Kiteboarding Trainer Kite Reference Guide

Kiteboarding Trainer Kite Reference Guide


Your first 6-10 hours of kiteboarding lessons depend highly on your kite flying skills. Virtually all MACkite students who have flown a trainer prior to a lesson progress twice as far and twice as fast. A great trainer will cost $100-$400 and has a fantastic return on investment versus the cost of learning kite flying skills during lessons. Kiteboarding skills are the similar to all athletic skills - the better your muscle memory is, the more successful an athlete you will be.

Here is a breakdown of kiteboarding trainer kite terminology and size charts.
Pick your size - choose the appropriate trainer kite size to get the maximum training results.

Flyer weight Trainer kite size
Under 80lbs 2 meter or smaller
Under 120lbs 2 - 3 meter
Under 160lbs 2.5 - 3.5 meters
Over 160lbs 3 - 5 meters
Over 200lbs 3.5 meter or larger

If you also want to use your trainer kite as your first snow kite, lean toward the largest size recommended or up to 1 meter larger. Our expert staff can answer any questions you may have. Just give them a call at 1-800-622-4655.

Terminology

Trainer kite barBar - This is the control bar used for steering the kite. Your flying lines hook to the bar and your kite.

Straps - Most trainers use a bar, not straps or handles. All 2 line trainers can use either a bar or straps. 3 line kites can only use a bar while 4 lines kites can use either a bar or handles.

Handles - designed for 4 line kites. Handles allow more precise control of your 4 line kite. They don't build kiteboarding muscle memory as well as a bar does, but they do allow for a larger wind range when kite buggying, snow kiting or land boarding.

Flying Lines - these are the lines that allow your kite to fly. Modern kite flying line is made with Spectra or Dyneema fibers. This line has very thin diameter to strength ratio and super low stretch. The line strength that comes with your kite will be appropriate for kite size. You can break line if you have a small trainer, high winds and a heavy kite flyer.

Colored Flying Lines - most kites over 3.5 meters in size come with colored flying lines. The only major advantage is when flying on snow covered areas. Trust me - white lines are really hard to see on snow.

Sail - the kite can be referred to as the sail. Sail cloth is very durable but not indestructible. Hard crashes at 50mph can rupture and tear the cells of a kite. Sharp objects will also rip your sail.

Cells - these are the long tunnels that run vertically through your kite. If your trainer is flying erratically, check the cells for sand and debris.

HQ Hydra trainer kiteBridles - the lines that connect your flying lines to your kite sail. To get the most out of flying your trainer you will need to make sure your bridle lines are not twisted and tangled. A ½ inch difference in length because of a twist can change the performance of your trainer kite dramatically.

Safety Leash - available with most 3 or 4 line kiteboarding trainer kites. The leash really isn't designed to keep you safe - it just saves your kite from flying away if you let go.

Harness Loop - trainers generally don't have a harness loop. You can add one to your trainer if you want to practice flying in a kiteboarding harness. Always get a harness loop with a quick disconnect like the HQ harness loop.

Harness - kiteboarding harnesses are generally either waist or seat style. You don't want to start with a harness when learning to fly your trainer kite. If you become very proficient you can add a harness and loop.

Bag - All trainer kites come with nice cloth bags to keep your kite in when you are done flying.

DVD - MACkite includes a free Kite School DVD with each trainer kite purchase. The DVD is focused on kiteboarding not on trainer flying. Most people will learn how to fly their kiteboarding trainer kite in less than a half hour. The DVD will answer those 100 questions you have about kiteboarding.

Foil kite or power kite - a kite with no rigid parts in the sail. Foil kites are super durable and easy to fly in a large range of winds. Most trainer kites are foil kites since learning to fly the kite comes with lots of crashing. We carry HQ kites, Prism kites and Slingshot B2 trainer kites.

Leading Edge Inflatable Kite - most people use "LEI'S" for kiteboarding. They can also be used as a trainer kite if they are small enough and care is taken where they will be crashed. A bean field is a really bad place to learn to fly an LEI kite.

How to fly your trainer