And so I'm back....

No not from outa space, even though at times the journey through recovery and depression at not being able to do the sports I loved did have me spaced out.  I am BACK IN COMPETITION!  I never knew how much I missed the buzz of being involved in comps and the even greater buzz when I actually achieve what I set out to do... so here's a little run down of my trip to China for my first comp back since ACL surgery.

Opening Ceremony - Representing RSA!

Ever since I heard of the Binhai Weifang China International Kite Surfing Tournament 4 or 5 years ago, I had wanted to go.  So this year September 7th to 10th, 2013  I was not going to miss out on this culturally different event held at the Kite Surfing Base of Binhai Economic & Technological Development Zone, Weifang, Shandong China.  The event has a lot of local support as it is hosted by  Leisure Sports Center of General Administration of Sports of China, The Chinese Kite Flying Association and the Administration Committee of Binhai Economic & Technological Development Zone, while being organized by Weifang Binhai Tourism Development company.

Give rise to the imagination!

The region is an interesting one, selling itself as the Dubai of Asia.  It is great to see however that Kitesurfing and water sports are definitely part of the development plan and all along the roads you see signs with kiters on them and the artwork in the centre of the round-abouts also reflect this - my favourite being a large blue wave/whale/boat/wing/whirlpool, depending on the angle you look at it from.  The beach from where the competition was based is reclaimed land so a nice sandy beach for rigging and launching.  It seems no matter which way the wind blows it will be relatively smooth at present as there is no high ground to make it turbulent.  This may change in the future, as more and more buildings catering to tourism go up in the region.

My gear arrive - thumbs up!

So my trip was not all smooth winds and sunshine and I was very lucky that the winds blew in my favour this time around.  My bags did not make it on the same flight as I did and so after arriving late in the evening I had to do a 6 hour round trip the following day to retrieve my gear bags from Qingdao Airport.  Thankfully there was not enough wind for the competition to start on that day.  The next day also had not enough wind, even though late afternoon there was enough to become excited and pull out the 16m Cabrinha Velocity and pump it up.  The third day of competition however dawned with the curtains in the breakfast dining hall blowing in and fifty excited riders hurriedly scoffing their food down to jump on the buses that waited to take us to the venue.

The wind was off shore at the registered competition site, but because we were keen for a result it was decided that the freestyle could be moved about a kilometer away to the other side of the sandy peninsula and a shallow flatwater spot.   Now that the wind had come up the temperature had dropped too, so it was time to get into wetsuits and get pumping and get the freestyle done before the wind died off.  By the time the 16m and 13m Velocity were pumped, the judges stand was put in place and the skippers meeting was held it was looking like we may not have enough wind to do the complete freestyle round.... but  the ladies were up first, so I had a chance to give it a go.  I was unseeded as I had never been to this event and seeded number one was top Thailand and 2nd Asian freestyler Fon and 2nd seed was the great up and coming young Chinese rider Selina (14yo). I was drawn on Selina's side of the ladder and having watched her progress over the year and hearing where she was at with her freestyle now I was a bit nervous.  But nerves are good - they give you an edge.

The wind was light and light conditions are not about performing your best tricks, so I knew I was in with a winning chance as I have a very large trick base to work from.  The months spent practicing all those surface maneuvers while waiting for my knee to strengthen really came in handy.  My equipment choice for the day also helped and my 16m Velocity, 138 XCaliber and I made our way through to the final with surface 360's, F16's, back to toeside pass outs and a variety of railey based tricks including unhooked front rolls and blind landings.  There was even a point where the wind came up enough for a moment and I was able to do an old school one footer - haha - what fun! 

The wide open space and soft sand of the freestyle location.

In the freestyle final I was up against Fon and the wind had got to the point where it was only possible to go upwind occasionally, so I opted for the trick and run tactic.  I was very impressed when Fon had enough power to pull off a railey and thought it was over for me then, such were the conditions, but I persevered and pulled off several unhooked tricks and surface passes on both tacks and a couple of kiteloops too, which proved enough to land me on the top of the podium.  At this point however I was just happy to go get out of a cold wetsuit and out of the wind as the mens freestyle continued in what became strengthening winds.

Day four of competition and the wind was back cross-on shore and perfect conditions for my first ever Raceboard competition.  The men and women, raceboarders and twin-tippers were competing together, which made for a fleet bigger than I am used to riding in.  At the start of the day I hung back on the start line and was just happy to finish in the 10 minute cut off time from the first finisher (Asian men's Champion - Yo Pudla).  Nine races were run in total on the day and I kept improving and my confidence increased and I was happy to start and finish well on my last race of the day having gained so much more confidence, not only with my racing ability, but with my knee holding up for that long and not looking completely out of shape. 

The top two ladies at the event!

After a fun filled four days it was time to pack and head to the final closing dinner and awards ceremony.  I walked away with 1st place in the ladies freestyle and 8th overall in the racing (2nd in the ladies) and am SUPER excited about just being able to take part in these events again.... so much so I have signed up for 2 more kiting comps in China in  the upcoming months and a Cable Wakeboarding Comp in the UAE... I better get out there and get some riding in!

Thanks again to all the people that make these awesome toys for me to use - Cabrinha and DK - you rock!

Big smiles and good winds to all!!!!

Su

I just love to be out riding again!

1sts in Taiwan - Choose to kite!

So I went into this BLOG writing thing thinking that due to my injury I would have time to fill you guys in as there would not be much happening between sessions, but it turned out there has been.  In the last 6 months I have done a bit of kiting, but mostly I have been kept busy by the Kiteboard Tour Asia, Fantastic SA Family visit and what is a big part of my life now, Cable Wakeboarding.

This last weekend however I was lucky enough to be back in Taiwan and helping out at the 1st CTKA Kitesurf National event held at SPOT and it reminded me of a post I started writing after my last visit here in the middle of winter and thought: ”I should share it anyway, even if it is old news, as this place is even better in summer!”   The kiters in this country are super enthusiastic, genuine and welcoming and since writing the below blog I have now met more - there were 70 riders at the event! 

Here’s that original commentary on kiting part way down the west coast and my re-introduction and 1st session back in the waves after my knee surgery and the techniques I was reminded of that may help anyone new to a wave environment: -

18 February 2013

Choose to kite… Taiwan

Another week down and 4 more very diverse sessions in 3 different locations in 2 different countries and I have not quite stuck to my rule of no jumping, but not on purpose…  I guess that is what kiting is about – improving, growing confident and having fun in the conditions.  There is quite a bit I learnt / was reminded of in those sessions that I will have to break them into more than one blog post.

Last Sunday we arrived in Taiwan and headed down the West Coast for about an hour from Taipei International Airport.  There is quite a little kiting community in this area and growing, with good reason – not only is the wind super regular, but the areas are un-crowded.  The regular wind is thanks to the tall mountains of Taiwan and the airflow being squeezed down the strait between mainland China and Taiwan.  For part of the year the wind blows from the N/NE and is cross-shore from the right and then it changes and is cross-shore from the left for the rest of the year.  The un-crowdedness is due to most of the Taiwanese being told that the ocean and beaches are a dangerous place and there is even coast guard in some areas that stop you from going kiting.  With all the weather around there are currents and waves to contend with as well as fishing nets and in some areas debris that washes down the rivers in the rainy season, so caution is always advised.  Local advice should be sought before kiting in any of the Taiwan waters.  There are many kiting spots around Taiwan and the locals are super friendly and helpful, so check the couple of links below if you are considering going kiteboarding or kitesurfing in Taiwan.

The first of our kite sessions was on Sunday afternoon at low tide at Qiding – this spot is the closest beach to the Cabrinha kite designer’s house and man it is a fun location – with flatwater on the inside and some nice waves on the outside.  We rode it in cross-shore conditions, but it will work in everything from cross-off (great when there’s a nice swell) to cross-shore from the other side.

My challenge for the day was how to get over the breaking waves without doing something silly to my knee.  So it was back to basics and getting to grips on how I used to do it before I learnt to edge and pop over them.  It all comes down to timing… if you get out between the ‘sets’ then you tend to just have swells to negotiate  or small bumps of white water.  If you get the timing wrong then you may have to turn in a hurry and high tail it back towards the beach.  This is when all that time cruising and playing in the flat-water with your edge control, stopping and turning in a hurry, carve turns, down wind and upwind runs at controlled fast or slow speeds mentioned in my last couple of blog posts really come in handy.

Before heading out you should check the spot – something you should do for every location you kite in, but more so when you have waves to negotiate, as they change from session to session and from the start to the end of your session as the tide changes.  Not only is there the wave size and formation, but also the change in water depth and the amount of beach available for launching and landing.  We arrived at the spot a couple of hours after high tide and our local contact Pat had checked it at low tide only a couple of days before, so could point out where the rocks, sand bar, oyster beds and fishermen net anchors were.  He also mentioned that the waves will probably be biggest and cleanest at mid-tide – handy knowing a local!
 

The wind was good 9m weather for me and this is the first time since my surgery that I have flown in such windy conditions, as most of the ‘flat-water’ locations I have been in chop up too much and are very uncomfortable for the knee.  The nice thing about waves is that they tend to smooth out the water between them, so even if it is windier the water is flatter, well in between the waves at least…  BUT I still had to negotiate those waves.  When a wave comes towards the beach you can tell where and when it will start to break if you have been watching them for a bit before heading out.  So I chose a line that meant I headed out straight into the small reformed waves and white water close to the shore. As the wave approached I put a bit more weight on my back foot and lifted my front foot up at the same time flying my kite up. As soon as I was on top of the wave I’d fly my kite down and speed off across the flat so that I have momentum at the next wave to again shift my weight back and fly the kite up.  Getting the timing of this right in the small stuff really helps when the waves get bigger, as it means that you are ‘lifted ‘ over the wave by the kite pulling up and then pulled down the back of the wave by your kite coming down again.  Fly the kite too aggressively and you will indeed fly off the top of the wave, or if you are not aggressive enough you will hit the wave like a brick wall and be pushed back to the shore.  Same goes for the speed check on the board – if you plant that back foot too hard you will not have enough momentum to be carried over the wave, or don’t plant it enough you will go flying at speed into or over the wave, depending at what formation it is.

So after a bit of practice back and forth and getting my timing right for the sets and the wave break locations I headed out towards the ‘proper’ waves.  A couple of times I turned and sped off back to the beach waiting for the waves to lose a bit of power before turning and heading out over them.  Then I was in the right spot and I had just the perfect formation to carve onto the wave face next to a breaking peak.  Not quite wave riding, but getting my confidence back, these waves are a playground, not a danger zone.

My equipment choice for the day was still my easy to use soft 140 Spectrum Board with small fins – so not the perfect set up for turning hard or even riding a wave, but it was the right choice for me as I knew I would not hook a fin and twist my knee accidently.  I needed to improve my confidence and be confident that I could get out of any potential danger and my gear choice helped.  So who cares if I was not riding strapless on my surfboard – I was having fun and improving my skills.

Choosing to kite is way more important to me than standing on the beach waiting for my body to heal or my skills to miraculously improve without any failures so that I will look ‘cool’ while riding.  The only way I will improve is by being out there kiting in diverse conditions as regularly as possible.  The fastest way to improve is by choosing the user friendly gear – appropriate to your skill or current fitness level.  The best way to improve… well I think that is by choosing to build a good solid foundation of skill – by choosing to go for a session… even if it is 5/4 wetsuit weather – like in Taiwan in winter.

Good winds and happy kiting.

:)  

Some links for more info on kiting and stuff in Taiwan: -
CTKA - Chinese Taipei Kitesurfing Association - www.ctka.tw

Nico - www.nicowsf.com

Tony - www.spot.com.tw
Vito - www.facebook.com/IwAkeCablePark

Surface sessions

Friday was another superb day at my local – Shui Hau.  This time well powered to just powered on a 10m Switchblade and using my trusty Spectrum 140 prototype with 25mm fins.  You may think that this equipment is a strange choice for a 70kg (yes – Christmas in SA and 9 months off the water have not been that flattering) women who is a competent freestyler, confident with unhooking and kitelooping.  You may be right, but every person is subtly different – my big difference is that I am recovering from knee surgery and probably should not be out there yet at all.

Equipment choice is such an individual thing and depends not only on your size, sex and riding style, but also on your location and what you are trying to achieve right now with your riding.  The equipment you choose is also not only restricted to what kite and board you are using, but also what harness, wetsuit (or not), booties, pads and straps, handle and if you are going to be wearing that safety gear too.

So back to Friday – 10m Kite, 140 board and my kite shorts harness.  Nice low pull, no restriction of movement in my waist and just very little restriction in my hips. Helmet on – I always wear my helmet, just in case… not necessarily me being stupid (that’s always a possibility), but also because there are heaps of inconsiderate / uneducated individuals in our sport.  It was nice and windy – five kiters out in the morning thanks to Chinese New Year (CNY) and flat water – super fun session!

So what did I do?  Off course there was the list from my last blog, plus the surface 360’s mentioned by Megan and Blaise both toeside and blindside and the long blind runs – thanks to it being so quiet.  I also added in a couple of new ‘tricks’ I have never consistently done before.   The surface 360 with an Ole – that is holding the bar above your head instead of passing it.  The other is the surface one foot, taking the back foot out of the binding while riding along and kicking it up and grabbing it with the front hand.  What fun you can have inventing stuff – now I know what Toby (kiteforum.com) has been up to for over a year and why we waited so long for  those ’Airstyle” DVDs.

Other ‘tricks’ you could consider to improve your kite and board control skills are:
Carving transitions from heelside to toeside,
Carve transition with an underloop,
Riding blind,
Riding along unhooked,
Surface 360 both ways and do one after the other without hooking back in in between,
Rotating to wrapped hooked and unhooked and riding along,
Butterslide or board wheelie,
Backroll transition, but without the board leaving the water.

The last of these is actually a great one to learn, because if you go into it too fast or edge too hard before you roll, or if you move the kite too quickly over 12 o’clock you will leave the water.  This is especially important for somebody who is keen to learn roll tacks for kite-racing to master, as this basic kite and board control teaches you the timing subtleties required.

I am sure there were many more things I got up to and tried, but towards the end of my session I started being silly and had my first kiteloop lifted off the water crashes since my op and even those were fun – I so love kiting!

Now I am in Taiwan – having a ball in the waves – will let you know how my not leaving the water challenge goes before I head back to HK at the end of the week.

Good winds and happy kiting!

:)

6 and a half months....

... and I am so thankful to be back on the water again.  5 sessions since my last post.  Not ground breaking numbers of hours on the water, but just the right amount to stop me from getting ahead of myself.

The first three sessions back here in Hong Kong were all hard work - yeah work - testing.  In reality I was just the extra board on the water so that the guys did not need to go back to the shore to change the big boards over.  Yes big boards – probably not the ideal type for a new knee, as they have big fins and need to be gybed or tacked, but they didn’t require a big kite up and they were amazingly easy to use.  So if anyone is thinking of getting into racing then grabbing a Freerace board as ‘training wheels’  is an idea, but it is also such an easy to use light wind option.  One of the days we were the only ones out and way upwind too, playing for hours on 13 and 12m kites.  Another day we headed 2.5km straight up wind to round an island off Cheung Sha beach.  Even with a dodgy knee I was confident enough to try my tacks again and got a decent percentage right – just more proof of how easy the boards are to use… and man you can go fast on a reach!  It did mean that I stuck to my rule of not leaving the water very well too.  So even if you don’t leave the water kiting is fun – a point proven again this weekend.

Now even though it has been windy I have not been at the beach, as I have some contract work happening, which has turned me into a weekend warrior, but what a weekend it has been – just perfect.  Yesterday started with a brunch with friends, then purchasing of essentials to sort out some toys which needed modifications (more testing stuff) and once that was done the wind came in and the tide was perfect for a glassy ‘freestyle’ session.  The reason I say ‘freestyle’ is because the rule of not leaving the water still applies, as I do not think my knee (specifically meniscus) could handle the impact of a hard landing, so it was all surface freestyling.  

I feel like a real beginner kiter again, because it seems that most people call themselves intermediate once they leave the water, but you know what, the surface stuff teaches you so much kite and board control it will help you in the future for those more advanced tricks.  It is amazing how many things you can do and learn without leaving the water… so over my next few blog posts I will post suggestions as to what the tricks are you should be trying and how about you check them off and see how beginner, intermediate or advanced you really are.  How about we start at the first and make a list – you are welcome to comment with suggestions to add and I will add more as I blog – till I decide to leave the water again.  Here goes: -
Riding upwind
Transition without sitting in the water
Switch to toeside with carve transition
Carving up and down wind (on flatwater or wave face) – feeling your board edges
Going very fast – slightly downwind
Going real slow, but still planing on the water
Riding toeside
Riding toeside upwind
Stopping in a hurry
Heelside to toeside carve transition
Underloop transition combined with some of above
AND doing all of these both ways!

Many of these may seem simple to those who have done it before, but unless you have the kite in just the right place and the board resisting just the right amount you can either end up going to fast or sink in when not wanted.  So go out and check if you can still do it (with style) or go out and try it on the other tack, or try it full stop – it’s fun, even in light winds.

Today the wind came in much stronger and there was a crowd out at my local – loving the company on the water and watching everyone progress (all 50 plus kites up).  Once again however I noticed that many people seem to get so excited that they forget the basics – or is it that they did not know them to start with?  It also brought home that no matter how experienced you are you need to remember to leave yourself a buffer in case something doesn’t go as planned.  One of the better more experienced kiters came in after his session and when he went to hop out of his straps close to the shore he couldn’t get out smoothly.  He tripped up and ended up on the rocks, accidently looping the kite and being bounced onto the shore and ending up with heaps of lacerations and potential back and hip injuries.

So guys head out and have fun in the light and strong winds, even if you are not leaving the water yet, but remember to check for obstacles and keep safe distances from the hard stuff.

Good winds and happy kiting!

10 years and time to share all I have learnt not to do…

Yes this week 10 years ago I got up and going properly on a kiteboard for the first time and today I had that same thrill after being off the water since April 2012.  Learning to kite was daunting yet exhilarating and every step of the way you knew you were getting better and your body was getting stronger and your mind wiser.  Here I am nearly 6 months post ACL, Meniscus and Cartilage surgery and I have to remember those lessons I had learnt and the feelings that kept me going back for more,  so that I take it slow and take this recovery serious.

2013 started with crazy winds here in Cape Town and so on the 2^nd of January DK and I legged it up to Langebaan for a light wind flat water session.  I got 45 minutes of riding, first on the 13m and then the 11m Chaos and 136 XCaliber.  If only I was fit and healthy I would have been lapping up the conditions, but as soon as the wind and current started disturbing the water too much I could feel the knee telling me to take a break.  I was not disappointed with my session at all; in fact I was over the moon happy.  

Today the 4^th day of the year I remember why kiting is so important to me.  Another 45minutes or more on the water, this time down in Big Bay - flat water between the waves and an occasional slashable swell and that sensation of happiness and fulfilment returned.  The 13m Chaos and 140 Tronic were the perfect tools to get me out on my own on this beautiful sunny day with Table Mountain as a backdrop.  I can see why this spot is so popular in the northern hemisphere winter – there were really nice little ramps for flat 3’s on the inside and I had to hold myself back from trying anything with all my might.  We are flying out tonight, so I could not stay out long enough to re-injure myself as the wind filled in - someone is keeping an eye on me. 

I felt this again when I was refuelling at Callici’s after and bumped into Aaron Hadlow (5 times PKRA world champ) who is 10 months post his ACL /meniscus surgery.  He said he had a sweet little session today, but did warn me that to get ahead with my return to riding hard I need to take it very slow and not be tempted to trick too much too early.

This brings me to why I am starting this blog.  Inspired a bit by a friend, Kitey, who blogged to keep herself on track to a healthier self and who’s heading to do her first Iron Man event in Cairns later this year.  I am going to steel the idea and use this blog to make sure I do not get ahead of myself on this return to kiting.  It is going to be a while before I get to those back mobe, blind judge and S to blind attempts again, but I plan to get there… and a lot further.

Another reason to blog is to give back to kiting.  Often I see people out doing silly things because they do not know better or getting stuck in a rut because they do not know what to do next.  So as I go through my sessions on track to my future kiting self I will also delve into past sessions that taught me lessons as well as lessons I learnt from others.  This will hopefully help these people and maybe even you to be a better kiter.  I do not claim to know all and expect debate on many of the matters I mention – all of which will make us better kiters.

So please join me on my journey, challenge me and keep me on track and I will join you on yours too.

Good winds!