News

What is Stand Up Paddleboarding? Stand up paddle surfing (SUP), or in the Hawaiian Language Hoe he'e nalu, is an emerging global sport with a Hawaiian heritage. The sport is an ancient form of surfing, and reemerged as a way for surfing instructors to manage their large groups of students, as standing on the board gave them a higher viewpoint. This increased visibility of what was going on around them, such as incoming swell or waves. SUP'ing in the early 1960s, the Beach Boys of Waikiki would stand on their long boards, and paddle out with outrigger paddles to take pictures of the tourists learning to...

Ram Air Foil kites - Power Kites 'Ram Air Foil' kites are a double skin kite, the leading edge of the kite is open to allow air to enter & pressurize the kite. Fixed or flat ram air foil kites ranging in size from 2-8 metres are popular and compact, very efficient in light winds, with no ridged structure, so they pack down well into a small bag. The shape of the kite is maintained through 'bridles', these are strings that hold the kites shape & are fixed with very little adjustment for depower. These kites can come with two flying...

Areas for Kite School & using your own equipment   Kiteboarding - Lessons On the Map below is marked the areas we use for our 'Kite School' and for ongoing land & waterbased kiting here in Christchurch. 'The Estuary' is best in light to strong SE, E & NE winds, or medium to high tides. Expect 4-5 knots more wind at the Estuary than the beach when the wind is prevailing easterly.  Kiteboarding - Ocean South Brighton Beach, south of the Surf Club is a great place for Buggying or Landboarding, or Kitesurfing in more than 12 knots of wind. We need to make a point...

Understanding the Wind. The diagrams above help describe 'The Wind Window', this is where the kite will fly. When you stand with your back to the wind, hold your arms straight out to each side, left arm to the left, right arm to the right, the 180 degrees in front of you is 'The Wind Window'. 'The Wind Window' also extends to straight above your head. The kite will only fly to the edge of the window, if you try to fly the kite past the edge of the wind it will 'luff' or fall from the sky. The kite...

EVENT: Want to improve your snowkite skills ? Join the 2014 IKON SNOWKITE CLINICS on the 30 and 31st of August at Snowfarm with our Canadian Pro rider Romain Barachko. This clinic is part of the 2014 WANAKITE Freeride Snowkite event and the goal is to bring the snowkite community together for clinics, demo, comps and party. Registration includes the chance to win an IKON demo kite, IKON Vouchers and MOOD Collection product for the girls. It also includes access for Snowfarm for the event and secures access for the future. Registration money collected will be transferred to the Snowfarm...