Water Trainer or Not?

by Mark
(Ypsilanti, Michigan)

Should I purchase a Hydra trianer kite or stick to a land and snow only trainer kite?

I do have a 8m Liquid Force kite....that I could practice body drags, but set up is longer....
should I save the 100 bucks and use the land kite trainer for land and the water kite 8m on
water......

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Water Trainer or Not?

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Apr 24, 2010

I'd Go With a Land Based Trainer...
by: Glen - KiteboardingEvolution.com

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the question. To be perfectly honest, in your case I'd go with a land based trainer.

The only time I'd personally get a water based trainer like the Hydra is if I specifically wanted to use it on the water just to have fun or to play around (that or if water was the only place that I could fly).

That's not to say that the Hydra is a bad kite - in fact their quite awesome! But, if you're looking just to learn to kiteboard faster and easier, then it's the land based exercises that are going to be the bulk of your learning.

The Hydra allows you to play in the water and drag yourself downwind, but it's hard to body drag upwind with it, and that's why I don't feel it's worth that much more for learning. It's worth that much more for the experience, if that's what you are looking for.

Once you practice and learn to fly your trainer, get a few hours of lessons to learn how to body drag properly - once you have that, use your 8m Liquid Force on the water. If you use that kite on a lower wind day (i.e - not 8m weather, like 12-18 knots), you will be able to practice without having too much power.

I hope this helps, and thanks for the questions!

Glen
KiteboardingEvolution.com

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