Hey there!!! Another noobie here :D I tried to stay around people and don't go into deep...
I don't know how long does it take to get the feel for the kite. All I know is since the very first lesson I felt like the kite was talking to me and telling me what to do. It is a weird feeling hard for me to explain :P
I just release the bar when I feel the kite is pulling me (really really hard) in a direction I don't want to go and when I don't want it to pull me... Your ABORT ABORT, TERRAIN TERRAIN alarm should be when the kite is doing something that you don't want it to do. Just push the bar up and keep steering in the direction you want and that should be enough... :D
I don't think you have to "MAN UP", women bring grace to sports in their own way. Another member of this community gave me one of the best advice, do like Nike motto "Just do it!!!", go for it and practice :D
Another thing that I've found with kitesurf is that the community is really strong, friendly and helpful. Just go to the beach when conditions are right and all the other kiteboarders will help you for sure, whether you ask or not. If you're doing something completely out of line someone will approach you and help you out...
Like a said another noob here :P just my humble opinion and short experience...
Keep enjoying the wind!!!

I've been kiting 9 years and still learning. Maybe I'm a slow learner.

Get as much time on the water as you can. Ask questions of more advanced kiters as well. I think good kiteboarding is 90% kite flying skills.

Important things to know -
Learn to body drag upwind. You will need this skill many, many times. Don't wear a board leash, they are very dangerous.
Learn how to self rescue and when to self rescue.
Learn to relaunch your kite quickly.
Understand the conditions before you go out. If it's straight onshore don't go out untill you can go upwind efficiently. Get to know the tides.
Look what others are flying. If everyones on 7m kites don't put up you 12m.
Don't go out if its too strong for you or you have doubts.
Don't let other newbees or other inexperienced people launch your kite. Ugly things happen when someone sends your kite from an inappropriate position. I would rather self launch than have someone I don't know launch my kite.
Keep your gear in good condition.

You ask "When to release?" Generally, letting go of the bar and sitting in the water if you feel panicked is a good idea. Modern kites quickly relaunch if you dump them. If you find yourself going too fast push the bar out and sit down. A more advanced move is to bear off downwind to take some of the tension off the kite, reestablish your edge and resume on your old tack.

A couple of scary things that can happen on the water.

One of the worst things that can happen on the water is having a stearing line get caught on your harness or other inappropriate object and sending the kite into a spiral. Once the lines twist around themselves several lines depower won't work nor will flagging the kite. At this point you would need to ditch the lot before you hit the beach.

Also, treat the lines with the utmost respect. A line caught around your arm or finger and an out of control kite acts like a running saw. It quickly cuts deep.

That said, worse things happen on the land. Water is the safest place to be. After launching get onto the water quickly. Don't stand around on the beach looking up at your kite. It's a dangerous place to be.

My intention is not to scare you out of kiting but to develop a healthy respect for the tiger you have by the tail.

Hi Woobs1, some great advice in here already.

Being too nervous as a learner can be dangerous and is probably the main reason why people give up kiteboarding in the first place. Being very nervous as you describe can cause you to unconsciously react with bad habits like pulling the bar in all the way, over-steering the kite, etc.

The main thing for anyone learning to kite is to have realistic expectations and more importantly to quickly identify, respect and follow your OWN learning pace. There is no shame in having a slower “below average” learning pace. If anything this will make you a more knowledgeable and progressive kiteboarder in the future.

The key element here is to work on calming down and feeling more comfortable with the kite. This can be done by using smaller kites, shorter lines and using them in lighter winds as many times as you need to start feeling more relaxed. Even using a small trainer kite could be a good idea considering your current state of mind flying the bigger kites.

Unfortunately, most lessons are being catered towards average and fast pace learners. Ultimately, I encourage you to continue lessons, but you need to find an instructor who can quickly understand your learning difficulties and adjust the lesson accordingly. Probably best for you to find a female instructor who, just like yourself, was feeling very nervous when she began kiting. There is no point in the instructor fast forwarding your progression at this stage; this will just make you feel more nervous and less competent. Sadly, this happens too often…

Make sure you get comfortable letting go of the bar and also releasing the safety system at any time, etc. Basically all of KIT33R's advice. This should be done during lessons ideally, with smaller than usual sizes of kites, shorter lines, in less than 25 knots.

Hope this helps

One of the worst things that can happen on the water is having a stearing line get caught on your harness or other inappropriate object and sending the kite into a spiral. Once the lines twist around themselves several lines depower won't work nor will flagging the kite. At this point you would need to ditch the lot before you hit the beach.

Well said, all of it, but I particularly liked this bit, as it happened to me just a couple of days ago. Prior to that, I had been unaware of this little loophole in our safety systems.

As I was trying to sort out what had happened and to untangle my lines from around my bar, my kite started to loop. Seeing this, I quickly pulled my safety, instintively expecting the bar to sail away from me and the kite to flag. When my bar stayed in the same place, I began to get a bit concerned, as I hadn't really drilled for the "ditch the lot" scenario on this kite. Fortunately, I was in the shallow, and the kite did somehow come to a rest (lull in the wind perhaps), so I made a run for it, grabbed it and spent 45 min sorting out my lines on shore.

I know how to ditch my kite, and I did get it sorted in time, just in case the worst happened, but I didn't want to turn my kite into a missile so close to the beach unless I absolutely had to. Still, I got lucky on this one...

The moral is: Know your safety systems, all of them, and drill yourself on them, so that you don't have to think when it all goes tits up. You may not have time to think...

Lots of good advice so far.

The most important thing to be a happy kiter is not board skills, its kite skills.

Having better kite skills will make getting up on the board much easier.

Bodydragging allows you to develop the kite skills and you can also learn how to relaunch the kite in deep water and deal with all the things that occur when you fall off the board, so dont think that you have to get on the board in a hurry to progress well.

Since this thread has developed plenty of interest can I get in a plug for the "Code of Conduct" we developed a few years back. Also, please join AKSA for third party insurance and much, much more.

http://www.nswkba.com.au/coc

It will help new guys, and some not so new guys, understand safety, kiting rules and general good advice.

squidbert said...

Kites are intimidating for most peolple first few times. Lots of power in a 12 meter in 20+ kn winds. dont do what i did and search kiteboarding accidents on you tube before you start.

Oh SNAP!!.... That is so what I did.....lmao.

But have since learnt not to do such things....

Just wanted to thank everyone again for the replies

I am feeling much more comfortable with tonights lesson.

After reading your posts, re-watching my training videos, spending more time on my trainer etc etc.... I am starting to grasp all the concepts.

Studying and flying my trainer has taken a different feel - since my last lesson.

I understand all the concepts in the videos more and I know what to practice with my kite now etc etc... I can see a little lightbulb above my head switch on..

And I have decided that there is no way I am giving up on this sport - am gonna practice my butt off and take my time with my lessons as so many of you suggested!

Gonna body drag until the cows come home if I have too.... whatever it takes

And tonight I am definately going to ask my trainer if we could spend some more time going over the safety aspects and releases....get a bit of muscle memory going

Oh - and will be reading this forum all the time - there is so much info and being I dont know anyone else who kiteboards - its been AWESOME!!!

Thanks again everyone!! You all rock!

Wobbs1 said...



Oh - and will be reading this forum all the time - there is so much info and being I dont know anyone else who kiteboards - its been AWESOME!!!

Thanks again everyone!! You all rock!

Don't worry Wobbs you'll soon make a whole lot of new friends.

Don't forget to check out http://www.seqka.com.au/ for info on your local association. They have many social events and other useful links.