Yet again F-one come up with another awesome video, this time shot with the new Red Cam Cinema cameras, this one was just a mess around but it shows you the quality of their work, not only in the marketing but also in their Kites and Boards, This is with the F-one team testing out the new board range in Egypt! Enjoy!
Last few days have been amazing here in Phuket, been kiting in Nai Yang and Karon beach both epic spots, Karon more for the advanced rider though as the shore dump is huge. Waves are over head height today and the wind at a steady 16 kts and building, we will have some pics of todays session online this evening!
Phuket, Nai Yang Beach is back up n running.
weather station also back online
As you can see from the wind station and the inactivity on the blog we have now shut up shop for a few weeks until the new Monsoon winds return at our Nai Yang beach location.
Currently all Phuket instructors and riders have moved to our Pranburi Branch for the thermals, you can check the daily Blog for Pranburi on how the wind is doing…..steady winds everyday and perfect conditions, check it on our Pranburi Live Wind Station
Phuket will re-open Mid May in Nai Yang Beach, Phuket.
we have an island just opposite Friendship Beach you can see it from the shop, its called Coral Island, mainly because it is surrounded by broken coral apart from a small sand channel for the boats to get in.
Some of us have been going here on the low tide as it is so close so we decided to take a few riders out there the other day to check out the place and hopefully ride back to Friendship on the rising tide, the forecast was showing 16 kts for the afternoon and we left Kite Zone it was blowing about 15 knots but the tide was gone, we had just had a killer morning max 20 kts so we were already buzzing.
So off we went to coral on the Longtail departing Chalong bay, we had 11 people on tow and the longtail was pretty damn full with gear and people, one latecomer turned up but the boat guy was adamant that if we took anymore we may risk capsizing in the waves when the wind picked up.
Crystal Clear!
Its about a 35 minute longtail ride Coral Island from Chalong bay, i would recommend if you ever try this you get a longtail with a roof and side PVC, with the wind direction and chop on the water the guys at the back of the boat were getting constantly pelted by spray from the water and longtail, was nice in the heat for 5 minutes but after half an hour of that it can be quite annoying never mind start to get cold! (yes you can get cold in Thailand). We arrived on Coral around 2pm pretty excited then………..sods law! WIND DIED!
I know your probably thinking what i am writing about a Kite trip that didnt have no wind but i believe that blogs should report not only the succesfull things that go on but the realistic fact the we are all slaves to the weather when indulging in this sport, im sure thats why it is so addictive once you get in too it, you can’t just pick up the gear when you want and go, the conditions must be right, the tides, the timing and even then you still may get let down.
Not too worry though, Coral Island being the place it is this was no wasted trip, white sands, beach chairs, sunny day and a group of friends with overpiced tiger beer and fried rice we had a good day.
Waiting on the wind!
We packed up the gear at around 5pm and headed back to Chalong Bay as one of the guys had a flight to get at 8pm, sods law again as we stepped onto the longtail the wind picked up and the forecast was right…………16 knots…………just 2 hours late!
The wind was the strongest we have had since starting in Friendship Beach, today we had an average of 20 knots with gusts up to 25 knots. Yes we have had stronger but this is storm fronts lasting 10-20 mins then gone, today was strong and steady all day! A record breaker in our eyes!
Definitely a perfect spot with flat water and wind like this, only problem is all the local kiters aren’t used to this wind so everyone was powered up to the max on 12 & 14m kites.
If you want to keep up to date with our local conditions in phuket you can check out our Live Wind & Weather Station at Friendship Beach in Chalong
Hi Guys,
just took this small video clip today whilst on a break from the water, just to give you guys an extra little feel for the place and an Idea of how beautiful our spot is when the conditions are right.
Happy New Year to all!
You can see we have had a dry patch of Blog posts lately, mainly due to the wind we have been having here in Phuket. It has been AMAZING! by far the best season in Phuket since i came here, usually we see a lull for a week at a time but this season has been steady teachable and riding winds from Start of November! Our once quiet private spot at Friendship Beach in Chalong has turned into a pretty hip and happening place to be right now, more and more Kiteboarders turning up to ride our spot and chill with a beer at the Shop afterwards. The interest in lessons has doubled since last year and the spectators are out in full force. Here is a few pics from today at Kite Zone Phuket
Friendship Beach with wind & Tide!
Our Launch Area with a high tide can get busy!
This is what happens when you throw backroll kiteloops over rocks!
The new year was pretty steady then this week we had a bit of a New year bonus, steady late teen winds coming through and clear blue skies to top it off! Lets hope the new year brings more new wind !
I cant help but share this video it is awesome, the effects and the kiting is absolutely breath taking, the location is Madagascar with the F-one team, some sick Kite loops, looks like they have 10m lines to get the desired effect.
The video is split into 2 parts as it is about 13 mins long in total………….enjoy!
Part 1
Part 2
Many myths fly around the Kitesurfing world about Thailand and its wind, some are good and some are bad (mostly bad) im forever defending Thailand as a destination for Kitesurfing on forums, people strike it off due to the lack of wind. Fact of the matter is that Thailand has wind for 9 - 10 months of the year, you just have to move around to the correct spots to find it, there is schools and shops in these spots so you wont be alone.
I guess one of the main reasons for doubt is the forecasts on Windfinder and Windguru, they are based on global weather outputs and satellite images, really they give no indication of the local weather conditions in any spot at all, ill give you an example:
Our school in Pranburi (Just 20mins south of Hua Hin)
Windfinder forecast for Pranburi/Hua Hin area today - 5kts all day
Windguru forecast for Pranburi/Hua Hin area today - 6kts all day
Actual wind speed (from our live weather station on the beach) - Average 14 knots gusting 16knots (this is taken at 9:30am, the wind picks up around 11am and will rise to 20+ mostly everyday)
Goes to show you how wrong the forecasts are and it does have an effect on people travelling to Thailand for wind. As much as weather buffs try to predict the weather there is always the local surroundings to take into consideration on each spot. The thing about using model weather outputs to forecast wind is that it doesn’t predict sea breezes brought in from the heat of the land, from March - May in Pranburi/Hua Hin we get a steady 18 - 20 knots daily sea breeze, and the forecast shows 3 knots. Currently we are recieveing the NE monsoon winds that seem to dwell and build in the Gulf of Thailand quite well, we have had maybe 2 days of no wind from November this year, this should last right up until the Thermal season in March………who would have thought!
So if your thinking of planning a trip to Thailand for kitesurfing please do! just contact us for some information and you can check our live weather stations for real reports and data.
We currently have 2 live stations in place:
Phuket Live Weather Station & Pranburi/Hua Hin Live weather station
Kite Zone Phuket....... General ramblings from our Kitesurfing School in Phuket, tips n tricks about being here in Thailand and Kitesurfing in General, we will try to update as much as possible so subscribe to our RSS feeds for alerts.
