Kitesurf Atlas

It began as a strange winter here in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg, FL area. The weather had been very difficult to forecast, especially for lesson scheduling.

December was very unusual with difficult wind conditions, many lessons lost over the holidays as a result. It was either too cold, too windy or not windy at all. Rideable days: only 6 or 7! Most used kite: 10m.

January was an improvement, however there were many very cold days when lessons had to be cancelled. Rideable days: 19 out of 31 Most used kite: 10m

February was very similar to January. Rideable days: 18 Most used kites: 12 & 15.

March: A great month! Although I escaped to Miami and Jupiter for a few bonus days the wind and temperatures started to improve and became more reliable, but unpredictable, wind. Rideable days: 23! Most used kites: 9, 12, & 15,

April: Started out and finished strong, air and water temps rising steadily. The “wet” season started to engage earlier than normal, which might have spelled a decline in wind, since the rain and t’storms tend to kill the classic sea breezes typical for this time of year, but then we had a great period of classic “sea breezes”. Rideable days: 24! Most used kites: 9, 12, 15.

Total rideable days from Dec 1 -May 1:
90 out of 152 days, or 60% of days rideable (= 4+ days/week) keeping in mind that December conditions really hurt these statistics.

Kite sizes used in terms of percentage of sessions: (using 120-154 cm boards)

5m …6%, 7m…10%, 9m…22%, 10m…12%, 12m…27%, 15m…24%

Many days were unsuitable for teaching - too much wind, wrong direction, or dangerous sea state, so I would often ride the Gulf with 5m or 7m kite. I did lots of fun solo down-winders this year, 20 in total, many in heavy winds and decent waves. Absolutely LOVING my Spleene Zone on these rides. This is one of the best places I know of for down-winders because all you need is $1.50 to ride the trolley back to your car. This concept works great on South/Southwest, West/Northwest winds. One day I even rode down wind 6 miles from Treasure Island to Pass-a-Grille and then all the way back upwind!! I was using a Spleene 54 Door and 15m Hypertype in 11-13 kts.

Some of the popular launch spots here are beginning to get very crowded, and I cannot understand why people don’t just spread out and ride different spots. I generally try to avoid all the crowds and the drama – and there are some real drama queens here!! There are many times when I would not even see one other kite on an epic day in the Gulf, when the hoardes are all piling up and bumping kites with each other at East Beach. Why?

So it has really turned out to be another great year here and I am even more convinced that this a great area to ride – plus accessing many other spots all around Florida is very convenient. A quick road trip to Naples, Miami, Jupiter, Cocoa, St. Augustine all within a few hours drive, and 5 hrs to the Keys. Thinking about a move to Florida? Real estate is CHEAP right now…check it out.