Kitesailing

Taking a group first week of June, and have a kitesailer in the mix....a first for me in 9 years. I know NGS is sweet for it as I've dodged enough of them over the years, but looking for other sites that will meet the need. I've suggested a two day stay in the sound, Levrick and Saba....thoughts?

They should be able to kite from harbor to harbor, doing laps around you. Especially fun for down wind or broad reach legs.

I have been down a few times with kiters on board, and am heading down this June with two hardcore kiters in the crew. In the past we had a tough time finding good places to launch. Most of the kiting was in the Gorda sound, although we did kite off of Sandy Cay once. The trick is finding a place for the kiter to launch, as moorages and anchorages that are good for boats are generally not good for kiting. Plus, kiting around a bunch of moored boats in variable winds is probably not anyone's idea of a good time. We are still trying to decide how to maximize kiting on this next trip, while at the same time keeping things fun for the rest of the crew. I am thinking that trying to get them kiting while we are sailing would be optimal. Just trying to figure out how to launch the kites from the boat/water. Of course the bigger challenge is trying to get the kiting equipment down to the islands at a reasonable cost. Any advice on that front? As far as the best locations for kiting, I am thinking Gorda Sound, Anegada, Sandy Cay and Sandy Spit look promising as they all have nice big beaches with exposure to the wind. Other than that, good beaches with good wind that are still accessible by boat are far and few between.

Matt

BTW, where are you from and what dates will you be down there?

One place that you sometimes see kitesurfers is Long Bay, Beef Island. Empty beach (except for four days a year when half of Tortola is there "for a lime"), stronger winds because of the squeeze between Beef/Tortola and Scrub/Camanoe/Guana, and a fair sized broad reach to Little Camanoe. So back and forth, back and forth, between the two.

You could do it as a lunch stop, or dinghy over from Lee Bay, Marina Cay or Trellis Bay. In June you can usually safely overnight, no swell likely, although you rarely see a boat in there other than the Sail Caribbean kids.

Come to think of it, one of the four days half of Tortola goes there is at the end of June/begining of July - Territory Day, when they have the Fisherman's Jamboree there.

Cow Wreck beach is a excellent spot for boarding.
G

No matter what the wind direction, you can always find a good spot to kite on Anegada. The most popular are Cow Wreck, Windlass, and Loblolly.

Why couldn't you just launch from the back of the boat? Boat points into the wind, kite surfer launches off the back?

I've never done it myself, so maybe there's something I'm not thinking about..

Kiters need a fetch of beach/open space to lay out their lines which are ~20-35 meters, and then properly attach them to a fully inflated kite which can be as large as a jib sail on some of the smaller charter boats. Launching off the boat is technically possible, but challenging and a bit risky. If something doesn't work out the results could be bad as there is a lot of power in those kites. That said, I'm sure some have done it before, but I think it would be tough for the typical kiter.

ah yes, I forgot about laying out the lines - that would be tough to do from the boat

We see kite sailing off the NE side of Sandy Spit almost every trip.

For serious Kiters there is a Pro Kitesurfer called Tommy Gaunt who teaches advance tricks and skills he is based out of Anegada Beach Club but launches anywhere the wind is on that day. https://www.facebook.com/tommygauntkitesurfing?fref=ts

Tommy is a great instructor and also does lesson for beginners! I spend 3 3 hours sessions with him in January and had a great time!

Go see Scottie at the Bitter End Yacht club He runs the school there. The kites launch off Yellow Beach. And you ride out into Eustacia Sound. This is my favorite place.

Next Stop Anegada. Cow Wreck when the wind is east. If there is little south in the wind direction, the best place would be right in harbor downwind of the mooring field.

And then there is Green Cay off of Jost Van Dyke. There is plenty of room to rig and launch. And it's more open to the wind then Sandy Cay. Sandy Cay can be flukey because of the surrounding hills from Tortola.

If you get to know Richard Branson, head on over to Necker Island.



Have Fun.

Alan

You can head to Necker anyway since the beaches are public! I have heard however you won't get a warm reception. The one sandbar near the lagoon might be a perfect launching spot!
G

I would imagine Kiters might get a warmer reception than most as Branson loves the sport, i'm not saying do it.....but go on!

Many thanks for the suggestions all! Had not thought of Trellis bay area, but winds there are generally favorable, and I've seen kiters in that area. NGS and the outlying area are top of the list, as is Anegada if I can get them to go! Great sail, and a better pub crawl along the beach!! This group is 01-09 June, should be on a 444 Sunsail cat, A Stray Shower. I did a Google search and sent some links, BEYC and Pro Kitesurfer on that list. Hopefully I don't have a kite wrapped around my mast..... Again, thanks to all for the direction.

Can I ask how they are getting their equipment down there? Just sucking it up and paying the airline fee? We can get the kites down no problem, but the boards are going to be the tricky part. Airlines are going to charge us $175 each way and renting boards for the time we are down there wouldn't be any cheaper. We are looking into shipping the boards back and forth but I'm not sure it will be any cheaper, and we would need to make sure they get there when they're supposed to. We might even consider buying a used board or two when we get down there if we can find any, and then trying to sell it (or just give it away) once we are done. I'm open to suggestions.

Matt

Board is 128cm, just over 4', so guessing it can be a $25 checked bag, but I could be wrong. I'll stick with boat sailing! $175/EW sounds like a ripoff!!

Slingshot makes an awesome Kiteboard Bag. Its the size of a gold bag. I fit 137 board and 3 kites. No charge. Many airlines done charge for gold clubs. Dress up in a polo and a golf hat and you'll look the part. The bag also says "golf" on it.

My friend has one of those bags which we are going to use as we have determined that taking it with us is the best option. We'll see how it goes - I think that some of the airlines are on to it. Never hurts to try though. I'll wear my Titlist hat and we'll talk about how excited we are to play the great golf courses of the British Virgin Islands <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />.