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Kitesurfing Self Launching

Syamil — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:55:24 +0000

Here’s a quick step-by-step on how to self launch posted by Andy in our facebook page. Remember to have someone there to look after you should something went wrong until you’re good enough at it.

Also keep in mind that these steps are only guidelines and not necessarily the ultimate “how-to” on self launching. Last but not least, like all things – practice, practice, practice! Good luck!

Self Launching, by Andy.

Self Launching-Step 1: Walk to your kite

Self Launching-Step 2 : Make sure ur kite’s leading edge is facing the wind.Now pull your bar and walk towards the wind direction SLOWLY. Your kite will now move by itself to the wind window.

Self Lauching-Step 3 : As your kite is moving into the wind window, pull the back line on your right handle bar SLOWLY.Now your kite will get into a C shape.

Self Lauching-Step 4 : Continue to pull the back line on your right handle bar untill the kite forms a C shape and move into the wind window.At this point, you might wanna walk towards the wind direction to aid your kite into position.

Self Launching-Step 5 : Once your kite take off…move towards the wind direction to keep it from falling down…steer the kite up and continue to move towards the wind direction….believe me it’s easy and just needs some practice…anyone can do it…if anyone tell you otherwise…by all means tell them to FUCK OFF!!!There r indeed alot of sore losers out there who will try to prevent you from progressing

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The Outer Quadrant

Syamil — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:47:45 +0000

Good news for all Malaysian & Singaporean alike, a new kitesurfing shop called the Outer Quadrant has just been launched a few days ago. Outer Quadrant is the official distributor for Liquid Force brand and is based in Singapore. Parallel to its launching, Azhar, founder of Outer Quadrant paid a visit to Balok Beach to promote and launch the new line of products.

Currently Outer Quadrant is also doing a big promotion as stated on its website;

For every new fan of Outer Quadrant on Facebook that you introduce, you will be entitled to 1% discount of the actual price. If you managed to get 5 friends to be new fans of Outer Quadrant, you will get 5% discount and so on and so forth up to a maximum of 30 new fans for 30% discount.

So what are you waiting for? Check out their website outerquadrant.com!

High Performance Kiteboarding Race

Syamil — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:26:51 +0000

Check out the boards. Totally different flavor than your ordinary freestyle board. Among other things, the board has super long fins, flat bottom and square tail profile for maximum performance especially in the upwind course. And since the boards are directional, don’t even dream of using them if you can’t tack/jibe! As far as we know, Malaysia is still not catching up with this one yet, but hopefully we’ll see more people adapting the board designs and riding skills into their kiteboarding arsenal in the near future.

Kitesurfing in Malaysia

Syamil — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:56 +0000

Kitesurfing or kiteboarding landed in Malaysia when it reaches its global popularity in the early 2000, and since then gave birth to many avid kitesurfers around Malaysia map. There are several places in Malaysia where kitesurfing is possible and Balok Beach in Kuantan, Pahang is ultimately the best of the best. Other places include Cherating, Tg Balau & Kota Kinabalu.

Now if you’re coming to Malaysia or specifically Balok Beach for kitesurfing here are all the little details that you need to know about.

Location : The map can be found here

Public transportation : Main form of public transportations are buses and cabs. From Kuala Lumpur, just take the bus from Pudu Raya or Titiwangsa (both can be reached on LRT) to Kuantan, then take the cab to Pantai Balok (Balok Beach). Same method for anywhere else around Malaysia (bus+cab), just make sure that you buy the bus ticket for Kuantan.

Total driving hours from KL-Kuantan is about 3 hours plus 20 minutes from Kuantan city to Balok beach.

Airplane : Take flight to Kuantan airport, then take the cab to Balok

++ tips : There are local buses which operates between the city and Balok should you want to save a few dollars from the cab. If you need more info on this, just ask around.

Windrange/direction : Nov-March 15-25 knots NE, June – September 12-18 SW

Water condition : Flat water & shore breaks , swells up to 3m.

Launching/Landing : Very wide beach even during high tide

Accommodation : De Rhu Beach Resort 3* , Duta Sands 2* , Duta Village 2* , Swiss Garden Hotel 5*

++ There is also a well looked after camping site nearby provided by the local authority. Facilities include tent rentals, toilets with showers enough for over 50 people at any given time, mini grocery shops, fluorescent lighting system, bbq parlors etc. The site itself is a stretch of over 500msq of land covered with beautiful grassy landscape and located right next to our usual place.

Kite buddies : Most of the kitesurfers would frequent the beach every weekend, s0-called the weekend warriors and a great number of them are based in Kuala Lumpur. There are also local kitesurfers who can help you to launch the kite and to share the drinks with should you choose to stay during weekdays. Of course, you are more than invited to jump in. Just inform us either through the contact form or in the forum.

Rentals/Lessons : Currently not available

Safety tips :

- Practice good safety habits. Be prepared to use safety helmets, life jackets, safety knives and whistles as the condition can be monstrous very quickly at times.
- Choose a place that is not too near to other beach goers. Most of them are not aware of the danger, so it will be your responsibility for any mishap.
- Please do not attempt to go out alone, bring your kite buddy with you or someone who knows where to get help.
- There is a beach guard tower operating close to the spot. As long you don’t stray away too far from them then you are more likely to be noticed should anything happened.
- Learn about the landscape and wind condition before launching. Some launching areas have whirly winds and they may be dangerous to beginners.

Conclusion: Balok beach is rated amongst the top ten of the world’s best kitesurfing playground. How true is that statement? It is for you to find out!

Virgin’s Richard Branson Does Kitesurfing Too

Syamil — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:52:00 +0000

Well old fart, you sure do know how to have fun. With that hottie Denni Parkinson naked on his back while he conveniently rips around the ocean of his private island, I think this playboy has just made himself the coolest virgin to have rode a kite. Darn you! ;P

More pictures after jump.

Check out this article from Tribune for some more pictures that might just make you wish that you were a billionaire before you were a kitesurfer. Click here

Thanks to Simon Cross from TriTwins for directing me to the article in the first place.

Kitesurfing in Hua Hin, By Andy

Syamil — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:21:00 +0000

The kite, the sea, the wind, the drinks & the babes. Khai Wee or better known as Andy, one of our fellow kitesurfers, the most passionate among the lot, talks about his experiences along the journey to Hua Hin, Thailand. All in the name of kitesurfing…

For those who are not familiar with the term “flashpacking”..it’s simply a more luxurious way of backpacking where your choice of accommodations are not limited only to hostels, chalets or guesthouses and you can afford to have a higher daily traveling budget . Actually I was supposed to go with my then girlfriend(ex-gf now)…quite obvious we broke up before the trip hence i go alone.

Having said that, I started my journey from Malaysia on the faithfull day of 9th January and back to Kuala Lumpur on 31st January 2009.To add salt to my wound..I was travelling with 2 of my best friends and their wife and girlfriend respectively. Well, the plan was that we travel as 3 couples…but shits happened sometimes

Come to think of it now…it was a blessing in disguise coz I would have to spend more for 2 persons.hahaha…the kiam siap(a chinese dialect slang which means stingy) side of me.

my plan was to spend a few nites in Bangkok with the boys and their other half, then move on to kitesurf in Hua Hin and the rest will be decided later…my travelling motto was to go with the flow,u see.So as anticipated, the 1st few nites were uneventful and predictable…shopping, eating, drinkin..nothin much really…same same but different like what the Thais would have say it.

The journey really started when i left Bangkok alone to Hua Hin…i’ve never been there. And I was really looking forward to kitesurf there. I boarded an early morning bus with my oversize bagages comprises of a kiteboard bag, my kite(packed into a 60 litres backpack) and my backpack…i was looking like this humty dumpty walking around with my kite bag on my back, backpack hung in front of chest(my leg was never visible) and my kiteboard bag over my shoulder. till today i still can’t believe i did it. that was pretty much how i travelled for the next 3 weeks from hua hin to koh phan gan then koh samui and back to bangkok and eventually flew back to Kuala Lumpur(home).

I contacted Yo before i arrived in hua hin, my kitesurfing friend whom i got to know in a competition in Kuantan,Malaysia(he was the 1st runner up in tt competition). He owns a kitesurfing school in Hua Hin, the plan was to meet up with him so tt he’ll bring me to some nice spots to kitesurf. True enough Yo didn’t dissapoint me. I was goin places to kitesurf in hua hin with him and his fellow instructors and students.

so after 3 hours of a fairly comfortable bus ride from bangkok.I finally arrived in hua hin. i was dropped in the middle of the town with NO civilised or shall i say proper taxis in sight. so as i was walking around with all my baggages…an elderly man(well in his 60′s) came up to me in his bicycle trishaw asking me to hop on…i was like ‘u gotta be kidding me,man’..i mean come on…i weigh about 70kg and my baggages were nothing less that 20kg…..the old man could have gotten a heart attack in the midst of cyclin…so i walked on tellin him off….after 10 minutes of walkin pointlessly and still with no proper taxis in sight. i relunctantly gave in to his persistent assurance that he can do the job of fetchin me to Yo’s school which according to Yo is only max 15 minutes away from where i was by TAXI(the ones with four wheels and an engine..that is)

so i hopped on…surprisingly we managed to put all my baggages in the trishaw…as i expected it…we were movin like a bloody snail…there were times that the poor old man has to jump off from his bike to push us(me n baggages to the other side of the road to avoid being hit by passing cars coz we were just too fuckin slow) the trip to Yo’s kiteschool took us 30 minutes….i was so glad that we make it alive and gladly handed him a 100 baht note and pityfully asked him to keep the change (the supposed fare was 60 baht)….

upon arrivin at the school, Yo was already there waiting for me…all he said to me was ..welcome n let’s go…take ur board n kite ..they r waiting for us…well, what happened was the beach in front of the school where we were supposedly to kite surf is too narrow to launch and land our kite due to high tide…therefore the rest of the gang has gone to a place which is 30 minutes away by bike to kitesurf…Yo came back purposely for me…how thankful i was…so off i go with him to the secret spot.

after 30 minutes ride on Yo’s bike which half of the time i was trying not to let my kiteboard fly off…he was travelling so fast and i was carrying this board which measures 144cm in length…not an easy task indeed…believe me!!!!

Finally we ARRIVED!!!!….and YES….it was all worthwhile…it was blowing like crazy…the wind was so strong ..at least 18-20 knots….the guys were already setting up their equipment. Without hesitation i took out my stuff to set up while looking out to the sea…the image was a sea of rough surfs with big chops everywhere with strong COLD wind…yeah i forgot to tell you…the water was freezing…i’m talking about 16-17 celcius water temp…it was damn cold!!!

but i couldn’t care less…i didn’t travelled this far to chicken out by the cold water…fuck it…i’m goin in…i quickly pumped up my kite, set up the lines, put on my 2 layers of rash guard. i signalled for YO to help me launch my kite…he asked me whether i want to eat 1st..i told him no thanks…i’m fine..come on,i didn’t come here to eat …i came to kitesurf..i don need to eat man…

he launched my kite…the beach was not very wide but enough to launch…the surraounding was this quite little fishing town with a stall nearby that sells some local thai food n drinks. once i got my kite up i quickly grabbed my board n head out to the sea. i can still remember the 1st step i took into the icy cold water…..my balls shrinked!!!!literally!!!that was how cold it was…well to late to chicken out now..i’m already half wet….so i dived the kite and went on my board….

suddenly…something magical happened…i don feel cold anymore…my adrenalines took over and i was as happy as a little kid playin with his toys…total freedom,i felt the calmness of a single minded focus which is me,my kite,my board,the wind and the sea..all in one…no worries, no thoughts…nothing!!!! ..with that i kitesurf for at least a good 3 hours non stop…that’s life dude i was the happiest man that day…that was what i came for n i got it…if i was ask the question : “What will you do if you know that you will die tomorrow?” My answer will be without a doubt….yeah you are right….KITESURFING for sure;)