G'day Derek,

You can get pretty crappy packages over here for around $1000, but for decent gear that your gonna be able to actually use more than a few times I would say a bit over $2000 would be closer to the mark depending on what gear you get.

And for lessons the going rate around Sydney is around $140 for 2 hrs, don't know if that'll change this year or not. Last year we had plenty of students and not enough instructors though so if you want to make sure you get lessons book in early.

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Originally posted by Relapse

Thanks for the guide Jeff, I have had seen one quote of us$35 an hour here in Peru, which seem quite good in comparison.....but will do a bit more reading of the FAQ especially about safety. Sounds like it can be quite a dangerous sport.

Cheers
Derek

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G'day Relapse

If you get good instruction, and always kite with a "plan B" in mind then I can think of lots of think that are way more dangerous, including driving cars in Sydney!
No-one can "know" or truly predict the wind, and it is the wind that is actually in control of our kites all the time, we as kiters are at best on guides and along for the ride.
Check out this link to my website for a full blurb on how we do our lessons.

http://www.kitepower.com.au/cart.php?target=category&category_id=298

Cya and Goodwinds

Steve McCormack

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Originally posted by Relapse

Thanks for the info Steve,

Just on the safety issue do you know what is the kite toll to date in OZ?

Derek

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Hi Derek
Not really sure what you mean, we kill kites here all the time, we have a kite knackery out the back, we even melt down the scuff pads and sell the residue to the people who make Tim Tam biscuits.

There were 2 people who have lost their lives in kitesurfing realted incidents, a third fatality occured when a person flew a kitesurfing kite on a football filed and tied himself to a goal post, you can guess the rest.

It is generally not begginers that get hurt, and I do not know of any begginers who have been killed while learning. Virtually all the deaths worldwide have occurred to experienced riders who took avoidable risks or were using suspect safety gear, ignored adverse weather conditions, or were playing the very stupid DYSM game (did you see me) close to land or solid objects.

All that said though, this sport is not for the faint hearted or those that are not prepared to get a bit of a body bashing at times.
I remember a naish advert once that quoted Robby Naish as saying "kitesurfing - not for 99.9% of the worlds population" and I agree with him!!!

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack