Kite Surfing

Gary in action from the NW Kitesurfing website.

With a view to using kites on polar journeys in the future I headed down to Walney Island to complete a kite surfing course with Gary at North West Kitesurfing. Conditions were far from ideal with 20 knot winds gusting to 28 but it did give us plenty of practice at water launches in the afternoon. The initial sessions were on dry land with 1.5m two string kites to introduce and develop kite control. We also looked at rigging and emergency pack ups with the larger LEIs we'd be using. After lunch we moved into the water exploring water launches and body dragging. Even a relatively small 7m canopy was enough to drag two of us through the water with plenty of speed - until the harness attachment broke in a particularly violent gust!