Kite surfing in Vietnam

Boards and Kites from Airush, in various size available from the Jibe's club, our team of beach boys pump the kite for you and help you launching and landing the kites, you just have to have fun on the water

Jibes has been Vietnam’s leader in kite instruction since it's start here in 2001. We have taught more people to kite than any other school in Vietnam.

Our teaching technique has been developed by watching hundreds of students learn in Mui Ne’s conditions and finding out what works and what doesn’t.

The instructor team has been selected for their experience and follows strict safety standards. We are friendly, 100% IKO certified, and can teach in nine languages!

Jibes has the widest range of equipment to match your skill level and the conditions you will be learning in.

Please beware! there are also temporary, seasonal, and unlicensed schools operating in Mui Ne. Some schools may promise to get you riding in just a few hours by shortcutting important safety information and procedures such as the self rescue or by asking students to use a board leash (a major cause of injuries) instead of learning board recovery.

In the kite lesson you will learn the following:

Terminology:

Wind: knots, offshore, onshore, cross-on, turbulence, squall

Wind Window: power zone, drop zone, danger zone, edge of the window

Kite Parts: leading edge, struts, panels, pigtails, de-power strap (trim loop), bladder,

chicken loop, quick release, safety leash, fifth line system

Judging conditions before launching kite:

Wind Conditions: Speed

Direction Quality…Turbulence caused by obstacles in the path of the wind

Weather conditions e.g. squalls

Beach conditions: Width, obstacles, people, debris on the beach and in the sand

Water conditions: Temperature, depth, current, waves, sea-life, obstacles (e.g.nets)

Setting up kite:

Inflating procedure

Setting up lines and safety systems

Wear and tear check points

Kite Handling:

How and where to hold the kite

How to pick up a downed kite in the waves

How to safely set the kite down on the beach

How to efficiently check and straighten out lines when they are attached to kite

Safety Information

We will be covering important safety information at each stage of our lesson.

Throughout the course, both you and the instructor will be respecting safety rules and

making the judgments calls required for each situation you are in.

Safety rule #1: Keep your downwind area clear and always be aware of the area

360 degrees around yourself

Using the Quick Release and Safety Leash

Recovering the kite when you are by yourself

International Right-of-Way conventions

Self-Rescue: How the Self- Rescue is done will depend on water and beach conditions,

size of waves, how far you are from the shore-break, whether there are people downwind, etc.

We will teach you to decide how to perform the self-rescue taking all this into account.

Launching the kite:

3-step launch procedure:

1) checking position and angle of kiter =>kite=>wind direction

2) checking lines and all safety systems

3) 360 degree check of beach and ocean

THUMB UP to launch: why we use one and only one specific signal to launch.

Knowing where to stand and how to position the kite for launching will depend on location

and conditions.

How to check adjustment of the trim loop before launching kite

Kite Control Skills:
Power and accuracy control

Smooth launching, flying, and landing

Sheeting to control speed and power of kite and to prevent luffing (4-line system)

How to use and adjust the trim loop (de-power strap)

Re-launching the kite

Sining the kite (Powerstroke): how to get the most power from the kite

Landing the kite:

Choosing a spot to land the kite

Procedure for landing kite safely

Body-dragging techniques and why they are important

Using kite and body position to control direction of motion

Upwind body-drag: Three requirements for successful upwind body-dragging

How to get out past a shore-break

Using the board to move upwind and out quickly

Board Recovery

Waterstart:

Board and body position for waterstart; pre-start check

Edging the board

Stopping and changing directions

Special kite surf packages, learn to kite