GoJoe's!!!

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windhorny
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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by windhorny » Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:46 pm

Now that i have a yellow cabrinha, does anyone have a go joe i can borrow?

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by Greg » Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:15 pm

Borrow! What, your gonna take it back off again-

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by windhorny » Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:32 pm

I want to get a shot of riding a board with the go joe before I ignite the cabrinha into smithereens with oxy/acet. fuel. Should be fun.


Also, as I will need to pull my safety quickly I dont want to use my "real" kites bar. Anyone by chance have an old recon bar or equivalent as a one shot deal?

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by stone » Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:13 pm

Just a note on the go-joe: it doesn't always work. Don't depend on it, and make learning to body drag a priority.

Today 3rd avenue had gusty winds 15-25 blowing mostly straight to Hayward. I saw a kiter about 2/3s of the way to the channel downwind get separated from his go-joed board, board maybe 30 feet upwind of him. No problem, right? 20 minutes later he's still not back up and now is way the hell downwind, so I came in to the launch, taxed a buddy's directional so I'd be able to get back upwind quick, and went to check on him. He's now almost 500 feet downwind of his board--props to him, soon as he saw me he waved for help--no screwing around. I'm sure that highly visible go-joe was useful in letting him know just how far he'd gotten from the board. Moved the board downwind of him and wasted some of the best wind of the day working back to the upper launch.

Don't know how he went from 30 feet away from board to 500 feet. Vertically stratified wind (light on water/strong at kite height)? Overpowered? Screwed by wind shifts on every tack? Didn't ever try body-dragging for real?

Anyways, kiting isn't a fucking disney ride. If you're still using a go-joe please realize we're heading into winter on a screwy wind year, and the shit that works on "normal" wind doesn't always cut it. Irony is today at 3rd would have been a good day to practice bodydragging--ebb tide gave waist deep water quite a ways out, and the wind was shifting enough to make it interesting. Could body drag out from the upper launch and work at it until you prove to yourself you're upwind of the upper launch.

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by friggin old guy » Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:44 pm

At the risk of being branded a hater, my opinion is that they look like a rubber ducky strapped to your board. While they serve a purpose in terms of keeping track of your board and they're MUCH better option than using a leash, I don't think they should be deemed as essential learning equipment unless maybe you're kiting in an area where there aren't any other kiters around.

When I learned, I suffered from the stupidity of thinking that I needed to put the kite back to neutral when I fell. Moving the kite simply increased the amount of distance between me and my board. I did get good at body dragging upwind.....quite the essential skill......and found that literally every time I was any distance at all from my board, other kiters would always help, either by telling me where my board was, or actually bringing it to me.

When you eat it, try not to move the kite at all. Your increased drag in the water will cause the kite to immediately move up in the window, depowering it almost instantly no matter how cranked up you are. Pretty quickly you'll have no problem finding the board, since you'll be right next to it.

So.....they're a much better option than a leash in that they're not a danger to anything other than your self esteem, but still a bit of a crutch.

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by Thor29 » Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:07 pm

I think you naysayers have completely forgotten what it is like to be a beginner. Sometimes you crash and the kite sweeps through the power window and you get pulled away from your board. Sometimes other kiters will spot your board and bring it to you, but a lot of times they won't. Especially if you find yourself way downwind from all the other kiters (beginners can't go upwind, remember?).

I don't get all this "crutch" stuff. How does a GoJoe hurt anything other than your aesthetic sensibilities? You still have to learn to bodydrag, you just spend less time doing it. Maybe all the advancements in kite technology are all "crutches" and you old-timers should keep using gear from 5 years ago.

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by stone » Thu Sep 23, 2010 4:10 pm

Speaking for myself, I'm not naysaying the go-joe. What I am hating on is treating it as an adequate substitute for upwind body-dragging--don't use it as an enabler to go places where you're in trouble if you can't body-drag upwind quickly. This is why people are so appalled to see a go-joe at crissy or waddell, or a newbie on his own a mile out in side-offshore wind at 3rd.

I don't know whether one effectively learns upwind bodydragging if the go-joe is usually pushing the board downwind for you.

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by friggin old guy » Thu Sep 23, 2010 4:50 pm

Thor, dude

Why in the world are you so hung up on Go Joes? Methinks you're a bit defensive. I learned without one, without a leash.......I already told you that I did stupid stuff like swinging the kite around and yarding myself away from my board......personally I think you're better off to concentrate on technique to prevent yourself from getting too far away from your board in the first place, which is why I offered up what I thought was a helpful comment. If you want to believe it's impossible rather than just difficult to control your kite when you fall, that's ok too.

I think they look dorky. There. I said it. I never would have used one even if they'd been around when I learned. Something tells me you think they look a little dorky too or you wouldn't be on a high horse about why it's NOT okay to diss them.

I know lots of folks that use them when they're learning and that's cool and everything. But I don't think they're all that.

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by Thor29 » Thu Sep 23, 2010 7:04 pm

Hey friggin old guy,

My only concern is that other beginners may be dissuaded from using a GoJoe. I wish I would have put one on my board sooner - I would have progressed much faster if I spent less time trying to figure out what happened to my board and more time on it.

I don't believe it's impossible to control your kite when you fall. I do believe that beginners don't have perfect kite control. They are BEGINNERS after all.

It's too bad you are so concerned about whether something looks dorky instead of whether it works or not. I don't think they look any dorkier than wearing boardshorts on the outside of your wetsuit. At least GoJoes serve a useful purpose.

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Re: GoJoe's!!!

Post by friggin old guy » Thu Sep 23, 2010 8:01 pm

Hey Thor

Once again: I do not believe that a go joe or a board leash are essential learning tools. I agree with the opinions expressed previously that they actually can diminish one's skill progression, ie you need to pay to play. If there are consequences from being separated from your board, you will learn either to not get separated or gain valuable kite control skills from body dragging.

Either way, I think that a go joe or a leash indicates that you have fear of being separated from your board. At some point, you'll need to get over that, and the sooner the better. Fact.

I don't give a crap what other people think. I know what I think. I think they look like little rubber duckies. I would rather figure out how to learn the skill without putting up with something that looks so incredibly dorky. My opinion. You are quite entitled to your own.

I am glad that apparently you don't wear boardshorts over your wetsuit. I think that looks super dorky too but to each his own.

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