Kitesurfing maims and kills. Point made. I'll get some tuition.

I'm based in Carine WA

Any suggestions on a reputable coach?

Action sports

RAL INN said..
Taught myself with the help of lots of Phone calls. (thanks Matt)
did a IKO course. So others in my area wouldn't have to go through what I did.

first thing I noticed was that 3 hrs of lessons equalled 6 months of DIY.

So do you want to be a kiter in 3 or so hours or 6 or so months?

now what is a competent Kitesurfing instructor????

There are now a multitude of Kiters who have done an IKO course but finding one that truely understands the learning process and how to adapt that to an individuals unique skill set, in order to make them a safe and proficient member of the kiting Community. That is the hard bit.

Absolutely ditto RAL INN
If for no other reason at all do the lessons and save yourself a whole season of flopping around putting yourself & those around youin danger.

Getting a 2nd hand rig & giving it a go to "see if you like it" before committing to lessons is just plain ridiculous. You may never know till that day you get up & actually ride for a spell with some level of control of both board & kite. At that time its a no-brainer - everyone is hooked.

Two words...Get Lessons!!!! I saw a guy today at my local trying to teach what I can only presume was his girlfriend. He threw her in the water with a kite and followed her on the beach as she got tea bagged down wind while he was barking instructions to her which she couldn't hear, all the while getting tangled in the 6 - 8 fishing lines that various fisherman had in the water. I felt sorry for the poor girl. How are you ever going to enjoy the sport when this is your introduction. A highly stressful situation for her and he by thinking he had the skills to teach her risking getting complaints from beach users and risking yet another spot banning kiters. I saw him riding a little while later and he could barely hold upwind himself. A "professional" instructor would never have put her in that position and would have put her in the water well downwind from the fisherman to remove that stress and preserve the good will with other locals. Moral of the story. Please get lessons. This is not cricket or touch football. For someone new to the sport it is a very unnatural and counterintuitive thing to be doing that is fraught with danger and more importantly unlike Mtn Biking and Skateboarding which can be fairly well contained can impact other beach users by doing stupid things and not thinking it through.

kitebt said...
Two words...Get Lessons!!!! I saw a guy today at my local trying to teach what I can only presume was his girlfriend. He threw her in the water with a kite and followed her on the beach as she got tea bagged down wind while he was barking instructions to her which she couldn't hear, all the while getting tangled in the 6 - 8 fishing lines that various fisherman had in the water. I felt sorry for the poor girl. How are you ever going to enjoy the sport when this is your introduction. A highly stressful situation for her and he by thinking he had the skills to teach her risking getting complaints from beach users and risking yet another spot banning kiters. I saw him riding a little while later and he could barely hold upwind himself. A "professional" instructor would never have put her in that position and would have put her in the water well downwind from the fisherman to remove that stress and preserve the good will with other locals. Moral of the story. Please get lessons. This is not cricket or touch football. For someone new to the sport it is a very unnatural and counterintuitive thing to be doing that is fraught with danger and more importantly unlike Mtn Biking and Skateboarding which can be fairly well contained can impact other beach users by doing stupid things and not thinking it through.

Thanks I fully intend to get lessons.

eppo said...
Not sure why jack got a red thumb above he's spot on...we did take a 'Beat down'.

Got a question back at you mr lesson man, or troll (who knows on this forum)...

'are you already a competent waterman? Are you fit? Could you swim a kilometre or two in the ocean? Do you have decent motor sensory skills?

or are you a soft cocked suburban unfit pedestrian middle aged wannabe?

becuase this sport, even with all lessons and the incredible kites we have now...does kill and mame.

but too many are just not getting that fact. sometimes I look around and think I'm at a lawn bowls meet!

lessons can be justified purely on economics. Sure try yourself, but you will stuff ya kite/gear up in no time.

Stuff theirs up first as you learn, as theirs is tax deductible, yours Isn't.

And if you do 'use' a friend for godd sake make sure they are highly competent. The amount of people I see teaching others who are just beyond kook (and that's debatable) themselves, sends shivers down my spine.

with lessons you are leveraging experience, sometimes years of experience. Yu need to pay for that In any pursuit.

Or or just join the ranks or increasingly horrible kiters out there, with no water sense and little chance of surviving when trouble comes (and that is inevitable not a maybe)... damn the standard is piss poor.

Online forums, advertising benefits per hits, stupid topics by "newbies" trollers? Laurie generating traffic Seabreeze yawning topics hmmm sceptical old schoolers...? 52 channels of sh-it on TV to choose from.

marketing wins, damn i got suckered in again.....

All lessons in life aren't valuable unless they're truly life lessons in themselves, which one can only experience individually. Progression is the reward at any level of skill. The rest is just a form of narcissism for an audience to clarify as such.

James said...
^^^^^ Miskien kan jy ook n bitjie gewig verloor

Dis net spiere in disguise. ;)

Krui lesse vleispaleis!!!

Gfly said..

Most damage I see on the beach are boyfriends teaching girlfriends.

I could not agree more Gfly....Why would you do that anyway....sick bastards!

A small side note- learning to kitesurf is not really all that fun and can be very frustrating. You need to really want to do it to get through the first month or so of eating crap. Lessons or not your looking at a good 2-3 months ( that's if you do it at least 2 to 3 times a week) of dragging around feeling like a human lure, crashing untangling, relaunching recrashing re- untangling, relaunch and repeat. You will also need to be comfortable floating around out in Deepwater, be a good swimmer and keep a cool head when things go wrong.

The first couple months you will be frustrated and just wanting to actually do it!! But keep pushing on as once you get there it is so so worth it and you will get so much enjoyment out of it.

Also you will need the right gear to start which now that I think of it i actually have a 2013 10m bws noise pro in good condition for the bargain price of $450! This is a very sturdy, safe and stable kite with a good tough build that will stand up to the abuse a learner will put it through, it is also quick enough to keep you progressing and is amazing in the surf

( shameless plug there)

FLOWhd said..

It is certainly recommended that you get shown the ropes, rather than learn the hard, costly, painful way.

So many times i have heard complaints about the quality and/or the cost of a kite board instructor and ultimately put them off.

We were of the era where you taught your mates, and they taught theirs. (Even get to use there old gear and smash that into the water)

I recently got 2 people board riding and holding ground, one took 2 hrs and the other 6 afternoons. so the time taken varies greatly.

Key elements to success.

1) Right size kite and gear ideally only a few years old.
2) substantial and steady wind
3) The best beach possible (Open, shallow, flat and few sharp bits)
4) lack of other beach users.

Yes these spots still exist, even around major cities and instructors won't offer them to you.

Well said. For Vicos, the best learning beach is 13th Beach on low tide.

Plummet said..
The ultimate answer is no. They are not necessary. Most of us here who have been kiting for 10 years plus didn't have lessons. Hell lessons weren't available.

So it is possible to self teach.

But it will be more dangerous to yourself and others.
Plus it will take you A LOT longer to learn.

Best reply IMO....

I had a lesson and it was from a really good instructor that I have recommended but due to wind ect it didn't help much apart from some good advice and confirming some of the things you tube had taught me. Some great advice here for free
you tube failures for a healthy respect.
Start learning how to use your kites safety features and techniques. you can do thins when there is no wind even confidence in your gear is important.

megsy said..
Yes get lessons, you don't need many, but you need to have a good understanding of the safety mechanisms in the sport and how to get yourself out of a bad situation. Mother nature rules this sport. Good luck!!

It's one thing to get taught by a mate how to kite but it's the professional lesson that teaches you how to self rescue , launch and land on your own.

Piros said..

megsy said..
Yes get lessons, you don't need many, but you need to have a good understanding of the safety mechanisms in the sport and how to get yourself out of a bad situation. Mother nature rules this sport. Good luck!!

It's one thing to get taught by a mate how to kite but it's the professional lesson that teaches you how to self rescue , launch and land on your own.

A good mate will teach you self rescue etc, unless he's after your misses.....

I'm self taught as well about 8 years ago.

But saying that... if you are even slightest bit outgoing and like water, you will love the sport so there is very little chance you wont like it.

Getting lessons will show you the safety side. This is the part that you cant really see when people are out kiting and all is well. Even right of way and courtesy isn't something that stands out.

The other thing a few lessons will do for you is progress you along much faster.

You will love the first feeling of power from the kite, but the better you get... the better you enjoy the sport too.