I guess there is pros and cons to both. I have never tried kiting, so I guess I cant say too much. But to me, kiting looks good for -
Ease of carrying equipment - dont need to muck around with roof rack in you only have a small car
Hang time - looks like fun being in the air for longer periods
Less wind needed- this is a BIG pro!
But then there are the cons -
Spend ages on beach mucking around with tangled lines, and trying to launch on your own
Dangerous - people dieing all over the word.
Gear breakage in water - Imagin having to paddle a kite board from 2 km out if your kite riped

Im sure we could go on for ages with arguments for both cases. But my advice is if you like going really fast, stick to windsurfing. If you want to fly in the sky, try the kite.

PS. kitesurfers look REALY unco until they get good at it!

As a kiter I must say the sensation of being on a decent wave down the line is unreal. With shorter lines you get way more direct response from the kite, and carving one-handed up and down with no sail in front of you gives you so much more freedom to really express yourself. And you can go goofy or natural which is a huge bonus.
That said, I was a crap wavesailer.

I feel the same jose, I'm a windsurfer deep down. I bought a kite and was on the board by the 3rd time I flew it. Found it really easy to pick up but just never felt the same inclination to pursue it. That was about 2 years ago I guess. Ppl keep telling me the kites are better now but I just have no interest in it.

I really feel that kiting has brought more newcomers to the joy of windsports than it has in converting sailors to kiters. (which isn't such a bad thing afterall)

ranger= Im sure we could go on for ages with arguments for both cases. But my advice is if you like going really fast, stick to windsurfing. If you want to fly in the sky, try the kite.
PS. kitesurfers look REALY unco until they get good at it!

i agree with ranger it seems that when its howling kiters digg too much rail in and they seem to get bogged down but as soon as they get the board out of the water they fly looks pretty cool but i wouldnt spend thousands just to look cool in the air



GONE WITH THE WIND

I've been windsurfing quite competitively for 20 years and pretty much shaped my life around it (reason why I moved to WA). Because my circumstances have changed, I have less time to travel around the state in search of a wave. Increasingly frustrated with the lack of conditions around Perth, I decided to try out kitesurfing last year. Put simply, it saved my summer...

As far as I can tell, kitesurfing represents a fantastic evolution. More thrill, less gear, more intense, more power, less restricted movement, bigger jumps and unmatched carving. In addition, Perth is just a perfect location, steady wind, space, etc.

It's a little bit overwhelming at first, and it's like snowboarding compared to skiing. You will have three days of pure hell, but then the learning curve is very fast (but you also plateau quite quickly). Try skiing in 3 days ... you'll need minimum 3 years to get to a decent level.

I don't intend to quit windsurfing, but the fact is I must select on what gear I spend my money, coz all these toys are damn expensive. In the last 6 weeks, I've windsurfed once at Dutch-inn, the only decent summer swell we've had here (31 Dec). I've kitesurfed 15 times +

If you can afford it, do both. If you can't, well don't be scared to give kitesurfing a go, more than once and with people who know what they're doing. It's worth the money if you're stuck in Perth...

I think an important factor with perspective is number of years experience. In other words, someone who has wavesailed for 20 years won't get the same thrills on the same choppy break as he used to. Whereas on the same day a newbie will be a-hootin' & a-hollerin'.

Learning something new isn't everyone's cup of tea either. Many times I've heard the sweeping statement - "I don't need this kind of aggravation at this point in my life!" So it takes a certain type of person, and loads of commitment.

In the end it's whatever gets you high.

I'm with OJ. The kite "wave sailing" I have seen usually is just 1 carve on the wave then run away or pop in the air, linking moves and down the line wave sailing is still the domain of windsurfing, not puppet boarders. There also seems to be a common message about Perth conditions being crap and Lano too crowded, have you ever thought of going further afield and going on a safari, you may find amazing conditions closer to home than you think, but if you want to keep the blinkers on, feel free.

>I have seen usually is just 1 carve on
> the wave then run away or pop in the air, linking moves and down the
>line wave sailing is still the domain of windsurfing, not puppet boarders.


I used to think that too but that's also just wanting to keep the blinkers on as you said.
If you look at kitesurf in Perth's waves yes it is pretty much what you describe, but what windsurfers are doing in Perth is not any better!!! I used to think that kitesurfers couldn't do a proper smooth wave riding , but now I've seen few with very short lines actually, that are surfing amazingly flying the kite in front of them as there are riding the wave..... Even in Margs you might see once a while some bloody good kitesurfing wave riding...
Windsurfing is my main passion and the reason why I end up in WA, so I personnaly still prefer windsurfing in waves but maybe it could be because I am not good enough to kite in waves!!hard to say..

I have to agree on the fact that there are lots of good waves spots to windsurf when it 's crap in Perth and crowded elsewhere.
But you need to drive a bit.
And by the way I am still amazed that some really top wave spots are still deserted..I can't figure out why? ...but I have to say I am pretty happy about it!

I just think that it is good for windsurfer to have a go at kitesurfing, if you like the water..surfing, wakeboarding..you can't miss out on kitesurfing

leski

I agree with OJ for the freestyle stuff, you could be pretty radical on flat water , but I am a lazy b******

I do a bit of both. What amazed me about kiting was how easy it was to get to the "planing stage" of learning. I pretty much had two whole days of practicing and that was it. I can understand now why it is so popular. To the non sailer, Kiting looks hard to learn but was quite easy for most of the people I know, and windsurfing looks easy but takes a long time to get good at. I like the fact that it is hard to get "dumped" by waves when kiting in the surf, but crashing the kite in surf is sometimes a headache, and certainly less gear to break during a wave wipeout. I still got my first lines, bar, 2002 naish kite and Ive stacked it dozens of times. Often just talking about windsurfing in the waves puts a hole in my sail. I don't miss the "how the farq did that rip happen" tears occuring when i've been in the surf.

Here in qld there are a zillion excellent kiters (as i'm sure there are in WA). About 50% were non windsurfers, 45% who were beginner/intermidate windsurfers and about 5% who were genuinely good at windsurfing/waveriding.

There are alot of pro kiters around, but there aren't too many folk who were/are extremely good windsurfers out there. I like the kite, but I'd like to be an awesome windsurfer before I croak.

Cheers

Rick

Yehhhh oj bring it on. "Plug and Play" dead set rips Windsurfing is still way hardcore, I dragged my clew out of the white water after the wave broke for the first time this season and felt like a dead set professional I still think windsurfers and kiters are a different breed but whatever turns you on. I'm gonna stay a sailor cause I love it sooo much, freestyle, waves or out cruising on my big kit (5.7m/94lt) but i'll still launch or land a kite if some one needs a hand. Each to their own but TOLERATE the other.

See you on the water.....

Retroboy, good attitude, & I like your style

kite surfing is pretty good. but mainly because its a source of humor for me.. it is always funny to read about kite surfers getting draged up the beach, through powerlines, through car parks, malls, basicly all over the place. heheheh

every one seem to like the air time you get with kites.. well it may be long but it looks kind of boreing. if you look at them they are just hanging there swinging there boards around,..

but each to there own

outs1de,
im glad to see that the pain of other makes you laugh. its real funny how poledancers (windsurfers) think of kiters as the bad guys, bringing the whole idea of wind to a bad prespective . but kitesurfing is seen as a step on from poledancing to me. the control over the kite is alot more than what you think it is, and sometimes there are tragedies, but these things happen. i dont at all think it is funny though. i mean if the same thing happened to you guys, which it cant cause u need big waves to get air and you only get a thrill from planing across water and doing the odd jump wen a knarly wave comes across, you wouldnt see us laughing.

come on guys, we are all in the same boat here, lets just accept that both sports are alot of fun, and the wind is there to share. so hows about we dont bitch about it coz i dont see a topic like this one on the kiting section. but please correct me if im wrong!

if any of you guys have ever herd of karma, then thoughts like that will soon change to your direction!!

chill out and and go hard
richi[}:)]

Well said Richie, anyone and everyone is welcome to come to the premiere, as for the nationals WA kicked butt, young Dan the man Anderson won juniors again and came second in open, Jake Gordon impressed with fourth in opens at his Nationals debut, Tina Harrison won Ladies and Theresa McKirdy came second for 2 years in a row (she'll win next year in front of a home crowd) most of these riders feature in Fire Away so check em out!

There was always potential for the ego boys to push this topic over the edge......