neil
like if you've got young kids this will half your kite time....
but then again its an extra smaller kite in your quiver isn't it

Neill my mate streamlined his learning on that very kite. I learnt the hard way getting slammed with my C kites. So when asked I suggested a 9m waroo along with others he spoke to independently that said the same.

He is up and doing straight runs after 4 sessions of about 2 hours max in unfavorable gusty winds. He had no kite flying experience previously.

To cut the crap, they seem like very good kites to learn and continue on till intermediate level. Some say that once your into handle passes and stuff they aren't so good. Horses for courses as usual. I've got my eyes set on the 10m bularoo baby..

GL and hope the relationship survives, if not at least keep the kite for ya own quiver

P.S. some reckon they invert easy, mates does only when the wind dies under about 10 knots off...

you don't reckon she'd be too light for the 9m? don't really want to step down to a 7m bow cause they just don't fly in 12-15 really well.

9m 06 waroo's can be had fairly cheap, they seem pretty robust and user friendly too. I learnt on a 10 cabrinha CO2 and would NEVER teach a dainty female on a grunty C kite like that, just too hard to turn the power down. a reasonably small bow will do the job pretty well, and the 06 waroo seems like a good choice.

Hey Neill,

Save your relationship, we see loads of guys trying to teach their girlfriends and it almost always ends in tears. Same goes for dads teaching daughters.

A girlfriend will really "try one on" with her boyfriend when things aren't going as easily as she would have liked, whereas she will not do the same with an instructor and will be more open to critical feedback.

When the going gets tough she'll get criticism from her BF and critical feedback from an instructor, the difference is in the relationship dynamic. Most girls won't play the "I just can't do it" card on a stranger (instructor).

I know of people who have taught their partners successfully and I guess that depends upon the dynamics of your relationship.

Let her learn the basics on the specially adapted gear in a quality school and after a couple of lessons, when she has gotten up on the board for the first time, then you take over. Learning relaunch, self rescue, water start and upwind body dragging is better done by a school whilst you are out ripping it up.

Just my 2 bobs worth, have fun either way and don't push her into it, let her take it up at her own readiness.

Good winds,

It would be like teaching your wife/gf to drive !

Dont do it!

Listen to Kitehard.Have an easy life !

quote:

---

Originally posted by Neill

Who's done it successfully?

---

I've done it. The hardest thing is knowing how hard to push, so she keeps progressing but doesn't get put off. She also needs to be totally honest about the fear factor. Sometimes, "I can't" really means "I'm afraid to", but unless she tells you (and, like most of us blokes, you can't read minds), you won't know the difference.

We started with a small 4-line foil (Ozone Little Devil 2.1M) on the beach. She already had a pretty good understanding of laying out lines and rigging up etc from helping me do it. Once she had a proper handle on that (meaning she could loop it etc without smashing it into the beach), we started body dragging on my smallest kite (2004 8M Nemesis) and progressed from there.

So, be patient, try not to lose your cool and above all, when she says she's had enough, call it quits. It'll be frustrating, trust me, but it's also a massive buzz when she gets up and successfully cruises away from you on the board.....I was grinning so hard my jaw was hurting

Sounds like some of you guys have fairly strained relationships! Just need to know when to back off, and never get frustrated when she says "I can't" (I was ready for that one!). I would hope that the relationship will stand the stress but perhaps a first lesson is the go, then I can take over from there.

Oh and you are all forgetting the critical part of having arguments: the make-up sex. It's almost worth it....... almost.

So what do you guys do with your girlfriend/wife when you're out kiting? Mine is sometimes content to sit on the beach and read a book, but sometimes gets really bored.

Hence why I was thinking of getting her into kiting...

i send my mrs to work. 8am till 9pm. 5 days a week. She likes to come down and watch on weekends or stay at home and bake.

dont teach her anything; its bad enough that women are taught to read and write. they shouldnt be allowed to vote either.
i guess it depends on your relationship, i have heard of relationships almost coming to an end through learning to kite.
i have given my girlfriend a couple of lessons and she picked it up much quicker than me and with less hassle. i never push her to have a lesson or to keep going if she is not enjoying it. i use a 7m crossbow to teach her and always reinforce that it doesnt matter when she drops the kite (and try not to wince audibly when she slams it down).

I ride shotgun with my sweet peach in the nissan zx whenever we go out drinkin,me drinken that is...so good, she take's responsibility for all my random action's...but when it come's to kite'ing and surfin she hang's on the beach lookin cute as she does...gee I wish she would kite...unload the gear...pump up the kite's...rig and unrigg...get the food happening...but it's not a perfect world

Also known as AUTO-ZENETH[}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mr float

Originally posted by Neill

Who's done it successfully?


Peter Lynn ! I think I can remeber Fiona saying that she appreciated Pete designing a kite for her that others can enjoy too!

I can remember her saying alot of other things too that I shouldn't repeat here

---

Yeah I think his opinion is that he didn't so much as teach me, as just hand me the kite and walk out of earshot. This worked kind of well, except that I missed out on all the obvious stuff like launching and safety (no surprises there to anyone who has seen me kite). Actually, probably the person who really taught me to kite was Chris Brent - mainly because he was working alongside pete at the time and had a way shorter attention span for tantys. He was also pretty good at explaining stuff, so I guess my advice would be - teach your girlfriend, but teach her how to do it all not just get frustrated and hand the kite over cos you want to go out and kite yourself.