K Dog said..
After spending an afternoon checking out some kiting at St Kilda I was a little put off, the shear numbers of you guys, and the fact everyone just stayed in a small area..... how long does it take to get confident enough to get right out in the bay and away from the crowds?

Also noticed people who probably aren't water people based on their confidence in the water, who aren't likely to be able to swim more than 400m.... by the look of it, nothing wrong with that, but perhaps explains the closeness of the people kiting to the shore.....

Also saw a dude being carried up the beach with a busted ankle..... how often does that happen? lol

No doubt the proof is in the pudding and I'll have to give it a crack soon enough..........

There are a lot of plus in the convenience level, but launching etc has me doubting usability.... windsurfing I can drop it in anywhere, but kiting seems to have councils regulating beaches and limiting their areas.... perhaps the sport will tapper out......

There are a number of reasons why you would want to stay in close some I agree with and some I don't.

1. If you are a n00b... staying close to shore is what they often tend to do especially if they can't go upwind yet.. Nothing much else to say about this. Generally I find that when people start mowing the grass well enough they like to go out pretty far, at least in my spot.

2. Flat/ shallow water for wakestyle tricks - Often the flat water is where it is shallower which is often closer to shore. At my local spot I tend to do all my wakestyle tricks in water that is about 1 foot depth, because its glassy and easier to recover after a crash. Yeh sure It's also easier to hit the bottom and injure yourself but I find that you get used to crashing without that happening. I tend to go a tiny bit deeper if I'm learning a new trick but not too much or else its just chop.

3. Again with the wakestyle - If I am injured from a trick then I'm not out in the middle of the ocean. If all I did was boost, do hooked in tricks and mow the grass I wouldn't think twice about going far out all the time.

My spot is probably very different to yours because most people tend to go out the back in the broadwater (Gold Coast) and are afraid of the shallow water and boat bouy's etc. There are usually only 3-4 of us in the shallows and we're often all experienced enough to avoid each other.

On another note, kiting always looks more crowded than it really is. When you are riding its a lot easier to avoid others than it appears especially the more experienced you get.

INJURIES: Regarding injuries I don't think its really that common especially if you're not trying to push yourself or if you are doing something stupid. The only time I've seen people injured is 1: When boosting in ankle deep water 1 week after lessons. and 2: A very experienced rider pushing himself to the limit to do advanced tricks (hazard of the sport). I've heard of a lot of other injuries caused by lack of training and also taking stupid risks. Of course no matter what sport you try if you are pushing your skills to the limit you might get hurt.

Regulations: Council regulations depend on where you are. On the Gold Coast you can go anywhere and while you need more space to launch there is always water / drift launching if you have to. Remember the councils don't own the water ways so the actually cannot regulate setting up as long as you are setting up below the high tide line. I doubt the sport will "tapper out" because of this. Though in all honesty, less crowds would be nice :)

Cheers for detailed response Ken.

Chris 249 said..

JohnnyMack said..

Chris 249 said...
One of the reasons I've never got into kiting is people like Johnnymack, RPM, Lotofwind and Waveslave. There's no way I'd want to end up at the same events or places as those aggro, arrogant haters.

I'd still like to give it a go and I understand that most kiters don't worship themselves in the way that LoW, WS and their ilk do, but the existence of the arrogant haters is a real turn off for people who want to get into a friendly sport.

You haven't started kiting over a few words in a forum? Really?

My post didn't say that. What it said was that ONE of the reasons I haven't got into kiting is the way some of the people who are into it behave.

I like getting on with the people I meet when I'm doing things, and I won't get on with people who are closed-minded and who throw disdain and arrogance around like some people on this forum (and other kiting forums) seem to. Sure, the same attitude exists in other sports. It was pretty strong in windsurfing a while back, which is one of the reasons windsurfing lost popularity so much IMHO. It's also around a lot in big boat sailing. I know both of those sports well enough to be largely able to avoid the crap, though.

I'd still like to give it a go, it's pretty much the only type of sailing that I haven't done.

Do it man, you will love it big time. Most addictive thing I have ever done.

^^^^^You are just sooo aggro waveslave lol.

Going by Chris's logic, I wont try windsurfing because there's no way I'd want to end up at the same events or places with those(windsurfer forumers) that continually call kiters p00fters, correct everyone's spelling mistakes and bag out young people...... oh the haters. lol

Im sure you guys dont do that in the real world,,,,,, or do you? Maybe its the reason no new young people want to get into windsurfing anymore like in the 80's

Tis all in good fun big fella, dont not do a sport because of forum digs,

^^^^^^^^I notice you didnt mention SUPing or rollerblading in the list of "whats OK" in your world. lol

I think to many people on here are way too precious and think its only ok to do something if others see it as "cool"??

Get over it metrosexuals, if you enjoy it, do it, if some stranger(might b me) on a forum bags you for doing it........do you really care and get that upset you wouldn't try or do it anymore??
I have a big bag of cement here that I can dish out in teaspoon baggies and post to you all, for your morning decaf coffee lattes with a twist of lemon and hint of vanilla, so you can HTFU and not care what someone on the interwebs thinks

Hmmmmm, when will we see pictures of the most famous convert KOTP?

JonesySail said..
Hey K Dog, I'm a 20Yr Windsurf 12 yr Kitesurf, 4 yr SUP

If you can do all three you are laughing (I do) as then you choose the best weapon for the location & conditions at the time!
There are for's and against both, a lot base purely on location alone.


Most points have been covered previously,

- Kiting smashes it in, marginal winds, shallow water and on shore waves, compact gear much wider range, less required, + travel!
- IMOH when its 'properly' windy, its more fun W/Surfing and the buzz* factor is much higher (*in the right conditions with right gear)
- there is no doubt at the 'extreme' and or 'crowded' end kiting is way more risky to yourself and others.

Unless someone else has raised it previously...the one big difference is 'physical' it's much easier to kite than sail, you don't need any upper body strength really at all, the bar pressure these days on kites is so light, all the power is through the harness, your legs will get flogged in choppy water and surf kiting after a decent long session as they are kind of your new mast and uni.

Windsurfing at speed, in choppy water and or waves, is much more taxing on arms, back (when you are doing it full on and for some consistent length of time) actually taxing on body all over, kind of like a gym work out really. My theory is it's about 3hrs of hard core kiting = 1 hr of hardcore windsurfing. However Kiting is great for your Ab's...think Jumps..

The 'physical' reason is one main reason why I still prefer to sail if the conditions suit, keeps me in shape as does supping.

The 'buzz' probably is more about the 'planing' sensation difference, 'sailing' on top of the water off the fin, v's edging through the water, being pulled more so than sailing. Even though I can jump way higher heaps easier on a kite a decent jump on my wave board feels a lot more wow...weird..maybe its the brain saying one was a lot easier to achieve than the other, so you don't get the same reward? I always feel like I am cheating when kiting as its that easy.

My advice , give it a go, you will probably will love it, keep your windsurf gear, especially for the high wind days and you will get the best of all worlds it's great being able to swap to and fro based on what conditions are at hand or just for the sake of mixing it up.
Chances are you may kite 100% for a while, but then you will come back to windsurfing and appreciate the different stoke you get, then you just end up bloody confused about what gear to take out!
It's all good.

lol, thanks Jonesy. Heading to Sri Lanka soon, so will give it a shot there. Cheers.