haha well went down launched kite, kite fell out of sky due to bugger all wind. Relaunched and decided to just fly didnt want to be crashing in the surf when I could barely launch it. Considering its a 11m rebel and supposedly good for 13 to 29 knots does this mean it really wants 18 to 20 knots min??

I've only even kited when seabreeze said 20 knots and didnt have a problem.

On a good note I safely launched and recovered on the beach on my own!!

With the rebel 11 you need to generate a fair bit of apparent wind to get her moving in light winds. This means enthusiastically sineing the kite, keeping your angle to the wind relatively tight and not edging your board too hard. If this sounds like a lot for someone who has just graduated Wyeba it's probably cause it is. The problem you will have at this stage in the surf with light winds is that the waves slow you down and kill any apparent wind you might generate. Take into account any sort of current and you will just come out thinking you're a sh1t pilot. Right now we are coming into spring tides so you can have up to four knots of tide going with you, take that away from 12knots of breeze and suddenly you are trying to kite in 8 knots which most people will have 17m kites out for, and be struggling with in the waves.

I'd just practise keeping your kite in the air on the beach on these really light days.. It will teach you a lot. From one noob to another