Susi Mai teaching the Raley

Back to Mai Tai Kite Camp lessons... Susi does an amazing Raley, and she looks almost as good off the water as on.

Incredibly limber with great power - and by definition, unhooked.

I've not kited unhooked (on purpose) for 5 years - but given the quality of her moves, i'm going to focus on the baby step of kiting unhooked this summer.

NEW Radical Kites from Naish

When I was on Maui, Robby Naish told me that I should NOT buy a new kite this season until AFTER JUNE 3 -because Naish was going to change the game with a completely new design. These kites were introduced to dealers that week. The pic is from a post on kiteforum - a click will take you to the discussion page. Really different wing design. The commentary suggests that these kites have great lift and gliding ability once in the air. Stay tuned!

Surfboard vs. Twin Tip

When I started kiting, many folks were using directional boards - small surfboards with straps. Just as I stepped on the learning curve, I was excited to see the move toward twin tips - one less thing to deal with as I never had to 'jibe' and could ride heel side all the time. But it's time for a change - back to basics.

To commemorate the MaiTai Kite Camp, Jimmy Lewis made me a cool 5' 6" small surfboard with straps - and for further encouragement, kiting pioneer Lou Wainman stepped in to give me pointers on how to set it up for my stance. It was an honor for met to meet the man who has been in more kiting videos than any other waterman I know of.

Surfboards are fun to ride with a kite. A smooth, curvy, floaty, ride. Upwind performance is awesome. These pictures compare surfboard and twin tip sessions on days with identical wind and tide conditions.

The first snapshot is the path I rode with my surfboard, and the next is a ride on my twin tip. One picture is wider for obvious reasons. A click on either pic will take you to motionbased to 'follow the little red dot' of the actual ride tracked by GPS that day.