HP Kite Boarding

submitted by Luscious Starship


Leogarto Burt has outdone himself again! On June 19th at 1:00am SLT, I bought one of Leo's latest creations - the Kite Surfboard - at HP Surf Point. It's not quite a surfboard, windsurfer or simboard but is something in between and 100% pure fun!

When you buy a Kite Board, it might be a little intimidating because it seems like there are so many parts, but once you figure out that most of the parts are just decorartions, it's really not bad at all. The entire kite board package consists of 5 parts:
1.) The surfboard part which you "SURFAR" or Sit on,
2.) a picture of the surfboard (which you wear on your right foot),
3.) a harness,
4.) a parasail, and
5.) a helmet.

The only thing you really need to move around like you're on a kite board is part 1.) the surfboard. It's a bit strange, though, because when you right click on the board and select "SURFAR", the board disappears! When you stand up, it becomes visible again, so you won't lose it (plus it is copyable). I think the reason behind this is so that eventually Leo can offer a part 2.) the shoe that looks like a board as a MOD part for people to make their own designs for the boards without needing to make the operational board modifiable. The harness and parasail are very detailed and give you the illusion that the sail is "pulling" you when you move, though they are not required to be able to move the surfboard. The helmet if you're a girl *replaces* your hair which isn't particularly attractive, but it does lower the prim count on your av, so I guess the helmet could be considered a lag reduction item.

Now on to the fun part! Kite boarding takes all the fun parts of surfboarding and simboarding and puts them into an experience that is nothing short of pure joy. What's the most laborious part of surfing? Paddling out to the beginning of the wave, right? Well, on the kiteboard, you can "fly" to the beginning of the wave, and fly FAST! Plus you can even perform tricks mid air along the way!! The kite board, in fact, does not even require water or a wave to simply fly around with the kite! Unlike simboarding, control of the kiteboard isn't quite as demanding either.  If you just let go of the controls, you will stay perfectly still on the board and not move anywhere.  No need to constantly adjust to stay in place.

Control of the kiteboard is very similar to control of a surfboard using the arrow keys to control direction and PgUp/PgDn (also "E"/"C") to make your av lift or crouch respectively. Tricks can be performed by holding different keys at the same time. Holding PgUp/PgDn at the same time, for instance, makes you do 360 spins in a crouch position, and you can still move the arrow keys while you're spinning to control your direction! The other cool thing about kiteboarding is that, like windsurfing and sailing, holding the PgUp or "E" key down, you can move left and right and perform "tacking". Though when you are kiteboarding, it turns out the wind direction doesn't really matter, so you can basically fly through anywhere in any direction you like at maximum speed. You can also use the PgDn or "C" key in a similar way and instead of lifting your legs behind you, you will lift the board up to you in a crouch position, the difference being when you are in a crouched position, you can execute really sharp turns mid-air and perform crazy simboard-like turns and spins!

The way the board moves to simulate using the parachute to fly through the air and tilt you sideways and or upside down is truly spectacular. And when you consider the fact that the parachute is really just a piece of clothing (though it's also an animated piece of clothing because when you step off the board it lowers to the ground and depending on how it is pulling you, either one or both of your hands will be attached to it), it's mind boggling thinking about how Leo pulled it off! To top it off, the artwork on these boards *AND* parachutes is nothing short of phenomenal! You'll want them all!

Of course, the only way to experience the latest most thrilling development in the "Evolution" of SL surfing you'll need to GET a KiteSurf board and try it out! Visit HP Surf Point to see the full selection of AMAZING styles of this board and live your surfing dreams on the HP KiteSurf board!

*  Luscious will have a kiteboarding demo at Surf Fest 2010 at 1040 AM SLT Sunday, June 27!

*Additional pictures of Colleen Brennan and Luscious Starship KiteSurfing can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/luscious.starship/HPKiteBoarding?feat=directlink
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I saw Luscious demoing the kite board at Surf Fest on Sunday. Wow – I have complete kite board envy now! But then I have board envy for a bunch of stuff. What struck me was the board’s fluidity of movement from air to water, water to air. And it just looked FUN. I was too far away to see the graphics on the sail and board, but will definitely check out the art that went into the design.