luke123 said...

im new to this sport and just wondering is it worth buying a kite now or when the season starts again?

Winter I'd definitely bustier and harder to learn but it still works if you're prepared to put in the effort. One advantage of buying around this time is you pick up the end of season specials.

4 x 3mm wetsuit with 1mm top underneath, booties, hood and neoprene Y-fronts and you're laughin.

One of my best seasons ever during la Nina was off-season. Lots of wind and few people.

A very generalised idea of what you can expect:

Winter is characterised by a steady progression of cold fronts that came at us from the great Australian Bight then sweep past to the SE.

As most experienced people will tell you, have to be carefull with frontal winds - especially pre-frontal (often with lots of North in them) which can be very gusty and you generally don't want have your kite in the air when the front approaches. They are usually pretty obvious and the rule of thumb applies: if it looks ominous then assume it is. Though on occasion, radical shift in direction and speed can happen on a perfectly clear day with little or no warning. Though the BOM are usually onto it so pay special attention to forecasts.

Some time after the front, the usual S-SW change can often have winds abating and gusting less so try zeroing-in on this stage of the cycle. Then again...sometimes, post-frontal winds can scream for a day or two, so be patient, wait for it to settle.

Water+wind+wave+weather is a whole new world of experience with its own language. If you are an uber-noob with no prior boating/sailing experience then it can all be a bit intimidating. But with all these things, its about getting out there and gathering experience together with lots of self-education. The BOM is full of really good educational resources - make use of them and perhaps, like me, you might even develope a keen interest in the crazy phenomenon called weather and how we humans try to map it.

Enough rambling. Others will no doubt add to this and somewhere around here there's a more detailed description of what kiters can expect in winter.

Hope I haven't scared you...it's not that bad. Just need to choose your days more carefully and perhaps more importantly, know when to come out of the water and get that kite out of the sky.

Cheers and happy noobing.

P.S. Make sure there's a few other kiters around to help you launch and land - this can be a bit of an issue during winter.