Hurricane Kiting

[nick_80044]

The hurricane on the east coast is tragic on numerous levels. But this is a kiteboarding forum, so I'm not here to dwell on that.

What I'm wondering is: Will this be a rare opportunity for kiteboarders? Naturally, no one should be out in 80 mph winds but will there be a window of time where things calm down but are still windy enough for an epic extended session? Or will the wind just be too gusty/unpredictable from start to finish?

And does anything like that ever happen out there?

[Aloha]

When the storm is still way off-shore and heading towards land yes - when the storm starts to edge on the coast no

[shred_da_gorge]

We used to windsurf in storm surges this time of year on Cape Cod - even got on the news once (we were described as 'fearless' ). It's usually pretty good until the rain starts which tends to kill the wind, and sometimes you get lightning but I don't remember that often. For a storm of this magnitude I wouldn't want to mess around though. We rode out the "Perfect Storm" back in the 80's (three storms converging) and it didn't come close to this bad girl.

Coincidentally, I'm currently stuck in Israel waiting a few more days for JFK to open, which isn't so bad (I'm with gear) except the wind stopped blowing here about the time it started there.

[ramsey]

I think a lot of people here have kited in high gale force winds say mid-30s to low 40's. Once you get a little bit over that its just not possible. Say what you will, but once you get to sustained mid 40's you're talking gusts in the mid 50's that probably the limit to kiting here or even in the gorge. Same for a weak tropical storm

Strong Trop storm force is 50+ meaning likely gusts to 60 or 70. There's really no kite small enough. Hurricane force is basically not worth talking about at >74mph sustained.

[Tony Soprano]

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestof ... usetts.cnn

[etxxz]

Hurricane winds tend to be super punchy. When you're in a place like Florida where the wind sucks anyways (compared to here) you can only kite when the storm is waaaaaaaaaay out. I've been through probably 6-8 hurricanes since moving to the states and even caught Andrew when i was little during a vacation. Talk about bad luck on that one.

Then, when the storm passes over you and winds reverse. No bueno. Sandy is not a strong hurricane but its just massive. Its pretty late in the season for something like that!

[schwede]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LTwMtLSLM8

[stompdit]

this is not a Hurricane, but shows how quickly shit can get real sketchy. notice he gets lofted at around 1:40.

[sanjose_kiter]

Guy was depowered all the way and was using his board as a brake. That was pretty good move

[etxxz]

wow that's intense! shoulda seen it coming tho