Landboarding

Hi all, Names Cam, 23, New to forum, not completely new to this sport. Im located in Melbourne and interest in meeting up with some of yall for a flying sesh one day. I actually don't have a kite atm but im looking into it again, and trying to decide what to get into....

So is there a group of you whom get together on weekends for fun flies?

Thanks, Cam

Hi Cam

Welcome to the forum!

We're a bit of a disjointed bunch here so there's no regular time, place or set group of people who meet up each weekend, but if you keep an eye on the forum here, you'll see us put up a post if we're having a session. Hopefully we'll be out more as spring approaches and the good winds come again.

Apart from that, watch the bom.gov.au website and look for a park that's got and offshore breeze. Depending upon wind direction, the main spots to find us will be Jacka Park in Elwood for westerlies and southwesterlies, Apex park in Altona for Southerlies and Easterlies and Eastern Beach in Geelong for Northerlies. Further afield, there's Sandy Point in the east and 13th beach in the west for southwesterlies.

When you start looking at kites, be sure to ask for advice here before you spend your cash. There are lots of guys with tonnes of experience who will be only to happy to help you make the right decision.

Happy flying

OBEwan

Welcome to the site, it's always great to get new members. We are a smaller community of kiters here and wide spread throughout Australia (and abroad) but that is also how the land kiting sport is most of the time. In saying that we are definatly a friendly bunch, with heaps of experience and knowledge to offer.
Since you are in Melbourne you shouldn't have a problem meeting up with some locals for a kite and most people are willing to let you try out some of their own gear to help you make a decision on what to buy. Just keep an eye on the forum for groups heading out and tag along.
Also as a community we organize a few larger get togethers throughout the year with people traveling from all over the country to attend. There is one coming up in Victoria soon, which is always great fun.... If a little cold for my liking
http://www.extremekites.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=16652&view=unread#unread

Cam

... Marty

Welcome Cam.

I am mainly water based but do landboard also. Good summary from OBEwan (one edit: he means you DONT want a park with offshore breeze, ie you want onshore thus less gusty).

If I was doing it all again I would start with a second hand depower 9m kite. You can buy these from forums or shops including ex-demos. My preference is the ozone Frenzy, but others can give their own opinions. No matter what you choose you need appropriate safety gear. Next you spend time flying the thing in the correct condition for a beginner: clean wind that is not too strong and the more time you put into it the faster you will progress.

Flying a trainer kite is a good idea and paying for lessons will really help. As far as I know (happy to be corrected) the only person who does landboarding and gives lessons near Melb is Goshen at the Kitepower Geelong store.

If you see people posting to meet up then you can just turn up and have a chat. People will be happy to help.

Morandi

Thanks all for the warm welcome Last time I was 'playing around' with power kites I started with a 3.5m Ozone imp, then got bored with that and shot up to a 10.5m Flexfoil (I cant for the life of me remember the name of it though)....Loved it and could handle it easily. Flew it when I was still at home on a bit of land, but not quite enough to board or anything, just get airborne

The only issue I think I had with the flexfoil was it was a power kite not a depower, and only using handles (not a bar), so other than trying to pull the brakes on on that big sucker whilst its powering! it was sometimes a hand full :/

So with the nice weather approaching again its making me want to get back into it, but as I said try and meet up with some folk for a fly!!!
I will keep an eye on the events page.

Cam

Hey Cam!

Welcome aboard

keep an eye on the events section and you will be good to go. Make sure you take advice before buying a Kite. people here will be happy to help.

Z

New Question.....Ive just discovered closed cell kites SOOOO ive fallen in love, lol Due to the two in one benefits, that i can go out on water or on land

SO. There is a HQ Matrixx for sale from BrisKites, it comes as a 9m or 15m (second hand) What size should i get for the conditions found in Melbourne? I know i can handle a 10.5m kite so up for the 15m......Im worried if i get the 9m i might get bored and used to it too quickly?

Thanks in advance for your help

Hi Cam,
I have the Matrix in a 15m and there are a few others here who fly them including Spartan who has a almost a full quiver.
The 15m is a big light wind kite, its not good for learning on just because of its size which makes it slow and a handful on land if the wind is not predictable. I use the 15m mainly in summer when there is a stable sea breeze but less so in Melbourne's winter due to gusty conditions.

If you are doing mainly land kiting I would still start with the 9m and then later add a 12m. On the water you will need about 18knots to get going depending on your board and weight. On land you can get going on the 9m in pretty light winds but will need a bigger kite, or more wind, for jumping.

Just a word of warning, many (myself included) still prefer an inflatable kite in the water so their land kites tend to not be closed cell.

Thats my 2cents, hopefully others will add more....Both Spartan and Southerly Buster fly closed cell on land and water.

Thanks, yeah i dont really weigh that much lol only 63kg So it wont take too much sweating on the kites behalf to get me moving ! As i said im already a confident kiter with having a flexfoil 10.5er but need to learn boarding so im almost a beginner again.....it needs to be a good alrounder so im not restricted to flying days and places to fly, so im sold with the closed cell design already but not the size yet. Trying to think of melbourne's usual winds inland and on shores, i also might try surfing on this massive basin thats always windy and just casual oval flying! so much to take into consideration :/

I have both the 9 & the 12 meter Matrixx - I'm using em for both landboarding, surfing and buggying

For my weight (80-ish kg) the 12 works from 5 ms for landboarding, 8 ms for surfing and virtually a smurfs sneeze for the buggy
The 9 works from 7 ms for landboarding, 11 ms for surfing and a slightly bigger smurfs sneeze for the buggy

Now I like the 9 meter the most as its faster, has a bigger wind-range (or so it feels at least) and feels more floaty (might be my flying skill though) - that being said I rarely uses it for landboarding (and never for the buggy) but that's only because I'll be out surfing (with the 12). Since I live in Denmark there's quite a lot of water and few good beaches for landboarding

Without taking the wind into account I would say - given your weight and skill level - you should go for the 9 meter. A bigger kite isn't always more fun to use

//M

So the 9m is gone (unless I buy new).. what's the max wind someone has flown a 15? I'm thinking I might just go 15 and just fly calm days, once again I'm 63kg so no matter how strong i am, its the weight the kite has to move isn't it? So in my case its not much so it must be a max of 3knts for me lmao!!!!

I love getting air borne so size and long lifts is what I want.... Flying with a bar and 5 lines (sheeting, changing angle of attack) do I get that extra control when in the air? from when I was flying a 10.5m fixed 4 liner?

I love getting air borne so size and long lifts is what I want.... Flying with a bar and 5 lines (sheeting, changing angle of attack) do I get that extra control when in the air? from when I was flying a 10.5m fixed 4 liner?[/quote]


I think where you may be coming undone with the fith line, Im pretty sure its only for safty "IE" when you go to the chicken loop and pull the safty it flags out to a center line ( the fith line ). But as far as the rest just like a four line just on a bar easyer to untangle lines after loops spins etc yes the newer kites do turn better than some of the old ones,Sheeting etc can be easyer with a bar more feel sometimes , but not always and it is also personal preferance to as wether you go handles or bar but the matrix do preform pretty good.Iv flowen a 9 and 15 in my buggy and liked them . Still comes down to what you like there is a few out there that are awesome kites and then there are some that are not and "WE" decided our selfs what we like ,I dont jump but fly both handles and depower (bar HQ montana 9.5 ) and the depower is more forgiving and i use it a lot with my trailer on the bug ,but if i wanna play and go fast i use my fixed bridals so hope this helps you as you say you have been into it for awhile its just that the kites have new systems to what you are used to have fun a 15 is a big kite for you but hey live a little
regards mick

Thanks Mick!

For the first time the fact that size matters actually applies lol so I would live to get a large kite for extra hang time and power but just afraid it will be too much to handle all the time!? So that's why I ask if I go that size but with the ability to sheet and change angle of attack ( unlike my last 10m ) I should have more control over when power is on or off? That's my main concern as the last one I had was fixed bridle, and except for changing the knots the lines attach to on the bridle there wasn't all that much control and found it unpredictable!

well mate the Matrix is a depower so you do have adjustment to a point like all depowers you have the "trim strap" then bar throw as that is what changes the attack angle "let the bar out less angle pull it in more " so = less power then More Power but a 15 M2 is still a big kite for 63kg especially if you want to use it most of the time ,.Yep you will get good boost and float but for my money maybe a 12 M2 to start. I know you already have experance but you would probably use it more if your down Melbourne way ask Spartan if you could hook up with him to have ago if not then its up to you or maybe someone near to you that may have one ?

Yeah I might go for a 10 or 12 again... There is a 10m manta 2 for sale at kite power... Good one? There are blokes using big 15's in 10 to 30 knts !!!! Obviously know what they are doing though lol but they still seem well in control! Which makes me think go bigger cover all my bases then I didn't spend a heap of money on something that doesn't quite give me what I want -_-

Shoot Spartan a PM about Frenzy V Manta V Matrix. He sold his Manta's as they take a bit more room to get up to speed than the small parks around here he was using. He found the Frenzy's much better.....and he had them for sale to replace with a set of matrix. He'll be able to tell you what's what and the wind ranges too.

Arrrr yes see this is this info I need cos if the manta doesn't deliver then it will be a waste of time! Lol there is just tooo much to take in!! Then all gets too much then I don't know what to get again

one thing ill add to mate if you can try before you buy the better for you and hey at the end of the day you may not like the matrix ! But you may like the manta then if norm (southerlybuster) is there with his flysurfer well more fuel for your fire !!!! see how much fun this is then there are the montanas if you want just a land kite (i know of a cheapish one ) then you may be able to buy a LEI water kite so you do have a dedicated kite for either land or water lol ( just to make you go crazies lol )

Yeah basically!! Being now 2 years out of touch I might not know the difference between them all.... When I get one I'll just mould to it and know how to work with it... Im thinking I might just go land, because I really can't see myself out at surf... Lol

Just want a good kite to give me speed and air time.... One that's big but have good dpower abilities so if it's on the windy side I can stay on the ground If I want to