Hi all,

So I received some kite surfing lessons as a gift for Xmas.

Given I'm in Melbourne the lessons are for St Kilda, wanting to make the most of the lessons I'm wondering what the best wind conditions are for someone learning? I don't want to book my session in for a day when the wind conditions are going to be horrible for a beginner.

I've had a read of a couple of different threads and it appears that maybe I should be looking for 15 - 20 knot winds that are stable (e.g. not huge gusts). Is there a particular wind direction also? I'm assuming a Northerly is going to be rather pointless?

I have the sea breeze wind app already. Any information & suggestions is greatly appreciated.

Not overly the answer I was hoping for.



I did a bit of research and the following provided a much better explanation;

kitesurfing-handbook.peterskiteboarding.com/wind/wind-directions
www.mackiteboarding.com/kiteboarding-conditions.htm
outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/505/kitesurfing-optimal-conditions
www.gokite.com.au/resources/locations/st-kilda-info/ (St Kilda specific).

My Mrs got a lesson from one of those St Kilda schools
there wasn't enough wind to kite the kite in the air and they let her believe it was her fault
so don't trust the school.
You need to go on a Southerly, there's a localised sea breeze in St. kilda that comes on a lot of summer afternoons but doesn't usually appear in forecasts
so there's some pot luck in it,
the spot you'll be taught in gets a bit of wind shadow so if the charts are saying 15-20knots, it's only blowing 10-15knots in the shallows so aim for more wind

TobiTobi said..
Hi all,

So I received some kite surfing lessons as a gift for Xmas.

Given I'm in Melbourne the lessons are for St Kilda, wanting to make the most of the lessons I'm wondering what the best wind conditions are for someone learning? I don't want to book my session in for a day when the wind conditions are going to be horrible for a beginner.

I've had a read of a couple of different threads and it appears that maybe I should be looking for 15 - 20 knot winds that are stable (e.g. not huge gusts). Is there a particular wind direction also? I'm assuming a Northerly is going to be rather pointless?

I have the sea breeze wind app already. Any information & suggestions is greatly appreciated.

smartest student ive ever heard! seriously whats your background? sailing? pilot?

bang on 15knots is most ideal. any windier and you can get away from your instructor to quickly for them to swim after you or any less and itll be a little bit trickier to get up and rideing consistantly. before your lesson if you watch the "kiteboarding progression begginer dvd" from a torrent site your going to have the instructor wondering if your the school owners friend playing a joke on you. make sure your lessons private tho because your allready better prepared then whoever youll be partnered with and theyll get a little more attention then you. good luck and try not to stress to much about the crazy looping death machine that severs fingers and knocks down trees

Good afternoon seabreezes this summer 14-20 knots.

BOM is good for fc but often misses seabreezes.

You can almost guarantee an afternoon seabreeze at the moment if there's no hot northerly and temps reach over 25 degrees.

Wind doesnt stop in Victoria after summer. I kite year round with at least 2 weekends per month on average.

TobiTobi said..
Ha ha thanks.

I've been talking about learning how to kite for about 8 years now but never actually made it around to doing it. I do however surf ski from Sandridge beach (not too far from St Kilda) on a semi regular basis. That's why I've already got the sea breeze app and am somewhat familiar with the wind directions in the area.

I also used to SUP a little bit & have snowboarded for about 13 years. I understand and appreciate that there are certain conditions in all these kinds of sports which are going to be best to learn in and others to avoid completely.

Luckily I do have a 2 hour private as much gift for xmas which means that I can ensure that I get the most out of the session. I just want to ensure that I pick an ideal day for it as I don't want to waste it.


The voucher is also valid for 12 months, I'm still deciding as to if I want to use it now knowing that come March the wind will most likely die right down & there won't be a lot of time to practice or if I wait until October when it starts to pick up again. Water will be cold but I'll be able to get a full season of kiting in not just a couple of lessons. (I usually surf ski til about May then start up again in August/September).


On another note, I keep an eye on the marine wind forecast on BOM & the seabreeze forecast on the app & they seem to differ a bit. This morning for example seabreeze 20kts at 8am for Melbourne when the actual for St Kilda at the same time was 2kts. For thursday morning the app is forecasting 12kts southerly for 8am whereas BOM is 5-10kts. Is there one that's generally better than the other?

i do a split between boms marine wind forcast (i like seeing the actual presure systems) and seabreeze for there real time site wind meter (also from boms weather station i believe but you can scroll down to see a couple rather then keep reclicking on the radar sites)

i dont know if it is true or just a rumour but ahwhile ago some sailors were getting angry when caught out in stronger winds then bom predicted.... so bom over indulges a bit on the wind speed.

personally i just believe that its localised micro meteorogical systems like a cloud developing upwind and sucking up some of the wind (so less windspeed then predicited) or maybe larger swell createing more windfriction sheering etc etc

your core muscles from surf skiing will come in handy once you start trying to pull 8 hour sessions etc when youve become confident but kiteing is nowhere near as physical as that atleast for first few years. half the kiters i meet dont know what difference between windswell and groundswell is so youll have a little edge on that but theres plenty of windtheory that needs to be covered. your upper body strength may undo you a bit if you compete in surfskis because one thing you need to learn quick is that its just continuous tension on one line or the other that makes it steer. dont muscle the bar in thinking thats what is required for your first lesson you can get by by just useing a couple fingers of each hand on either side of the bar. hopefully your instructors a **** like me and will either demonstrate with himself what happens when you kiteloop or he will get you to, tends to add an instant understanding of respect for the power of the kite.

now as for your 12month voucher. take the lessons as soon as you possibly can. i wouldnt even think of waiting till next season. if its end of season your instructor will be very well rehearsed and will have the site completely dialled in for his/her student. you may endup with a first time instructor at start next season. also the school might go bust over the winter you never know. theres plenty of schools and they all claim to be just getting by.