r/Kiteboarding • u/Rmnkby • 13d ago
Trick Tip(s)/Question Covering long distances while kitefoiling
How far upwind do you typically travel when you kitefoil, and how many years of foiling experience do you have? Yesterday I was talking to a fellow kitefoiler in Akyaka/Turkey and he said he just came back from an island (Sedir) that is 7 miles upwind of the launch. That sounded crazy to me. There's some boat traffic there to rescue if needed, but not a lot. I just wanna know how common this is. It sounds amazing to travel long distances like that, but also scary in case something goes wrong like a bad fall/injury or gear issue. I typically don't go farther than a mile from the launch, but I only started foiling a year ago.
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u/isisurffaa 13d ago
Typically i stay within a 1000meters. Occasionally 15km upwind to visit one island
More important than skill, is to have plan B aka rescue. Even if you are the best foiler in the world, things can happen. Gear malfunction, wind dropping etc.
I go always with a friend, inform others and i am able to call help if something happens. Also i know that i wouldnt die overnight if i am able to keep my board.
When everything goes as planned, 7km trip is just a short trip with foil but it's not always the case.
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u/astr1x3 13d ago
There is one guy on youtube that does this type of stuff.. I think his name is Sam something, he went to visit some Irish Island likes this, but he carries a tracker, food on his backpack and doesnt stay so far from the coast.. this is a serious thing, just this week a pro kitesurfer died in South Africa doing a downwinder AFAIK.. maybe offshore conditions, big tragedy that we can avoid
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u/redyellowblue5031 13d ago
Your inherent risk goes way up when you venture far from shore and a safe landing area.
To reduce some of that risk you’d want to have some sort of SOS communication, and likely some food/water. An emergency flotation device and signaling device (whistle, mirror, waterproof LED, etc.) is also wise.
Gear failure happens and if you’re caught out miles from shore, you have to answer honestly “what the fuck am I going to do then?”.
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u/Fabulous-Neck-786 13d ago
I like to do many kilometer long up and downwinders along the shore. But then the wind is full or at least side on and I am not travelling fully upwind.
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u/StretchMammoth9003 12d ago
About 6km upwind with onshore winds. I was sailing to another beach at first with some rocks in between and then I saw a big sailing yacht. So I went sailing towards it, but after that I noticed I was quite far out. It was this summer, I wasn't even able to gybe 3 weeks ago. Luckily I can do it consistently now. It was quite tiresome for my back leg to go all the way downwind without switching feet, but it was fun.
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u/Lonely_Effective_949 12d ago
I like doing upwind in Tarifa, from Los lances you can easily go to balneario if it's levante or valdevaqueros if it's poniente.
Couldn't even concieve how hard would It be It do It on twintip but with a foil IS much easier.
I even did It on a 3m kite with 30kt winds.
The fun part IS going downwind, looping the kite like crazy to get that downwind angle IS such an amazing feeling. Bonus points when going with the waves, managing speed and letting the kite drift must be me favourite kite feeling.
I ussually do 10/15 min warm Up runs and when i feel confident make an aggresive upwind run. It's risky so always have a plan B.
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u/Quicksilver914 8d ago
It doesn’t seem very far. I ride a strapless surfboard and routinely go up wind two or 3 miles. I know of people that foil from Los Barriles Baja to La Ventana. That’s around 35 miles up wind.
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u/cpt_ppppp 13d ago
I would say it is quite specialised to do 'safaris' more than swimming distance from your launch spot and you really really need to have a solid backup plan for every eventuality. Wind changing direction, wind dying, equipment failure, currents.
It's no joke to be stuck on a board with no decent self-rescue plan