Jaws, Peahi, Shane Dorian October 9th 2012

Here is a video of Shane Dorian yesterday at Peahi. Today is bigger!!! Enjoy!!

View of Kitebeach seen the Air

We had friends visit last week from Oregon who came out for a kiting trip. Last week they scored waves and big everyday!! This is a photo that our friend Kramer took from the airplane as he flew over Maui. Whats really cool about this shot is that when you zoom in you can see me, Dave, Jodi and Tom on the water!!

Note on Maui wind conditions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I added a wind chart to the right of the blog. You have to remember to add 5-10 knots for our local wind effects which always increase our wind at Kanaha. You would not believe how many people bring to big of kites to Maui for their vacation.  One of the most common sayings is "I checked the wind forecast before I came to Maui and I didn't think it would be this windy".  Be sure to either bring all your kites or call us and we will tell you the wind forecast for the next 7 days or so. 

Kite Beach threatened by Seawall Project

The DOH is proposing an 1100 foot extension to the 450 ft rock seawall surrounding the waste water facility at Kanaha Beach. These plans could seriously reduce beach access, and have negative environmental effects as well. Shoreline armoring is a known cause of beach erosion. Public testimony is open till October 8th. The EIS can be viewed at the following link:
 http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Maui/2010s/2012-08-23-MA-DEIS-Wailuku-Kahului-Wastewater-Reclamation-Facility-Shoreline-Protection-Extension.pdf

What is the future for Jaws?

What is the future for Jaws? One awe inspiring spectacle of mother nature that many people to get to experience on Maui, is to watch the gigantic waves at the break known as Jaws. Famous as one of the biggest "rideable" waves in the world. When jaws is breaking the top surfers and waterman flock to this spot, and spectators crowd onto the clifftop to see the action. Access is through an obscure pineapple field, that makes getting this location more of a mission, and part of the experience of the adventure. However that will probably all change. As even this special place falls victim to its own success. And its notoriety may have attracted the attention of developers, and perhaps even accelerated its ultimate urbanization. Probably the only thing holding it back is the economy, and its 2million per lot price tag. I do not know the details, but a web search uncovered the plans to cut up this area, and sell it off for luxury homes. Driving to see jaws may become restricted to a privileged few as access becomes private or maybe closed off in this development becomes a gated community. Maybe people should speak out against this development, and ask for Jaws to be saved. There are plenty of other similar locations for luxury homes, that do not need to be right on top of the world's best and most accessible wave.

Stay safe and Ride safe, 10 kiteboarding safety tips from David Dorn

IKO TOP TEN SAFETY DIRECTIVES FOR PUBLIC KITERS By David Dorn, IKO Training Director

Learn the Top Ten Safety Directives for public kiters including knowing safety systems, using a kite leash, flyovers, IKO’s position on board leashes, Right of Way (ROW) rules and more! No kiter should take a kite without knowing how to ride safely. Every kiter from beginner to advanced should at least know these ten safety directives brought to you by the IKO.
1. Always use a kite leash The kite’s leash is the primary safety device. It keeps you attached to the kite and the kite attached to you. When you have your kite attached, you can use it as a floatation device and a lifeboat (means of getting back to the beach). It is highly visible allowing you to be seen by would be rescuers. Even if you cannot re-launch it, you can use your kite to do a self rescue and pull you to shore. This will save you from some very long swims. But the kite leash’s main function is to protect the people around you from getting taken out by your lose kite. When you are riding, always remember that your leash is there for everyone else’s safety. A properly functioning leash also activates the kite’s safety system and depowers it. But, be careful: A leash in a suicide configuration is pretty much a liability to everyone including the rider.

2. Know your safety systems You would be surprised by how many people do not know how to use their safety systems. There is really no excuse for this. Maybe you are renting a kite, testing a new kite or borrowing a buddy’s kite for the first time. But, any time you are about to use a kite, you must get to know the safety systems. Each system is slightly different. While there are some similarities between most systems, there are some systems that are totally counterintuitive to use, and could be the opposite of what you are used to. For example, there are chicken loops that release by pushing them away, some release by pulling on them while others release when you twist the collar, and to top it off, there are even some systems where the chicken loops are fixed and do not release at all. In an emergency, you should be able to release from your chicken-loop instantly and without looking. So, if you do not thoroughly know the system you are using, you will have a big problem. This applies to every part of the safety system. Kite leashes too have different quick releases as some pull, some you push and some you have to pull a special release pin.

3. Never fly over non-participants This seems obvious but on any crowded kite launch site, you will see people breaking this rule every day. The reason that you never want to do this is because you are endangering the persons below the kite. The kite can suddenly power up and could hit, cut, slice, drag, drop, or knock down any person within the kite’s wind window. This can happen to anyone. Even the most experienced kiter does not have 100% control of their kite 100% of the time. The wind can suddenly gust, lull, or some other factor like a line breaking can cause a momentary loss of control, and then, the kite can injure someone. Even experienced kite launchers must be extremely careful when getting beneath a kite.

4. Never use a board leash Many old kiters have stories about kiting in the old days and many have a sad tale about the board leash. The board leash is for surfing not kiting. There have been hundreds of kiting accidents that the board leash has caused and a few fatalities as well. Serious injury can happen from the board sling-shotting at your head or face and even a helmet cannot prevent many injuries. In addition, the board leash can tangle in the bar and lines causing a whole plethora of other problems. The high accident rate caused by board leashes prompted the majority of kite schools to ban using board leashes long ago. However, some people may still think that they can get away with using one. But, our hard-won experience has taught us that there is no safe way to use a board leash and there are no safe types of board leashes either. Simply, don’t use one. Instead, learn how to kite better so you won't need one. If you are a beginner try using a “Go-jo” device. They look a bit funny but they really work great. If you are still tempted to use a board leash after reading this then just Google “kite board leash injuries” and see what comes up.

5. Do not jump over obstacles What goes up must come down. Remember that anything you fly over can become your landing place. And, you could always land on your head. Kiting is better when done over water, because this gives you a soft forgiving medium to crash into. Over water you can try stuff and know that you will fall with a splash or a splat. By comparaison, just try landing on a pile of rocks, a jetty, or a gnarly sharp tree. These aren't as forgiving. Kiting is a numbers game. Sooner or later you will crash. Whatever risks you take will eventually catch up with you. Whatever you jump over, you will ultimately land on. It is just a matter of time. There are many examples of skilled kiters making crazy jumps over stuff but there are also a lot of examples of them crashing hard. You should weigh the risks against the reward, and ask yourself if it is really worth all the pain and time off the water to do some macho stunt. IMHO jumping over stuff is kind of dumb. Why not do a really technical trick or a really big jump instead? But, just do it over water, so when you do wipeout, you can get back up and try it again. Plus, if you do get seriously injured and or killed trying to jump stuff, you will probably get your local kite spot shut down in the process as well.

6. Look before you jump This is just as important as the look before you jibe rule. Looking before you jump is vital for kiters because when you jump with a kite, you can travel large distances and stay aloft for a long time. The traffic in your landing area can change between the time you take off and the time you land. You should always look in all directions before you jump including upwind of you because someone else could already be in the air or about to jump behind you. Also, try to look at the traffic patterns and think about where people will be while you are in the air. Maybe, they do not see you take off and ride into the clear area that was your intended landing zone. We generally recommend that you should have at minimum of at least 50 meters clear area downwind and 30 meters clear area upwind of you before you jump. But, many kiters jump further than that so they will need to allow even more room to move. When the wind gets stronger people kite at greater speeds and will generally have less control. So, in strong winds, you should allow for larger safety buffers around you. Always look in all directions before you jump, and if that area isn’t clear, then wait for the right time and place to jump

7. Keep a safety buffer A safety buffer is what you create to keep some distance between you and something dangerous. A safety buffer is both distance and time. When you are moving faster you will need to make your safety buffers bigger. You should create a safety buffer whenever you see something that you do not want to hit. This could be the beach, some rocks, other kiters, or obstacles. When creating your buffer, you should also consider how far your kite reaches out ahead of you keeping in mind that your safety buffer starts at your kite and extends beyond that. A safety buffer between two kites (or two kiters) is ever greater. If you have 25m lines and the other kiter has 25m lines, you need a minimum of 50m between you to ensure that the kites don't touch each other but that still does not allow for any separation between the kites. The safety buffer is the extra area/distance between the closest possible points of contact. Sometimes kite instructors will recommend a safety buffer of two or three kite line lengths away from an obstacle on full length lines that translates to 50m to 75m. But, in strong winds, the buffer should be increased. Sometimes, the buffer needs to be 5 line lengths and in extreme conditions up to 10 line lengths (10 line lengths = 250m). Whatever safety buffer you leave downwind of you to keep out of danger and stay away from objects, should be the same for the guy riding upwind of you. So, if you like a 75m buffer downwind of you, then the guy riding upwind of you probably wants to stay about that same distance away from you because you are now the obstacle that he is trying to avoid. If I am kiting in extreme winds at my limit, I can assume that anyone upwind of me is possibly kiting at their limit too. So, I do not want to let them get inside my upwind safety buffer. And, I do not want to ride into their safety buffer either. Always try to consider the amount of reaction time and stopping distance you would need to avoid an accident. In strong wind, there is less reaction time. Because things happen faster and you are moving faster, the stopping distances will also need to be increased.

8. Avoid bad weather One thing is certain in kiteboarding. You cannot control the weather. But, what you can do is recognize bad weather when you see it and try to anticipate bad weather by using forecasts and weather services. Weather services are not just for finding good wind. They are useful for helping you to avoid bad weather as well. Different weather conditions make for bad kiting conditions but storms are the most common and easily avoided weather phenomena. If you get to the beach and it is raining or cloudy; there is a thunderstorm; is extremely windy; or you see a cumulonimbus cloud approaching, then don’t go out. Of course, you should have already known that there was bad weather because every good kiter checks the weather before going to the beach. But, sometimes the weather changes quickly and you will have to keep your eyes on the sky for telltale signs of change. Clouds are good indicators of weather changes and so are rapid drops in temperature or sudden shifts in wind direction. And, if you hear thunder, get out of there fast. Many serious kiteboarding accidents are attributed to bad weather. But, you cannot blame the weather. It was the fault of the kiter himself who is ultimately responsible for deciding to go out in bad weather conditions. When you are kiting at a new spot, it is always a good idea to ask the locals if there are any special signs of approaching bad weather to watch out for.
 
9. Know the Right Of Way (ROW) rules The right of way rules are a way of reducing accidents on the water because all kiters need to know how to react when they get into some kiting traffic. The first ROW rule is simply, “Avoid accidents at all costs!” This means don’t crash into anyone. Unfortunately, beginner kiters generally do not know any rules and they are highly focused on watching their kite. So, they are not usually aware of their surroundings. The next rule should probably be, “Avoid beginners at all costs!” Once any kiter gets beyond the basics and starts mixing in with the general kiting population, they should also know the most common ROW rules. There are the basic rules for sailing that also apply to kiting: “port gives way to starboard;” “upwind gives way to downwind;” and etc. There are some kite specific rules as well like “the upwind kiter keeps their kite high when passing another.” There are many good websites that explain the rules. Some also explain the rules for kiting in the waves, and also, for kiting with other types of water craft. We have to learn how to share the water with each other and how to share the space with other water users as well. And, most of all know the ROW rules to help you to avoid accidents.

10. Do not kite further than you can swim Another way to put this is "always know your limits." By not kiting further away from shore than you can swim, puts into perspective that no matter how good at kiting we are, we are just a swimmer when we lose the kite. Kites can get away from us or breakdown and become useless. Eventually, every kiter will have to swim back to shore. Think about this before riding far away from the beach or travelling long distances. At any moment, you could lose the kite and you will have to swim. Also, think about: the time it takes to swim; what if there are tides or currents; or maybe you will be swimming back after sunset and no one will see you; what if you are hurt and cannot swim; what if it is really cold and you start to get hypothermic? So, the real message is know your limits and think about your vulnerability. You can usually have a great session and stay relatively safe by managing the risks, thinking about problems before they occur and staying close to shore. There are many more safety tips and possible safety directives too many to mention here. It is good to talk about the different “Safety Directives” with your kiting buddies and spend a little time thinking about all the things that might happen before they eventually do happen to you.
 
Keep safe and see you on the water, David Dorn

Wind, wind and more wind on Maui!!

Today was a really fun Maui Kite Girls get together.

We had 4 Maui Kite Girls plus Dave as our coach. We were lucky to have our friend Molly kite with us who just returned from a 3 month trip to Australia! Molly had not kited for over 7 months and has sold all her gear, so we were happy to get her set up with a 5m kite and she was out there ripping it up like the "good ol days". !! Molly is a Maui kiter and started kiting when I did, about 7 years ago so it was fun to catch up and talk about the old days. It was super windy so the girls were on small kites again. I rode my 6m and used my new Naish Rascal board which I love, it is a board designed for women so it is small and really fun to ride!! Alice is back on Maui for 6 months and was powered up on her 6m as well as Maui Kite Girls regular Milena. It was really really windy so we mostly had a "free ride" session working on jumps and high wind kiting.

Alice surprised up with a nice ceasar salad that she made as well as some coconut lemon cupcakes which were awesome. Thank you Alice!!! We are looking forward to the next Maui Kite Girls get together and I am hoping for a little less wind so we can practice some tricks~

Perfect Wind, Perfect Waves, another great day for the girls on Maui

What an awesome day today was!! We were so lucky to have to best wind ever and nice surf as well! Some of the ladies were off island, had other commitments, or thought the wind was going to be too light for the clinic but it turned out to be the most perfect day ever!! I was perfect on my 6meter and the girls were on their 6 and 7meter kites as well!! Suzanne and I decided we wanted to take it a little easy today so we worked on hooked in rallies and hop to toe-side carve turns, as well as jumping coming in! Just as we were getting ready to launch, Milena and Alice arrived! Alice is going to live on Maui for the next 6 months so we are super happy about that!! The wind was so steady today and I landed all my backrolls, (except for 1) :) Cindy was going to work on her unhooked jumps, but was pretty much just hanging on for her life since she probably weighs under 100lbs. Dr. Susan also came out and kited for a while, she is starting to get some air!! Milena tried a few back rolls as well. The good news is that all the girls had a really great session and were super stoked! The bad news is... unfortunately, none of our Go-Pros were switched on so we do not have any videos or pictures.
Stay tuned for my report on our session next week!! Where we will be sure to have some video and pictures!!
Aloha!!
Suzie D

Maui Kite Girls clinic with Tonia Farman

Sunday 4/8/12 Kite Beach Maui
the MauiKiteGirls Sunday Sessions were host to a special Women's Only kiteboarding Clinic with guest coach Tonia Farman. Tonia has been running Women's Kiteboarding clinics for years, she's a pro-kiter, professional IKO instructor, and philanthropist. This clinic brought together women from; Maui, Washington DC, Washington PNW, New York, Cape Hatteras, Socal, and Canada. The Sunday sessions are a social setting where women come together to boost their kiting skills and share the fun. The theme of each clinic is decided by the group, each kiter is working on new skills or tricks. We had some first timers, in a beginners lesson donated by ActionSportsMaui, and the advanced girls were working on everything from getting through the waves, up to jumps, spins, and back-rolls. Tonia prepared the group with a safety check, and briefing. Each of the women received tips and advice. and there were some live demonstrations on the tricks. Then they hit the water. The conditions were great with 20mph wind that steadily got stronger through the day. Most girls were riding their 6 and 7m kites, TT's and Directionals. All of the participants met with success, and many reported best evers, and first evers, and reported being inspired by the other women, and pushing themselves to try harder.
Local rider Milana Kari (a regular at MauiKiteGirl events) said; "These clinics are great, they push me to try new things. With a coach riding behind me I feel safe and I am encouraged push myself to the next level".
Thanks to our hosts and sponsors: MauiKiteGirls, ActionSportsMaui, NeilPrydeMaui, and Tonia Farman for making this event a success.

Aruba- One Happy Island!!

David and I traveled to Aruba in January 2012. David was completing IKO Examiner training for Fernando Dulce, owner of Xtreme Winds Kiteboarding School and also running an instructor training course. Aruba is a really really awesome island, they call it "One Happy Island" and after spending time here now I know why. Flying into Aruba is amazing, you fly over all these tiny islands, crystal clear water and beautiful reefs. As we approached Aruba I was already planning my next Caribbean vacation as well as my next Google Earth view and fly overs.  We finally landed on Aruba after flying from Maui to LA, to Miami and then to Aruba. After finally arriving, getting thru customs (we always pick the slowest line) our fun began. 
We stayed in Noord, (about 30 minutes from the airport). Aruba is pretty small, you can get from one side to the other in about 1 hour.  All the kite and windsurf schools are set up in Noord, there is a strip of hotels and most of them have watersports centers in front of them.  We kited at Fisherman's Huts which is straight off shore wind, so when you kite you must have a rescue boat. The water is flat and crystal blue, and super white sandy beach. The set up on the beach is nice, lots of schools right on the sand offering rental gear and lessons. There are lots of hotels and restaurants so you can go and get lunch and drinks at any of the beachside bars! There are tons of other activities on this beach as well, parasailing, banana boats, windsurfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, booze cruises, you name it they have it...
Boca Grande is another kite beach on the Southern part of the island, there is a beautiful white sandy beach, with side-on shore wind, and waves. Boca Grande reminded me of Maui. Boca Grande is the windier part of the island. There are no facilities here so be sure to pack a lunch and some drinks. The sun in Aruba seems stronger than in Maui, and it is hotter so be sure to wear a big hat and suncreen.

This is a sign from one of the kite schools set up on the beach.

Here is another school at Fishermans Huts that offers windsurfing and kiting. All the major kite brands are in Aruba.. Naish, Best, Cabrinha, Ozone, and North.

David trained Fernando and ran an Instructor Training Course while in Aruba. Here are some of the newest IKO kiteboarding instructors! The candidates came to Aruba from USA, Switzerland, and the rest were Aruba locals.

Here are our hosts and good friends, Fernando and Helena Dulce (and Nea). They own Xtreme Winds Kiteboarding School and can arrange lessons, rental, accommodations and what ever else you need! Their school is an IKO Center they are awesome people!! http://www.xtremewinds.com/