GPS kitesurfing maps and a wind sensor
Modern GPS receivers will record your kitesurfing path on the water. I
used a Garmin Forerunner 305 personal trainer for the map and plots
shown here. 
A waterproof GPS (Garmin 305 Forerunner) was used to track two kite surfing sessions.
The upper left orange track shows a round trip from Seal Beach to the Belmont pier and back.
The lower right yellow track is at Sunset and Surfside Beaches.
This map shows two GPS kitesurfing
sessions, one at Belmont Shores (left) and the other at Seal Beach
(right). The GPS receiver periodically recorded my location, speed and
heart rate. The track data was overlayed on top of an aerial
photograph.
Wind sensor
This wind sensor is useful for
understanding the local winds. It works quite well for deciding which
board or kite should be used. I reset the meter prior to going out and
can see what the average and peak wind speeds were. The meter in the
photograph is showing 18.6 mph current wind speed, 20 mph peak wind
speed and 15.9 mph average wind speed. The wind sock shows the wind
direction and strength from a longer distance.
How to build it: The actual wind sensor is a Windtronic 2 Pocket Wind Meter. This can be purchased on the internet for around $80. This meter was selected for reasons of wind direction independence, a large, easy to read display of current, maximum and average wind speed in mph, m/s or knots, ease of mounting using a tripod thread and relatively low cost. A windsock was obtained from a local hobby kite shop for around $10. The support pole was made by stacking together several replacement tent poles from Walmart for about $6. The wind meter and wind sock are attached to the tent pole using a 2.5 inch long 1/4-20 stainless steel Allen head screw and hex nut that was threaded into the bottom of the meter. The wind sock clips onto the screw body and the Allen head fits nicely into the tent pole. The orginal wind meter case is too small for this assembly so I picked up a cloth bottle bag with a clip for a few dollars. For storage, the wind meter fits inside the wind sock which then fits into the cloth bottle bag. The poles were shortened by about 3 inches so they now fit nicely fit into the kite control bar bag.
How to build it: The actual wind sensor is a Windtronic 2 Pocket Wind Meter. This can be purchased on the internet for around $80. This meter was selected for reasons of wind direction independence, a large, easy to read display of current, maximum and average wind speed in mph, m/s or knots, ease of mounting using a tripod thread and relatively low cost. A windsock was obtained from a local hobby kite shop for around $10. The support pole was made by stacking together several replacement tent poles from Walmart for about $6. The wind meter and wind sock are attached to the tent pole using a 2.5 inch long 1/4-20 stainless steel Allen head screw and hex nut that was threaded into the bottom of the meter. The wind sock clips onto the screw body and the Allen head fits nicely into the tent pole. The orginal wind meter case is too small for this assembly so I picked up a cloth bottle bag with a clip for a few dollars. For storage, the wind meter fits inside the wind sock which then fits into the cloth bottle bag. The poles were shortened by about 3 inches so they now fit nicely fit into the kite control bar bag.