Greeting from Italy

gigno

Hi All,
at the end of february i'll relocate in Dublin with my family for working reason.
I'm a beginner kiter, have a full course in egypt the last may and then kite on an italian lake this summer: i can rig, sail upwind, self rescue but nothing more

I hope to meet someone of you that can show me spots around Dublin.

Ps can you advice me about the sails range in this area? 9-12? i'm between 68 an 70 kg.

rje66

you will be ok with these sizes. a 5/3 mm full wet suit too. the main beach in dublin is dollymount beach and a smaller one burrow beach in sutton. as prevailing winds here is SW the best wind is on the west coast:(:(.. but there are plenty of good days here in dublin too.
lots of kiting here so there will be people out every windy day, we are all very friendly on the beach.

4w7s

Hey Gigno,
I've visited Ireland 5 and kited there almost every month of the year. Fall, winter, Spring gets the most wind, biggest waves (West Coast), but I've had some great high wind sessions in June as well. I've used every kite I've brought there at one point or another...5m - 15m. I'd say I got most use out of my 7m thru 11m kites...but I've used my 5m kite a LOT too. I am similar weight as you and ride primarily strapless surfboard, occasionally strapped when it's necessary. I would say you should save a few quid up for a good 6m or 7m kite to round out your quiver. I suppose it depends on how determined you are to ride the extreme conditions. But I'd never go there without at least a 3 kite quiver between 5m and 12m. If you have a big kite you'll get some use from that too, during the summer months especially. I hope ye love Eire as much as I do...Slainte!

Notus

The conditions vary a lot so a full 7,9,12 quiver is best especially when you are trying to fit kiting around a family life, the wind varies a lot and there is nothing worse than getting a day for kiting and you don't have the right kite- miss a session.
Dublin is a good spot for Kiting, Skerries, Rush, Portmarnock are all good in the right conditions.
Dollymount and Sutton are the most popular, Dollymount because in the right conditions its perfect for kiting and the main Kite school in the Dublin area is based there with a shop selling all the equipment you need, Sutton because it offers a chance to kite in different conditions/wind directions not available at the other Dublin sites, can be dodgy as its a channel, 2 hours either side of the low tide is the window of use unless your really experiences.

The conditions are a bit choppy so not the same as lake kiting but more fun, :-)

Boots and gloves are essential in the spring and winter, as well as a 5/4 suit with a hood.

There are good facebook pages for Kiting in Ireland, send a request to Kiting Buddies page as this one has the most traffic and you will get the best information.

There are normally between 10 and 20 out on good days in dollymount so you will have no problem getting advise once you get going, I know of a couple italians kiting in Dublin, have spoken to them on sutton and dollymount but dont know their contact... sure you will find out.

Good Luck, and be safe

gigno

Thank you guys for all this information.
I have start my search for an used 7mt

I'll post for sure something when i'll arrive there.

Thanks again

Ps in the Sandymount area there are some spots or there aren't conditions?

4w7s

Nearest spot to Sandymount would be out by the "pigeons" aka Poolbeg Power Station. There's usually a few guys out there. I believe it works on the same wind directions as Dollymount -S, SE, E. Saves a lot of time and aggravation driving if you live/work in South Dublin. I've only ridden that spot once. Check the tides...it's very shallow there. Pretty much a flat water spot - no waves.

4w7s

4w7s wrote: »

Nearest spot to Sandymount would be out by the "pigeons" aka Poolbeg Power Station. There's usually a few guys out there. I believe it works on the same wind directions as Dollymount -S, SE, E. Saves a lot of time and aggravation driving if you live/work in South Dublin. I've only ridden that spot once. Check the tides...it's very shallow there. Pretty much a flat water spot - no waves.

Poolbeg is good but not that good in S or SSE as the wind will get blocked by the coastline and Dollymount will be stronger. This can be annoying if it's a light wind and the difference in the wind is the difference between getting out or no. SE, E works well tho.

Notus

Hey, I have no experience of sandymount and none of the guys I know use it to surf, one guy tried the area near poolbeg but he was adamant it was not very clean and should be avoided (rightly or wrongly).
If you are only beginning, you really should kite in popular spots were help and advise are at hand.

Notus

Notus wrote: »

Hey, I have no experience of sandymount and none of the guys I know use it to surf, one guy tried the area near poolbeg but he was adamant it was not very clean and should be avoided (rightly or wrongly).
If you are only beginning, you really should kite in popular spots were help and advise are at hand.

Poolbeg is fine for kiting and is ok for beginners although it can be a walk out at low tide but it can be a walk out at Dolly too at low tide. When the wind is right there will easily be 10 to 15 people or more out there. Nobody surfs at sandymount due to never any waves usually! (except for storms!). Sandymount for kiting only works 1 hour either side of high tide as the tide goes out too far. Also Sandymount would not be great for beginners as around high tide there are a lot of solid objects in close proximity and there are sand banks which you need to know about. The wind at Sandymount in addition is only good in an easterly really as in a S it will be very much blocked by Dun Laoghaire.

Notus

glasso wrote: »

. Nobody surfs at sandymount due to never any waves usually! (except for storms!). .

Meant to say Kite surfing, but you knew that..... as for Poolbeg, is it clean?

Notus

Notus wrote: »

Meant to say Kite surfing, but you knew that..... as for Poolbeg, is it clean?

I've never noticed it being any better or worse than Dollymount. Did see a lot of seaweed there once but that was some sort of seaweed bloom going on. If you mean is there sewage/sh1t in the water - no have never seen or heard of that! I think that that's anecdotal just because there is a treatment plant in the area.