GoJoe's!!!

[Thor29]

the GoJoe is a crutch which may make your life easier temporarily but actually prevents you from becoming a stronger kiter. Body dragging and swimming (unfortunately) are part of kiting. There will be a time when you need to body drag and/or swim effectively. There may even be a time when you need to body drag or swim to get out of a dangerous situation. So why not take this opportuity push yourself now, when the stakes are low, to strengthen these essential skills?

I totally disagree. How do you think you get back to your board with a GoJoe on it? That's right - you swim or body drag. It isn't a board leash. Don't believe the hype - you can't really sit there and wait for the wind to push it back to you. That situation doesn't happen very often. The difference is that I can now SEE the board. Before the GoJoe I would lose sight of it, especially if the board was upside down.

I am a better kiter because of the GoJoe because after I crash I can bodydrag back to the board and start over instead of floating around wondering where the heck my board is. Yeah, I could spend all of my time crisscrossing back and forth looking for it. That might make my bodydragging skills slightly better but at the detriment to my actual kiteboarding skills.

[maxsteamer]

Hello Kiters,

I think the go-joe got a bad rap..mainly because it is so unsightly to look at,.. and it needs to be re-designed to look more like a handle ? I'm in favor of this device for folks that still lose there boards as I have hit a lose board before because I did not see it in the water.

I used to joke about the device?? Now I thank every new kiter for useing one... I see alot of new kiters here at this launch as most of you know this is a learning spot for the most part ,and as the kiters learn to drag back to there boards..I ask them to pass the go-joe down to the new kiters, so they can stop losing there boards.. I do like blackbirds idea of a pocket on them for a whistle or a cold beer.....NICE!!!

Max be with you lookin' for a beer on the go...from Joe

[glenn]

good points

[Stefaans]

The Go Joe is freaking great. We have a GO Joe or 2 in rotation and pretty much every kiter that comes and buys his first board or kite setup from us we give them one for their first 2 or 3 months and they all really appreciate this.
It won't teach you how to kite but can assist in just making things that little bit easier when you are kite down and have no idea WTF is going on.

[RPskater]

I don't want to dis on GoJoes, but they are so unsightly to look at I found myself asking a GoJoe owner "what the heck is that on your board?" thinking it was some kind of seat to sit on. I'll admit I have lost a board during an evening session along the cost only to find it at dawn the next morning.

[jowall]

I think Go Joes do a great job of telling poeple to stay away. BTW, if you're thinking of pumping your Go Joe @ Crissy, then STAY AWAY till you're ready.

I've never understood why the reel leash doesn't have some type of break away connection so that under load, the board just stays in the water. This could easily be done with a velcro board attachment or some other space aged material. Since I don't have the inclination to finish this idea, could someone else finish a mod that makes the damn thing safe? That way it retreives the board if you simply fall, but it ditches it if there's a problem.

[maxsteamer]

I think Go Joes do a great job of telling poeple to stay away. BTW, if you're thinking of pumping your Go Joe @ Crissy, then STAY AWAY till you're ready.

I've never understood why the reel leash doesn't have some type of break away connection so that under load, the board just stays in the water. This could easily be done with a velcro board attachment or some other space aged material. Since I don't have the inclination to finish this idea, could someone else finish a mod that makes the damn thing safe? That way it retreives the board if you simply fall, but it ditches it if there's a problem.

Hello jowall,

Dude!!! I think they should print that on the go-joe (no-joes @ Crissy) this way you don't have to say a word...just point to the printed text [-X NICE!!!

[1618to1]

I used one during my first season to identify myself as a noob.

[Slaxer]

Just give all new kiter wake boots. Then they'll never loose their board... and never want to kite ever again.

Seriously though, gojoes weren't around when I was learning, but I don't really see the big deal if noobies want to use em. So far the only practical disadvantage that i've heard is the visibility issue for light riders trying to relaunch. Most people that I've seen with them seem to love them (although if you hated it you'd probably take it off right away). Sounds like they're pretty much just like foam boards in surfing. Yeah, you're definitely going to be pegged as a noob if you're riding one, but they're safer and help you to learn faster. Personally I'd rather have new kiters up and riding as much as possible then body dragging 25m off the launch site all day trying to find their board.

What ever happened to that new gojoe prototype they posted here a while back?

[BeniciaWind]

I'm not a noob but I would try one. Some marketing idot thought it was a good idea to paint the bottom of my board flat black. Except for the tiny yellow fins, it is completely invisible upside down in the water.