I have been kiting for about eight years or so, and in that time kiting has evolved from a hobby to a passion to a profession. Many people talk about a turning point in their career where they realized, “right, this is sick” and decided to dedicate a lot of their time and effort to perfecting that thing. For me this became blindingly clear when I pulled a loop on short lines for the first time. As I took off everything felt quite weird, and as I pulled the loop the kite went straight below the horizon and before I knew it I was being sent into a late backroll shortly before eating it! In that moment I swear my heart stopped, but a moment later when I was back in the water I realized that this was truly something special. A few years down the line I still get ‘that feeling’ when I pull a loop on short lines, and this is something I don’t think will ever get old for me. It’s hard to describe and the only way to explain it is to get you out there to try it for yourself.
A short lines rider is instantly recognizable at a packed kite beach. When the wind is on and you see someone launch with their kite twice as low as the other kites you instantly know something crazy is about to happen. Time to grab the popcorn! In recent years, the popularity of
