In light of MACkiteboarding now offering Slingshot Wakeboards, here are some of their best tearing up Hydrous Wake Park in Texas.
In this episode of Viva La Texica members of the Slingshot team hit the ShredTown Park and Hydrous Wake Park for a little fun.
Check out our wakeboard selection to pick up on of their board for a smoking good price. http://www.mackiteboarding.com/wakeboards/
While kiteboarding already has a huge lightwind advantage over sports like windsurfing, everyone always wants to get the most riding time possible. For most kiteboarders on a standard setup (12m Kite &140cm board for 175lb rider) rideable wind begins at about 15 mph. This amount of wind is apparent because whitecaps become easily seen and prevalent on the water around 15 mph. With this same setup jumping and powered riding will begin at around 17 mph.
2013 Cabrinha Crossbow LW Kiteboard Kite and Cabrinha Stylus kiteboard
One of the best things you can do to improve your lightwind riding is to become a better kite flyer. Accomplished kite flyers can lose as much as 3 mph of wind and still be riding because they keep the kite moving in the power zone. A good way to become a better kite flyer is simply flying in light-winds. You can learn more in an hour of flying your kite in sub 12 winds than all your previous experience combined. It is much more difficult to fly the kite in these winds and it is necessary to keep the kite moving.
Remember to pull in for more power when turning, then let the bar out to allow the kite to become more aerodynamic and rise in the sky.
The answer to this question will vary based on what kind of riding you enjoy as well as your skill level. For instance, most riders enjoy flatwater riding, but wakestyle and kitesurfers often enjoy waves to use for jumps and surfing. There are, however, a few attributes that can be applied to all riding styles.
Snowkiting at easmanville farm
Tucker and Jeff made it out for a morning snowkite session today at our new favorite spot and scored some fun powder. Tucker was riding the Rome Garage Rocker 154 with Rome Mob Boss bindings while flying a Slingshot RPM 14m kite. Jeff opted for a Flow Era that was lying around the shop and a 2013 Cabrinha Switchblade 12m kite. With knee deep powder in spots it made for some fun riding and an excellent time to test our our new snow kiteboarding spot at Eastmanville Farm that offers a large area with enough elevation fun to mix things up a bit. While the hike back is rather long in deep snow, it is well worth the reward. Be sure to keep your eye out for the obstacles at this spot. It has trees, fence posts, and a large ditch that might posses a threat to beginners or an unsuspecting rider but most of the large riding area is clear of major obstacles.
12 films in 12 months.
A year in search of shred.
Different spots, different crews, different styles.
We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, or where we’ll go.
But if it sounds fun, and it feels good, we’re in.
Here at MACkite boardsports center we are often asked this time of year, “What size snowkite do I need?” On most occasions my reply is, “What kind of snowkiting?” While I usually try not to answer a question with another, the terrain and style of riding will dictate the type and best kite size.
With kitesurfing, the kiteboard kite size is mostly dependent on wind 
speed and rider weight. The more wind, the smaller the kite; larger the rider, larger the kite. For kiteboarding on water you must reach a planing speed in order to stay atop the water; this is not the case for snowkiting as you will remain on top of the snow regardless of the speed. For this reason, we often argue that snowkiting is easier to learn than kiteboarding on water. It allows the rider to focus on kite skill and riding position rather than just the logistics of boardstarts and relaunch. Snowkiting also allows the rider to practice with less power making it safer and less intimidating. Learning on water in 18mph wind requires a 12m kite such as a Cabrinha Switchblade for a normal rider. With the same rider and wind speed on snow, it is fully possible to ride with a 5m kite such as the Cabrinha Vector.
I recently took out the 2013 Best Kiteboarding TS V2 9m. For 2012 the TS was one of my favorite kites for wakestyle, so I was eager to see how it was changed for 2013. Conditions were less than favorable with choppy 6′ waves, 43 degree water, and shifty winds from 23-32mph. Noticing the sketchiness of the situation, I decided to go for my wakestyle board rather than my usual Best Shortstick surfboard to avoid a lot of body dragging. With winds this wild it was likely that I would get yanked off the board a couple times into frigid water.
