Hi all I am getting my lessons in the new year and getting hubby involved too....so very excited, I have been practising with my trainer kite and its going well. I will be purchasing second hand gear though and am on the lookout, whilst i know your instructor is the best person to offer you advice in relation to the right equipment i'd like some advice from others. We live in Perth. I am hopelessly uneducated about wind conditions so still have alot to learn there also but cant see me tackling anything to drastic for quite a while so whats the best beginner size kite etc. I've seen some great prices on 10,12 and 15m kites and done some research but havent come up with a good answer really. Is it the bigger the kite the better to start off with or what? I am 32yrs, 160cm tall and 77kgs. Hubby is also 32 but is 175cm tall and 90kg's. If someone could offer me some good advice it would be greatly appreciated. I've spent months watching others and sussing the sport out and anxious to start but want to get it right.
Chelle

You definitely should not buy anything until you speak to locals and an instructor or kite shop. Bigger is not better.

Kite size is proportionate to your body weight and general kiting conditions in your area.

Perth is renowned for high winds, so without extensive local knowledge i would say you would not need a bigger kite than 8m.

As i said. Get advice / make a post in the WA section for local wind conditions.

For your reference. I kite in Melbourne, I'm 78kgs, i use 1 kite -10.5m because our conditions are generally 15-25knots. If there was more wind consistently i would have to buy a smaller kite.

Great thanks everyone, will certainly take that on board:0)

lol 10kgs lot of difference salt hehe....i just got given a 12m early xmas pressie so whilst not be perfect for our conditions i'm on my way:0)

yeah i know still way too big..i opened it right up and it looks like a monster lol. most of the girls at the WACK event yesterday were only on 6m and even, one with an 8m and she said it was too big for the conditons. hubby was trying to do the right thing as he knows how keen i am:0) he brought it through Wundsurfing WA, saw ad on seabreeze so i think i will just try and resell it, if it doesnt sell well maybe one day it will get used:0) going to focus on lessons, suss out the gear then and go from there:0)