4 posts
last March i posed plenty of questions and set up some lively debate as i am a 95 kg lump, of 41 years old looking to get out on a kite. i was given heaps of advice and i took it.
I have now had 2 lessons with SOS Surf from Freo and it was brilliant. loved the fact they spoke so much about safety and what not to do and what you should do. There was enough muppets around me in my 6 hours of lessons to see that some people are just out there having a go, without a great deal of care about others, and generally getting it very wrong (i nearly say one guy go clear across the road with the kite still attached, get a lesson mate, before you do yourself a injury) Was in Applecross on the river.
ok, i am now hooked and looking for a set up for me. i have been told i would be best to look for a 12m kite, new or no older than a 2007, new harness (a given), bar/lines and a 144cm board. i might be sharing the cost with a mate who is pretty much the same as me. (we both have full on jobs and getting to the river is not a given every day as i seem to be in meetings all the time)
any advice any one can give me would be awesome. i have had a look on the used section and there seems to be plenty to choose from, or go halves on a new set up. i am looking for something where i can get up easy, relaunch, fly up wind (so damn hard it is not funny!) and enjoy the learning curve of getting proficient. once i have got the hang of it, i fully intend to go and get a few kites to allow me to kite in all winds and conditions, but i would like an easy entry to get me up and running.
if there are any other potential kiters out there, do the best thing and get some proper lessons, at least two. You really do need to know what you are doing out there, get it wrong and you can hurt yourself, and more import, hurt others.
Take it easy and enjoy this wonder place we live in
Mick
WA
186 posts
IMO the kite is the key ingredient, my advice would be to spend the dough on a new bow (or SLE) kite. Comparing my first kite (2006) to the new 09s I have demoed, there are plenty of improvements in the kite performance, bar pressure, depower and general build quality. Brands that I have tried or owned and liked are (in alphabetical order) Flexifoil, North, Ozone and RRD.
Get a seat harness and try to find a big board at the lowest price you can find new or secondhand. That will be the tricky part, cos I think the secondhand market is pretty lite for big boards.
SA
298 posts
Mick i agree with whatthe, spend the money and go for a new kite (2008 or 2009) model, kites have come a long way as he said in the last 3 to 4 years.
There are a lot of kites down here in SA but from my 5 years of kiting North and Slingshot have always been up there with build quality and performance, they are fairly good with their customer service and warrenties as well, and ive also seen the build quality and safety of Cabrinha and Liquid Force kites improve immensly over the last few years. For ease of use and the safety aspect for a beginner id steer you towards the new Switchblade IDS (Cabrinha), EVO or Rebel (North), or a Rev or Rev 2 (Slingshot). They are all really easy kites to pick up and use and have really good depower so u shouldnt get punished too much while learning. I would suggest speaking to your local shop and maybe trying a couple before you make your final decision, you may even be able to score a demo from the shops to help u make up your mind. Good luck!
