Hey folk.. Just registered over in this place to see whats up with this kite surfing deal. Been looking up a few videos on youtube and the net and it looks pretty sweet I reckon. I'm 19 and from Sydney n I'm a westie so I'm not much of a surfer or nothin, whatever you guys call us, westies, shoobies (rocket power??), noobs.. I dunno but I live too far away from the beach to go there often but I plan to get a little apartment on the coast, whether it be sydney or qld I don't know but I surely wanna get a place over there.

So I've been checkin the sport out and it seems preeeeetty wicked but I got a few questions for you guys..

How hard is it to get into?? Will 3 days of lessons at 3 hours each lesson get me goin on my own?

What's a good beginners setup?? I'm like 70kg and 5"8'

Cheers fellas

hi noob.

tough crowd this gang who were born mid megaloop, have only gotten better from there and never had to find answers to such questions themselves (oh, and not to mention the other ones who did it the hard way and taught themselves on two-line nightmares and are very very tough).

still, there are certain rites of passage the rest of us have had to go through:

1, finding an even half decent school,

2, finding an even slightly suitable first kite and board,

3, realising we didn't learn jack about various important safety issues from our instructors,

4, asking naive questions on seabreeze that have already been comprehensively covered in previous threads that we could/should have searched first, and then copping can after can of woop, despite our pure intentions,

5, after many trials and tribulations, both on the net and on the water, finally learning enough to then either give useful help to noobs or gratuitously lord it over them and feel smug.

so, deXtrous, welcome to the step before step 1. sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. sometimes it just gets worse. either way, searching the old threads for noob-related questions before you throw your hat in the ring will save you all sorts of grief. kiters=rabble

sooo your saying its just noob rabble all over this joint

While vader's suggestion has merit, I don't think there's any need to spend six whole months flying a trainer kite before your first lesson. Of course it's the middle of Winter now, so if you wait for Summer to start (probably a good idea) then there's a bit of time to practice kite control.

Hi DeXtrous,

There is a lot of info on this forum and much of it is RABBLE which is great unless you want straight answers. It's a tough crowd here on seabreeze!

I wouldn't follow some peoples approach, there is no need to get hammered, beaten, smashed and thumped.

My advice is to buy a nice trainer kite of around 2.0-2.5 sqm (even a second hand one) and spend the remainder of winter flying it at the beach or a nice open park with less trees around to create wind turbulence. By the start of summer you'll understand a lot more about the wind and kite flying. Buy and watch The Beginner Progression Series DVD.

Next go to the beach and ask the kiters you see who the best local school or instructor is. Most people will point you in the right direction (make sure you ask a few). Take the lessons from the most reputable school and don't necessarily go to the cheapest, learn on the schools gear and once you are comfortable and the instructor says you are ready for your own gear, speak to the instructor and/or local shop and get recommendations on the gear you should start on.

Personally, I'd buy new gear. It will have warranty, be the safest and easiest to fly and relaunch, and despite what people will tell you, if you have followed this advice, you won't crash and shred your kite to pieces. Wrecking kites and gear is almost the sole domain of the self learner.

Once you have your gear, join AKSA or the local variant of it and frequent the local noob beach. Don't go to beaches where no kiters are to be out of the way, and don't necessarily go to to where all the kiters are. Your instructor/school and other kiters will let you know the most appropriate beach for learning.

Lastly, welcome to the sport, it isn't hard, but it can be dangerous to you and more importantly, others! So learn responsibly and have a great time.

Take most of what you read on these forums with a grain of salt.

Cheers,

Kitehard

Cheers for the replies folk... Much appreciation to all of you

Just one more confusion I have... Don't the lines get twisted when you surf? Like I see videos of guys doing rotations and stuff, wont their outside lines get tangled (unless they have some sort of gyro) and not be able to control the kite?

Cheers again!.. and oh I don't mind them 'flamers' hah

Welcome .. make sure you have thick skin if you're gonna hang around these forums.

Handy links from news/articles/kitesurfing:

www.seabreeze.com.au/Articles/Kitesurfing/How-to-start-Kiteboarding_2274949.aspx

www.seabreeze.com.au/Articles/Kitesurfing/Kitesurfing-beginner-questions_903071.aspx

www.seabreeze.com.au/Articles/Kitesurfing/Kitesurfing-Terminology-Lingo_1185759.aspx

Hey noob....

Good to see you’re not straying from your path…

I was just throwing you an unfavourable minority view, that could have lead you to some serious adventures… time over, I’d do the same again

Good luck