I dont' know whether to learn to kitesurf or to Windsurf.

Windsurfing I think looks cooler but I have heard it is very easy to learn the kitesurfing.
Also I hear the kite is wery dangerous.

Should I learn to kitesurf and then 'move on' to windsurfing when I am good enough?

Ingrid

Aim high, learn to windsurf... It is better (this comment will probably start a fight with the kiters)... Then you can catch waves and jump, not boost... What more could you want

If you were going to aim high youd be starting with kiting. you can go SO much higher, and not just go back and foward, its easier to learn and everything. see a good sport has to be easy to learn and fun to do, kiting is both, wheras windsurfing is 1, if you get to the point where you can do their best trick, gybingggggg wooooo. sheesh guys, give kiting a go and be pleasantly surpirsed.

windsurfing doesn't need more wind than kniting.

you can windsurf from 7 knots up to whatever wind strength and be planing.

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hahah yup so much more variety in kiting...

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Serisouly in terms of variety kiting has got nothing on windsurfing and never will have. The numbers of different tricks you can do on a windsurfer is astounding, just go watch a video with Ricardo Campello in it. That said the average windsurfer isn't Campello. Kiting basically has one thing, boosting massive air...with some variation of a spin or grab. I don't class that as variety.

However i'd say kiting is significantly easier to learn, that is, to progress to a competant level that windsurfing. It takes some people seasons to learn how to even jybe. Kiting is also advantageous in terms of hauling your gear, it's nice and easy. Windsurfing can be a pain sometimes lugging so much stuff around.

However if you're prepared to put in the hard yards and want the ultimate in reward, stick to windsurfing

hey Windsurfer you've just made me realize that in fact Kitesurfing is just a underclass of Windsurfing then.
as Kite-surfers are Wind-surfing.

my 2 cents:
kitesurfing is A LOT easier to learn than windsurfing, there's not much gear to carry around,and there's more accident.
Windsurfing is a bit more tricky to learn and challenging but If you are really keen and get a good instructor it will be a easier.

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Should I learn to kitesurf and then 'move on' to windsurfing when I am good enough?

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I would say the reverse. Knowing to Kitesurfing will not help you much for learning to windsurf, but learning to windsurf will help you a bit if you want to kitesurf after that (you will basically just have to learn how to fly the kite).


good luck

If the decision comes down to money and you are on a budget,
choose kitesurfing because it's cheaper in the long term.

If I was starting off now, knowing nothing about either sport and having to choose, I would probably choose kiting because:

*From the beach it looks more spectacular
*It's easy to learn
*The gear is less cumbersome
*you can have fun in light winds

Trouble is I started windsurfing and now I know what it feels like to scream across open ocean and hit big ramps and do REAL jumps. It's like just so hard to explain the feeling, nearest thing I can compare it with is moto-x with no engine noise....F***ing awesome.

Glad I don't have a choice...

The bigest chuckles in life that I get, are when I see a kite boarder being pulled acros the beach or carpark........ funny. also...... its funny when sailboarders go flying past thease kids like they are standing still.... there slow!

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Originally posted by nutbag

Hey Waveslave,
How is kiting cheaper? From what I've seen the gear is more expensive.
And in the long term?? Doesn't that depend on how long the person wants to keep gear? Might just be a one-off cost if they don't care about upgrading.

What about durability, I bet a kite doesn't last as long.

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Hi Nutbag,

Kitesurfing is cheaper because there's less stuff.
Kites last longer than monofilm sails.
There're no expensive masts, booms, uni-extensions or fins to break.
Kiteboards are less expensive than sailboards and don't snap as easy.

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Originally posted by waveslave

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Originally posted by nutbag

Hey Waveslave,
How is kiting cheaper? From what I've seen the gear is more expensive.
And in the long term?? Doesn't that depend on how long the person wants to keep gear? Might just be a one-off cost if they don't care about upgrading.

What about durability, I bet a kite doesn't last as long.

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Hi Nutbag,

Kitesurfing is cheaper because there's less stuff.
Kites last longer than monofilm sails.
There're no expensive masts, booms, uni-extensions or fins to break.
Kiteboards are less expensive than sailboards and don't snap as easy.

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Maybe it's just kiters are cheap... I mean they play around with a pissy little toy pump when they could easily get a 12v inflator for less than $100. Then you've got to factor in the constant fines & it is hardly leave only your footprints with kicker ramps left lying around.

Since kites are still in the gimmack stage people change them every 6 months anyway and I dispute the fact that they last longer than a monofilm sail. Look how many bladders you guys go through and sails dont get damaged by dragging their owners through trees and across roofs.

True but the kites do add to the breakages and expensive masts, booms, uni-extensions and fins are less maintenance than your launch/rescue buddies.

Kiteboards are less expensive but with a loss rate of 1 kiteboard every 5.7 sessions it soon adds up (which then costs windsurfers a fin when he runs over the near submerged plank adding to the cost of windsurfing).

I'm still waiting to se a kitesurfer who has the balls of doing an airial launch from the parking lot in Dutcheis, strait down in the water. That would have been sooooooo

When I see that, first then I will concider if I should try kiting or not.

I do both, love both, and am halfway competent at both. 3 to 4 seasons ago it was kiting 70% of the time and sailboarding 30% now it is probably 80/20 sailboarding vs kiting. I just found I missed the rush. There are a fair amount of guys in the area who have done the same. I would never try to talk anyone out of trying kiting as on its day it can just be brilliant, but if it came to a choice sailboarding would be it. For me an average days sailboarding will always beat and average days kiting hands down.

All that being said I know I know a long way down the track I will be giving up sailboarding before kiting since it is a lot harder physically but that is part of the appeal. A kite you need to go with the flow because in many ways it has you, but a sailboard allows you to get really aggressive and this is part of the attraction. After a big session you really know it and I love that feeling of having gone a few rounds. Kiting on the other hand is a sweet way to use wind and water with half the effort but the returns are different. It is not surprising to see 2 or 3 sets of kiters arrive, kite, then pack up while you are still cranking around on the sailboard.

In the end kiting is easier to learn and if strength is an issue it is easier physically, but there is a particular sort of joy to be found in sailboarding that is hard to explain and if you don't try it you will never know.

i faced the same decision 2 years ago... I chose windsurfing, best decision ever. mind u if i had the money i would buy a kite to use in under 15 knots... but i dont have the money, I think in the end kiting will cost u the same as windsurfing, coz u will always need more than one kite. like u need more than one sail. Windsurfing will always provide u with a challenge no matter how good u get there is always something to learn.... kiting from wat i have heard and seen, doesnt seem to be the same. You jump big, which is sick... but maybe it gets old... maybe not

So......,,
Are we all done now ?
Do we all agree that being a windsurfer is way better than being a kite-fag ?

Spread the anti-hype.
The less strings out in the waves the better.

regards,
slave.

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Originally posted by leski

Swedeman, problem is, that the guy that try that might as well end up lofted-dragged on the road..or simply smashed on the houses behind...which wouldn't look so good!

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-Right! I guess he just have to wait for the right day, or use the gentle morning (off-shore) breeze...

Hang Loose!