Kiteboarding: How to Stick That Board-Off Beach Landing

Hey, what's up guys? Blake from MACkite here, and today we're going to learn a really fun trick: a board-off beach landing.

Step number one for this trick is to simply loosen your feet in the straps.

You don't want your feet to be tight in the straps because you want to be able to take it off. If you come into the beach and you're jumping and your feet get stuck in the straps, you're going to land on the beach with your board on, which then causes more issues, and that's not what we're going for here.

Step number two is to jump at the shoreline.

You're going to take a slow to moderate speed coming into the beach. First off, you want to be careful and make sure that you check the surroundings. Make sure there aren't people downwind of you on the beach that you could hit if anything goes wrong, just as you would if you were launching or landing your kite. Be careful, look out for people, and make sure that you're being safe as you're trying this.

Step number three is to bring your knees to your chest as close as you can.

That way you can grab the handle and take the board off. The closer your knees are to your chest, the closer the handle is to where you can then grab it so you're not having to bend down and reach for it. Just bring your knees to your chest in the air and reach down and grab the handle to take the board off. The nice thing about this is that you don't have to put it back on. All you have to do is reach down, grab the board by the handle, and you're good to go.

Step number four is to sheet out.

Sheeting out allows the kite to act as a parachute. If you keep it pulled in, then you can swing under, and then that's when things can go wrong. If you keep pulling in on the bar you land with more power, and the kite can sometimes go over your head, and then it will fall out of the sky, so that is not ideal if you're doing things on the beach. Just make sure, as you're reaching the peak and starting to come down with the board in your hand, to then sheet out. That way the kite will catch the wind and allow you to make a nice, soft landing. When you keep that bar pulled in, then it can go over your head and you can come down a lot harder, so just make sure to sheet out on the bar as you're coming down to make a nice soft landing as you're coming at the beach.

Step number five is to simply absorb the impact with your knees, just like you would if you're jumping anywhere else.

Whether you're jumping off of a ledge or just jumping up and landing, you always want to absorb the impact with your knees to make it easier on your body. Start small, but the higher you go, the more important it is to absorb the impact with your knees.

That's it for a board-off beach landing. It's a super fun way to end the session or just take a break, and once you get the feel of it, you'll want to do it every time. It looks cool, it's fun, and you can add all sorts of variations to it, so I hope you guys enjoy. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time. Adios.