Hey everyone!

My wife and I windsurf when we get the chance. She has difficulty with sailing upwind. I've tried everything to teach her but spend most sessions rescuing her and not sailing, we have tried lessons too. I'm also very over the amount of space required for the gear we have and we are downsizing our house so storage will be more of an issue.

She is of the opinion that kitesurfing is extremely dangerous and would be hesitant to try it. I'm really keen to get her into it because once she got over the initial learning curve and got and about she would at least be able to sail and have fun, with windsurfing she gets very discouraged. And sometimes has trouble with a lack of strength.

I have heard that kitesurfing is easier to learn/have fun? Am I correct in my thinking?

We are also on a tight budget. We already have harnesses. But would need everything else. How much would two kites and the rest of the gear cost per person?

We live Sydney and she weighs 55kg and I weigh 80kg if that helps with gear etc.

Any other thoughts/advice? Thanks heaps!

LukeandLiss said..
Hey everyone!

My wife and I windsurf when we get the chance. She has difficulty with sailing upwind. I've tried everything to teach her but spend most sessions rescuing her and not sailing, we have tried lessons too. I'm also very over the amount of space required for the gear we have and we are downsizing our house so storage will be more of an issue.

She is of the opinion that kitesurfing is extremely dangerous and would be hesitant to try it. I'm really keen to get her into it because once she got over the initial learning curve and got and about she would at least be able to sail and have fun, with windsurfing she gets very discouraged. And sometimes has trouble with a lack of strength.

I have heard that kitesurfing is easier to learn/have fun? Am I correct in my thinking?

We are also on a tight budget. We already have harnesses. But would need everything else. How much would two kites and the rest of the gear cost per person?

We live Sydney and she weighs 55kg and I weigh 80kg if that helps with gear etc.

Any other thoughts/advice? Thanks heaps!

Hi Luke and Liss
The learning curve can be very steep for some people when it comes to kite surfing, it's 80% kite control and 20% board skills, time flying the kite is your best friend. The weight difference between you will allow you to share a couple kites in the middle of your quiver, she might be flying the 10m in the very light winds (12-16 knots) and you would use the same kite in the 22-30 knot range. Kite surfing requires less upper body strength than wind surfing and there are plenty 40-55kg kids, girls etc all able to handle the right sized kite. It's great sport and couples that kite together, stay together
I would definitely start with a couple lessons and follow your instructors recommendation for kite sizes.
Best of luck with your journey

What Both defer and gateman said above..
but compared to a punter..
you both know and understand wind and how to read it.
UBK& Understand board and balance using the wind
URB competent to go out beyond your depth without getting phased..
So the main differences are..
How the power is transmitted to the board it is less complex
Hhow you capture the power, the kite is initially more complex but once you start including Gybes etc kite is way less complex...
SStarts.. well if u use a floater and haul up..mast that's no fun if you standing start one foot on board that's about same as kite start.
A stand out difference is the ability to start and stop power delivery.
Windsurfing is way more straightforward..
Kite no drop mast and relax. The kite is active from launch till landing there is no off. But. It is obviously not a major issue a lot of people kite.
This is where kites take getting used to.. it is also where very rapid change occurred in design some10 plus years back.. the target being safety.. so kites have a complete setup you will find new.. but capable of being understood fairly quickly due to knowledge of wind/power development from sail. So the way to checkout is that land based handling.

summary.(joke ). in the learning phase...kite considerably less muscle required.
kite control has no easy comparison to windsurfing you have to learn it windsurfing is a lot easier to learn sail movement balance and power delivery but once you are moving on a board I feel kiting is easier.. getting that balance on a windsurfer especially near the top or bottom end of the sail's range is harder and requires more physical power.
windsurfer likely to get earlier runs on the board as a learner the board floats and once balanced you just zip so more leeway for error..
Kite.. building that solid familiarity once you expect to be able to ride the board each session is easier to windsurfing especially since the first board type you use is symmetrical so go to left or go to right is basically the same.
There is no free lunch but you are well ahead of a rookie..
Both crews are generally great helpful.. so if you want wind power and portability give it a crack...
cheers
AP. (In dry dock for a number of weeks after bike stack so time to burn)

Plus 1 for the learners kite holiday if you can afford it, I did 5 days in Peurto RICO back in 2003 and it was an amazing way to get your head around all the safety, kite gear etc. Included all gear, instruction and accommodation. Not sure who does these locally but Zephyr Tours do a number of trips to Cocos Islands, South Africa, Torres Strait etc.

well said Eddiemorgs. Fear is a good thing - the sport is risky and risk management a big part of what we do. If she is aftaid, understand concerns and address them. As others mention, training and practise in appropriate conditions after personal instruction is key. Given concerns about budget to save money, i got lessons thrown in with gear purchase. Can highly recommend the face to face instruction is supplemented by progression videos and youtube (qualified experts). Talking to people at your local shop or on the beach works as well. Mates and i made the shift from windsurfing. On super windy days we miss it but the airtime and reduced gear weight is worth it. Good luck!

hi Luke and Liss

My wife and I both Windsurfed, not that well but we enjoyed it. My wife (57kg) found carry the gear to the water, rigging bigger sails a pain. She was fascinated by kiting due the smaller equipment size.

Moving forward we started kiting (we had lessons and a holiday (good location) is great idea) and she was off kiting. The whole strings on the beach, people who choose to jump over you and trying to manage a kite in strong winds tarnished the attraction. Then to foiling and she got "foil brain" and pretty much doesn't twin tip.

Late last year she saw windinging and there has been no stopping her. She currently has a 115l board, 4m wing, 1600 foil. She can carry the gear, no strings, easy to pump up sail and more places you can go. We both are still learning so we wear wetsuits and helmets because of the foils. I am still in the learning phase as I hadn't really kite foiled.

for kiting we essentially have one set of kites 7,9,12 plus a zephyr. Generally my wife is one step down from me (90 kgs) on a twin tip (eg me 9m her 7m - ) sometimes maybe a bigger gap. We have the same bars etc so it is easy to change over if the wind drops or picks up. Our boards are about 15% differences in size although I have a really big tt for light winds which she doesn't use. Kite foiling introduces some other variables and we now have kites down to 3.5. We actually bought the same model board in different sizes so if we swapped the board is the same.

When we learnt (on holiday) there were a lot of new starters who gave up before the first 2 hr lesson was over. If you get launched badly is can be a little disheartening. So I would commit to equipment too early. We both agree it is easier physically to learn kiting and it is quicker to get to the mowing the lawn point.

You might be able to try a wind wing on a sup to see what you think, windwinging is still fairly new.

Hope this helps with your decision, for us the biggest issue was who would launch who when we were the only ones on the beach.

Hi Luke, post a picture of liss, we will try n help ya