Landboarding...first impressions
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:44 pm
I just got my landboard in the mail today and already got a quick sesh on it today.
I picked up the Switch board. Seems well put toghether and solid, and the price was right. Got out at 'front yards' in 12-15mph on an 11m. It took awhile to get my head around riding as it's a little different than on the water but after about an hour I was downwinding and tacking back up the beach. No airs yet but it'll come.
It takes a bit of power to get up and going and I had to stay in a 20 foot swath of sand that was not too wet or too dry. Downwind is pretty easy. It seems that the trick is to carve a little upwind on the power stroke and then drift back down wind as the kite goes back to 11-12. This kept enough tension on the lines to not drop the kite on the beach. Coming back upwind was actually more difficult as the harder I would 'edge' the more the wheels would dig in and scrub speed. It's a balancing act. Kinda like a twin tip I would imagine (can't really ride one of those!).
It also worked a lot better to keep the kite a little higher. I usually ride with my kite low but this just caused the wheels to either skid out or dig in to much. Kite at about 60 deg. seemed to be a good compromise. Also if a soft spot of sand was coming up moving the kite overhead for a second and sheeting in a little took some weight off the wheels and allowed me to glide over the soft stuff.
Overall, it was super fun and allowed me to get in a session when the wind was to light to get on the water. I'm totally stoked on it!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I picked up the Switch board. Seems well put toghether and solid, and the price was right. Got out at 'front yards' in 12-15mph on an 11m. It took awhile to get my head around riding as it's a little different than on the water but after about an hour I was downwinding and tacking back up the beach. No airs yet but it'll come.
It takes a bit of power to get up and going and I had to stay in a 20 foot swath of sand that was not too wet or too dry. Downwind is pretty easy. It seems that the trick is to carve a little upwind on the power stroke and then drift back down wind as the kite goes back to 11-12. This kept enough tension on the lines to not drop the kite on the beach. Coming back upwind was actually more difficult as the harder I would 'edge' the more the wheels would dig in and scrub speed. It's a balancing act. Kinda like a twin tip I would imagine (can't really ride one of those!).
It also worked a lot better to keep the kite a little higher. I usually ride with my kite low but this just caused the wheels to either skid out or dig in to much. Kite at about 60 deg. seemed to be a good compromise. Also if a soft spot of sand was coming up moving the kite overhead for a second and sheeting in a little took some weight off the wheels and allowed me to glide over the soft stuff.
Overall, it was super fun and allowed me to get in a session when the wind was to light to get on the water. I'm totally stoked on it!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD