Hey,

I moved to Melbourne about 12 months ago and after visiting St Kilda, i was amazed at the amount of kite surfers and the awesome conditions dished up not only there but all around the bay.

I started searching some kite schools and found this forum, unfortunately for me I stumbled onto the sport at the wrong time of year for a beginner (May), so after many months of lurking and reading I thought I would introduce myself and ask a few question..

I took my first lesson with KSS on Saturday and had a ball. Lars if you read this, thanks a lot mate.
I went out and grabbed myself a rush pro 300 so I can really start working on my kite skills and get proficient in that department ASAP. I have read a few opinions on here about trainers and they seem pretty divided but after spending a few hours on a mates 1.5 trainer before our lesson I must admit it made a huge difference and we were both body dragging pretty well after only about 10 minutes practicing launches and figure 8's ( albeit on a 2.5 lol), where as the other two in our lesson had a much harder time..

Now for my questions..

1. To go away on ride days or camps with Kite Republic does all your training have to be done trough them? I enjoyed my lesson with Lars and am more than happy to support the guys out there but I really like the idea of camp weekends and ride days, I can see myself progressing much quicker through such trips. Do Other schools or Clubs offer these? Furthermore there have been quite a few post suggesting "newbies" stay away from Altona for obvious reasons, so I'm just wondering if it makes more sense having my training done around St Kilda and making some kitting buddies out this throughout the process?

2. What sort of wetsuit, if any do people suggest for summer? Or is a rashy the better option?

3. Any other good kite boarding sources for videos/techniques/Tips other than Peters kite surfing blog??

Sorry for the essay,

Shane

2) I used a 2/3 full body wetsuit when learning last summer. It's not as much about keeping warm as it is protecting you from the sun and grazes when you inevitably come off and get dragged around in shallow water. You spend a lot of time off your board in the water when learning and if you head out at a beach like rosebud you'll probably find you get dragged over shells and sand bars on your knees so the extra layer of protection is handy.

3) Check out the Progression kitesurfing DVDs. There are plenty of good youtube videos around but the progression DVDs cover everything really well and it's all in one spot.

Oh and if you're going to fit in,... start saying how crap St. Kilda is... That's what everyone else does. You don't have to mean it.

svent said...

....

See you guys out there soon

Shane

Oh ps..st kilda is rubbish :p

ha ha! Welcome aboard.

Let me know what you make of that Progression DVD. I personally think it's ace... a bit dry... but perfect for how I learn.

I think 12-10, or 11-9 are way too close. You can easily go at least 3m apart in sizes. 12-9 or even 12-8 should do you just fine. There will still be overlap.

Thanks SpaceCoyote and SaltySinus.

12-9 Sounds like a good option. I'll be looking at picking up a 12 in the next 2 weeks. I have another lessons tomorrow ( assuming the wind is right) so will no doubt keep firing away the questions in the next coming weeks.

Cheers,

Shane

Nice one. The wind is up there today so could see that being a worthy addition haha

I just bought my first kite, found a 9m 2013 switch only used twice. Figured it still has many good years ahead of it and will start me of on a nice 9/12 quiver, I weigh about 86 so that should do me well for my first year I think.

Once I finish my lessons and can hold my own we will have to meet up for a kite!

Shane