ATLANTA - KITEBOARDING - KITESURFING

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ATLANTA - KITEBOARDING - KITESURFING

I am moving to Atlanta in March 2019 and would like to know what is the kiteboarding scene there.
- Are there any kiteboarders in the metro Atlanta area?
- Are there any kite spots in the metro Atlanta area?

Jimmy Ryder

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Re: Atlanta - Kiteboarding - Kitesurfing
Jimmy_Ryder wrote:

I am moving to Atlanta in March 2019 and would like to know what is the kiteboarding scene there. - Are there any kiteboarders in the metro Atlanta area? - Are there any kite spots in the metro Atlanta area?

Welcome! Yes and yes.

Because of the thin launching spots, tall pines and deep water, the kiters you see will be more experienced and proficient with dealing with variable conditions.

The two main spots are on Lanier (see wiki for complete details, directions, etc) west winds: Old Federal Park east winds: Vann's Tavern because they offer relatively good spots to launch from. If the water is low, you can launch off Van Pugh, too however the water is up now and there isn't really room to rig and launch. Foiling is hitting the scene because between late April to mid September we are mostly light air and the foil increases significantly the number of your sessions and chances of getting back to the beach without swimming. It's windier this time of year; good neoprene is key as the water temps will be in the 40s in Jan/Feb.

Hope this helps to get you started. If one of the kiters doesn't pipe up directly, pm me and I'll get you in touch with them so you can meet up on a good day.

Edit: Also, look through some of the older posts in this category for more specific info

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Re: ATLANTA - KITEBOARDING - KITESURFING
Jimmy_Ryder wrote:

I am moving to Atlanta in March 2019 and would like to know what is the kiteboarding scene there. - Are there any kiteboarders in the metro Atlanta area? - Are there any kite spots in the metro Atlanta area?

Webguy got the gist of it. We generally kite locally in the lake and escape every so often to Tybee on a good forecast. Kiting at the lake in the summer is a light wind affair. In the fall, winter and spring you can get decent 14 and 12m days and few 10m days. Given the spots at the lake I recommend you are:

(1) A good swimmer. On the light days wind can disapear and you might have to swim everything in or live on the hope it will kick back in.

(2) Good going upwind. At full pool the beach is underwater so going upwind is a must. Otherwise revert to point 1.

(3) Good at launching and landing your kite in constrained spaces. There are about 3-5 of us that kite regularly so having someone to help you land and launch is not guaranteed/common. Its good if you can drift launch, anchor launch/land, self land, hot launch. There are some treacherous trees thus the constrained comment.

(4) Either good at light wind or have a big kite or foil, or the 3 of them together (that will maximize your chances in the water).

While its a challenging spot it can be quite fun.

Tybee on the other hand on a good forecast is an ideal flat water spot with big tidal lagoons. One of my favorite places to kite in the US.

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Re: ATLANTA - KITEBOARDING - KITESURFING

Alex, great write up. I should sticky this since we seem to get this question regularly or add it to the wiki.

See you on the water. Biggrin

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Re: Atlanta - Kiteboarding - Kitesurfing

Thanx Webguy

a) From what you said, those 2 spots sound good enough, better then nothing Smile

b) In regard to "ability to swim, go upwind, etc,...) that wouldn't be a problem as far as I'm concerned,
I've done quite few Self Lunching & Landing tied on my car's wheel and other things on my SnowKiting and Kiteboarding ventures around.

c) As of right now I'm more of a FreeRider, not into Unhooked or hardcore FreeStyle things, I'm well over 40 so I let the FreeStyle and hard landings to the younger guys Smile
- SnowKiting since 2012
- KiteBoarding since 2014
- KiteSurfing since last season
- KiteFoiling on my "To Do Next" List

d) Temperature - after riding on some of the European seashores (in December walking on ice before getting in the water) the 40*F is like early spring in northern Europe Smile

e) Wind Speed - what do you mean by Light Winds (in knots), depending on the regular local winds on different places, some people may consider "Light Wind" something that others would say it's "Regular".
- What is a regular wind in that area?
- What is a "Light Wind" in the area?
(what size kites do you guys ride on a normal day and what on light wind day?)
Just want to make sure I bring the right gear with me Smile

Jimmy Ryder

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Re: ATLANTA - KITEBOARDING - KITESURFING

Thanks for the detailed info Alex, most appreciated.

I'm riding since 2012 and been doing so in many places around the world so no problem on my part regarding Upwind, Downwind, Jumping, etc.

What thickness do you guys use on your winter neoprene?
(my present winter is with lots of snow and below zero *C temps so I'm using a Drysuit)

What size kites do you guys use there most of the time? (with TT no hydro)

Jimmy Ryder

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Re: Atlanta - Kiteboarding - Kitesurfing
Jimmy_Ryder wrote:

Thanx Webguy

...

c) As of right now I'm more of a FreeRider, not into Unhooked or hardcore FreeStyle things, I'm well over 40 so I let the FreeStyle and hard landings to the younger guys Smile - SnowKiting since 2012 - KiteBoarding since 2014 - KiteSurfing since last season - KiteFoiling on my "To Do Next" List

d) Temperature - after riding on some of the European seashores (in December walking on ice before getting in the water) the 40*F is like early spring in northern Europe Smile

e) Wind Speed - what do you mean by Light Winds (in knots), depending on the regular local winds on different places, some people may consider "Light Wind" something that others would say it's "Regular". - What is a regular wind in that area? - What is a "Light Wind" in the area? (what size kites do you guys ride on a normal day and what on light wind day?) Just want to make sure I bring the right gear with me Smile

Put kitefoiling higher on your list. Why? for most of the year, light wind is regular wind. Biggrin

This is the breeziest time of year - through March. A good day is 15-25 mph. We use mph here as we are a) Americans b) inland - knots more common along the coast and used for marine weather. The rest of the year 10-15 is a good day. I imagine you could sail 80-90% of your sessions here on a 15/17 and 11/12 with regular board. Alex can correct me on that. (1.15 mph = 1 knot ) We do get a handful of days when it really blows - either a weather front in the winter when it can be 25-35+ or a tropical weather system in the summer.

Two more things to consider: We are a thousand feet above sea level - the air is thinner. It gets really hot here in the summer - again the air is thinner.

Neoprene - water temps will be in the mid 40s in the colder days of Jan and Feb. Drysuit is fine - it's the hands and feet that are the challenge. It sounds like you've spent enough time in cold water to already have sorted that out. Most of us do 4/3 5/4 or drysuit in the winter. The water warms up pretty quickly in the spring and by mid April some are in shorties and no suit by late May early June..

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Re: Atlanta - Kiteboarding - Kitesurfing

Hmmmm that do not sound promising at all ! ! !

From all what you just said sounds like the Atlanta area is not the place to be for kiting, since is very light to almost no wind around there Biggrin

For just few days out of the entire year - it makes no sense for locals to spend so much money on equipment for a sport that is hardly possible on doing there. Biggrin

Regarding the "you use mph there because you're Americans" - funny comment Biggrin Biggrin Biggrin
- the mph actually belongs to the England, it's an english speed measure ! ! ! Smile
- Americans just borrowed that somewhere down the road Biggrin
The rest of the entire planet (non-affiliated to England) are in km/h' Biggrin

Regarding Knots - everywhere I've been traveling (for kiting) everyone is talking in knots. Biggrin
(that's as amusement on the mph vs km/h)

Jimmy Ryder

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Re: ATLANTA - KITEBOARDING - KITESURFING

"Hmmmm that do not sound promising at all ! ! !"

In that case don't even ask about SnowKiting.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Atlanta - Kiteboarding - Kitesurfing
Jimmy_Ryder wrote:

Hmmmm that do not sound promising at all ! ! !

From all what you just said sounds like the Atlanta area is not the place to be for kiting, since is very light to almost no wind around there Biggrin

Nope, I said Atlanta is a very good place for foiling. Biggrin I've windsurfed 30-40 times this year (planing/foiling). If you have a flexible schedule, you get plenty of sessions in. We are also not horribly far from some outstanding places to kite from Tybee and Florida to the Outer Banks.

Atlanta (other than the legendary traffic) is a great place to live, work and play - we are, however, as we'll all admit - and complain about, wind-challenged. Keep an open mind, you'll have a good time here. Biggrin

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Re: Atlanta - Kiteboarding - Kitesurfing

Foiling... probably

Windsurfing... different sport with zero interest in my part - too much gear to carry around in Windsurfing.

So probably Cape Hateras, Tybee, or Florida sounds better.

As for Atlanta, I know it too well since I'm from Five Forks in Lawrenceville Biggrin
______________________________________________________________

webguy wrote:
Jimmy_Ryder wrote:

Hmmmm that do not sound promising at all ! ! !

From all what you just said sounds like the Atlanta area is not the place to be for kiting, since is very light to almost no wind around there Biggrin

Nope, I said Atlanta is a very good place for foiling. Biggrin I've windsurfed 30-40 times this year (planing/foiling). If you have a flexible schedule, you get plenty of sessions in. We are also not horribly far from some outstanding places to kite from Tybee and Florida to the Outer Banks.

Atlanta (other than the legendary traffic) is a great place to live, work and play - we are, however, as we'll all admit - and complain about, wind-challenged. Keep an open mind, you'll have a good time here. Biggrin

Jimmy Ryder

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Re: ATLANTA - KITEBOARDING - KITESURFING

With proper technique and guidance kiting is probably possible just about anywhere even Atlanta. Here's a useful article from surfer today. I think a lot of these techniques would be helpful even in the Atlanta area.

https://www.surfertoday.com/kiteboarding/14748-how-to-fly-a-single-line-kite

(Disclaimer - I'm not a kitesurfer for the reasons listed by SpanishAlex, starting with the part about swimming. So I don't know if this stuff will actually work. But I would think SurferToday is a credible source. Isn't it?)

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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