Air Chair: for a brand new one of these its $1500 ...

The list just keeps going... So when you say that is steep you really need to look and see, we are giving you everything you need.. Kite, Lines, Handle, Tow Rope, Pump, Gear Bag, etc....

Now for those who think this is stupid I say this.... When I first had the chance to get involved with WakeKite, I was a true (and still am) a wakeboarder... I thought it looked pretty stupid as well... But then once I tried it, and realized its not as easy as it looks, and the feeling of going huge, floating, and landing soft is something I cant fully describe, its something you have to experience for yourself... This isn't meant to replace wakeboarding at all, in fact its not even really like wakeboarding, you can do it with whatever you want, Wakeboard, Ski's, etc... it doesn't matter.

Now this isn't for everyone I get that... nor is any sport or activity... my feeling is, if it gets people on the water and having fun, then all the better!!! You don't have to think its cool, but some people do and some people really love it! I guess Im just one of those people who loves all sports and activities and I think the more the better!!!

So heres the deal... If you have questions, or maybe just want to try it out... contact me and we will see what we can do for you!!!

kedzie... im not at all trying to offend or make fun of you, but what qualifies you as a "wakekite pro rider"? are there professional leagues for it or something?

No worries man... no there is no league or anything, I just do most of there product testing along with help with product development... I know this thing inside and out... so technically no "pro-rider" may not be the right term in your book, but I travel all around the country doing demo's and trains.

This is per Webster Dictionary "professional (profession) - participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs (a professional golfer) b: having a particular profession as a permanent career (a professional soldier) c: engaged in by persons receiving financial return (professional football)"

I am guessing this is what qualifies her. What do you get paid to do Kedz? I get paid to answer my phone and return emails, I gotta find a way to get paid to be on the boat more!

"grab a tarp. there you go. poor mans wakekite"


That is great.

That tarp makes a great poor man's parachute too! Be sure to take a vid and post it. Might be as popular as the Boat Bun thread.

Personally, I'd pay her just to hang out and be an all around rad chick.

What's up Kedzie?!? Shoot me an email when you get a chance to catch up!

Joking aside, I had my reservations about the product too. Hold your thoughts till you go out and see it in action (preferably by Kedzie, she goes huge!) and then try it. Like Kedzie said, it is not for everyone but I bet you will be surprised how much fun you have on it. It throttled me the first time I tried it but I had a good time and I was smiling when I got back on the boat. There are a ton of dealers around the country and most of them would love to tell you more about it and try to get a demo set up. If you have a hard time finding a dealer PM me or Kedz and we will get you taken care of. Hope to see you out there.

^^Kedzie, seeming rather professional^^

I was super excited to try the wake kite thing and was seriously considering getting one... Till i found out that Park Service at Lake Powell were being over dramaticaly on the excessive safe side and put in the books "NO AIR BORN DEVICES"... all because of the stupid Kite Tubes back when!!! they wanted to be "fair" and could not allow one thing and not the other. so now parasiling, wake kite, even kiteboarding, any "air born" device will get you a fine (don't know how much)

park service made me aware that you guys (wake kite) tried your best to convince them and to even allow it on a permit basis and that there was nothing I could do that wake kite had not tried.

Keep trying guys... and maybe you'll add one more customer ;)

To everyone else... check your local lake rules FIRST before even thinking about this thing. local enforces might have their belts too tight to. but thank goodness they are there none the less, i know lakes would be worse off without them.

(Message edited by wakerider111 on March 02, 2009)

I live at a really small lake, and I would probably get caught on a dock or something. But maybe I will have the chance to try one someday.

As for the "BAN" on Lake Powel... Yes they are saying that it is not "allowed" but there is no strict rule that says it is banned.

I know we have a few customers on that lake who are using them, and have not been hassled. But yes it is a use at your own risk kind of thing!

Thanks for the support and we will keep trying to get those guys to not have a problem with it ever!!

And for the rest of the country ... there is no "BAN" on this anywhere, and if you have a local law enforcement that just wants more information on it before they OK it, please contact me, and I will get you all the info you need!

(Message edited by nw_wake23 on March 03, 2009)

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quote:

^^Kedzie, seeming rather professional^^

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Where's the rope in that pic?

You can see it going from the front of the handle ... then it is between the two kite lines

I've been kiteboarding for 6+ years and the wakekite doesn't look to give you the freedom or thrills that either kiting or riding behind a boat are capable of.

Often times hybrids fail to do either well.

Is it on like a 20ft tower? Looks like the rope is really high.

Looks like fun! Nice jump!

Corey you answer a mean phone bro! Don't take what you do lightly!

And I always love when you reply to my emails because it usually involves going somewhere fun or getting a suprise!

See ya in cali!

No it doesn't give you the same freedom as kiteboarding, but it is a great alternative for when the wind isn't blowing!

We have gotten quite a few kiteboarders into this because of that!

Also on the flip side, it is a lot easier to learn than kiteboarding, so it has gotten some people who wouldn't necessarily try kiteboarding because of the learning curve used to flying something and now those people are wanting to try kiteboarding.

And no it doesn't give you the freedom to do tricks like wakeboarding does, but you also have to keep in mind that this product if very new... there is a lot of room to grow... think about where any sport started from... especially kiteboarding and wakeboarding... they have come a long way over the years!

"And for the rest of the country ... there is no "BAN" on this anywhere, and if you have a local law enforcement that just wants more information on it before they OK it, please contact me, and I will get you all the info you need!"
Airfoils Prohibited
(1501:41-11-04)
While being towed by a watercraft, no person shall have any airfoil or balloon for the purpose of becoming airborne over Ohio state park waters.

I would love to try one at Powell. We go in October every year, for the past 9 years, and have yet to see a ranger/water police type guy once we get off the main channel.

So bring the kite to Powell the first week of October so I can try it out.

Kedzie, tell Mr. Dick (ok, that doesn't sound right) Rory says hi if you see him. Been awhile since we've seen him.

Ok trying to clarify the "Prohibited"

Most of these are pertaining to anything that sustains lift like balloons, parasails, etc... Wakekite is not made to sustain lift, it is designed to enhance jumps and give you soft landings, that is why I say there is no true "Ban" on this product... we have done safety presentations to all the big name law enforcements and they have not put a strict ban on it..

Rory... I will make sure to pass on the message!!

Scott, I think it looks weird because it was shot from inside the boat but cropped pretty close, and she's really effing high in the air. I think that unless you're looking at shots of Shapiro back in the day, you're not used to it.

But you can see the 3 lines coming off of the handle. The red and green are for the kite and the grey is on the tower (normal height).

I can picture some pretty nasty falls...if the handle slips out of your hands being up that high.

My ankles are hurting just thinking about it.

See the great thing about WakeKite is, that there is definitely a learning curve to it... Your not gunna hop on this thing and go to the heights of some of the pictures you see... So you progressively get higher thus you get more and more comfortable so letting go from that high becomes less likely...

But in any case, I have fallen from that high up, and it really isn't bad, just don't land board first.. I have taken way worse crashes wakeboarding than on this!

What is the point of this thing? You can't really spin can you? And you sure can't do any kind of inverts. I haven't ridden it, but it seems to me that your limited to certain moves. Not my cup of tea, I'd rather do the real thing.

yes you are limited in tricks, but like I have said, it is not meant to replace wakeboarding... that is why there is both, so you can do all the spins and inverts wakeboarding, this just gives you a whole different feeling! You have to try it to really appreciate it!

And if you think you need to work on your upper body stregth, this thing will do it for you. Holy crap was I outta shape when I tried it. Didn't seem to work too well for us boyz in the 250 pound range. The little guys seemed to be able to get much higher. Driving in to the wind helped too.

Even at 250lb you should be able to get some damn good lift out of the thing... Its all about learning the correct steering to get you the big lift!!

Yup, I agree on the steering. If you did it just right, you did get some good lift. Was fun for something different, but at the time none of us had $1,400 for it.

"Anyone try a WakeKite yet?"

Check at your local gay bar.

GettingOlder: You're 38, not 13. You don't own a boat, you have a 5 year old setup: You're not in the market to buy one.

(Message edited by blaketheho on March 03, 2009)

i agree with kedzie that wake kite is new, this is one of the reasons it is limited on some aspects.

maybe in the future some kind of special rotating handle can be fixed to the thing. picture bar spins on a bmx bike for example. the brake cables don't get tangled while the handle bars can spin and spin... just an idea

its just something different to do and a way to expand horizons.

...i can't remember who i talked to about the wakekite thing at powell, but she sure seemed pretty against it... i'll have to speak to them again this summer. Wake Surfing is not allowed too in powell, again, suffering from the idiot tiki surfers back when. i've seen a few get fined for that one

It looks fun, but a twenty foot fall is probably gonna hurt pretty bad

so you have aboard ,is that wakeboard you are riding?

well looks like you are progressing our sport bro,right on,way to push the limits and try something new.

Mad props now all you need is some cool sliders and maybe jump through a ring if fire to add an element of danger to this and maybe the shred town boys will film you and add this to progressing our sport

seriously though it looks fun but for that kind of money i might opt for a real Kiteboard setup because it woulkd offer up a better option for blown out days to where you dont need a boat driver,gas,or have to drive the boat in rough water those days ,byt still get out on a board and have some fun.

Its just an opinion for sure but either way i would have to stop short of calling this gay because as you saw in the"other post"winchers are getting all the props for trying new things on a board and they refer to what they are doing as wakeboarding so stop with the double standards ,these guys are behind a boat on their wakeboards so its Wakeboarding ,correct!?

it must be so all you haters cant have it both ways so give these guys their due or do they need to trespas and get hass;ed by the cops to get props..?

Jeromy you have a new way to progress the sport,who cares if this is banned at powell do it anyway and get hassled by the man but as long as you get it on tape it will be looked at as progressing the sport and pushing the limits

thank you for this post .i needed a laugh

at least you are still on a board behind the boat..

I will check with my local lake here in Wisconsin

I would like to give it a go. Not ready to jump in for a grand, but if my neighbors or crew wanted to jump in and split 4 ways, I would probably ante up. It looks fun and different, but it seems like the kind of thing you break out a couple times a year to mix things up, not something you would use most of the times you ride.

Ohh and it seems some of you might not have your gadar dialed in yet.

If you are ever at Kentucky Lake give me a yell I got one. We are looking for new people to try it all the time.

Wakekites cannot be used on Ohio state park lakes.The head officer from Ohio Watercraft saw our video at the Cleveland boat show and said they are illegal on state park lakes.

I have a 5.5 wakekite and love it. It gives me the confidence to learn, perfect and progress my raley tricks. Flying through the air and landing smooth in the flats is awesome and it never gets boring. You need to use it on a calm day and it gives you a good upper body workout so you do not need to go to the gym. It is fun to be in the boat while my friends are using it because the reaction on their face is awesome when the kite takes off and it is funny to watch them fly through the air. It is a good learning tool for any wakeboarder that wants to advance their raley tricks or just have fun with friends on the water.

I wanted to recap a bit more on the fact that WakeKite is not banned anywhere... It is the flying tubes that are banned, and the authorities don't know the difference... when you call a local authority they are always going to say something is banned, that is there nature, and it makes there job easier. They are always going to like to say that they don't allow stuff rather than they do allow stuff.

Go ahead and use the kite, and just be prepared that your local authority my come and ask questions and just be ready to tell them that it is NOT a flying tube, which is what is banned. The rider is NOT laying on top of it like a tube, and the rider is in full control... it is not based on driver input and you are not attached to it in any way! In fact using a kite like this can make riding even more stable than just plain wakeboarding or watersking because it lets you down so soft!

Plus on top of it all, we have ZERO major injuries in 3 years!

And get it all on video and when the cop says you could go to jail just tell him No!