Hey folk.. Just registered over in this place to see whats up with this kite surfing deal. Been looking up a few videos on youtube and the net and it looks pretty sweet I reckon. I'm 19 and from Sydney n I'm a westie so I'm not much of a surfer or nothin, whatever you guys call us, westies, shoobies (rocket power??), noobs.. I dunno but I live too far away from the beach to go there often but I plan to get a little apartment on the coast, whether it be sydney or qld I don't know but I surely wanna get a place over there.
So I've been checkin the sport out and it seems preeeeetty wicked but I got a few questions for you guys..
How hard is it to get into?? Will 3 days of lessons at 3 hours each lesson get me goin on my own?
What's a good beginners setup?? I'm like 70kg and 5"8'
Cheers fellas
Firstly..... WELCOME!
To answer your questions......
How hard is it to get into?? Its only as hard as you make it. THere are plenty of schools around that will be willing to help you out on your way to becoming a kitesurfer.
Will 3 days of lessons at 3 hours each lesson get me goin on my own? That will depend on how quickly you pick things up. The hardest part is controlling the kite and not letting the kite control you, thats for sure. Once again a good school should get you riding in 4 to 6 hours.
What's a good beginners setup?? I'm like 70kg and 5"8' That will depend on your local conditions. Pop into a kite shop and have a word to them. Stay away from total beginners boards as you will soon grow out of it and want something better within no time.
Hope this answers some questions
tough crowd this gang who were born mid megaloop, have only gotten better from there and never had to find answers to such questions themselves (oh, and not to mention the other ones who did it the hard way and taught themselves on two-line nightmares and are very very tough).
still, there are certain rites of passage the rest of us have had to go through:
1, finding an even half decent school,
2, finding an even slightly suitable first kite and board,
3, realising we didn't learn jack about various important safety issues from our instructors,
4, asking naive questions on seabreeze that have already been comprehensively covered in previous threads that we could/should have searched first, and then copping can after can of woop, despite our pure intentions,
5, after many trials and tribulations, both on the net and on the water, finally learning enough to then either give useful help to noobs or gratuitously lord it over them and feel smug.
so, deXtrous, welcome to the step before step 1. sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. sometimes it just gets worse. either way, searching the old threads for noob-related questions before you throw your hat in the ring will save you all sorts of grief. kiters=rabble
get yourself a trainer kite and fly it for 6 months before you have lessons fly it in a park get to know how the wind works before you have a lesson .it makes heaps of difference. theres nothing but crap wind at the moment anyway.you can pick one up for under 200 bucks and it money well spent. practice flying figures of 8 either side of the wind window[the left and right side with the wind at your back].
don`t buy any gear till after you have had your lessons .your instructor will help you figure that out with you.
hope this helps.
its the best sport ever and learning it is great fun too.
While vader's suggestion has merit, I don't think there's any need to spend six whole months flying a trainer kite before your first lesson. Of course it's the middle of Winter now, so if you wait for Summer to start (probably a good idea) then there's a bit of time to practice kite control.
i'll throw in my opinion for self-learning. I would NOT recommend it for most people, but it’s do-able if that’s how you like to tackle things. Be prepared to get seriously hammered. I started about 10 months ago, considered lessons, but they were expensive and hard to line up across town because of need for suitable winds.
Used a trainer for a couple of weeks then borrowed a 9m c kite and got going. Spoke to a lot of experienced people and read lots on sites like this. Had a surf background but no idea about wind.
It’s an intense and unforgiving learning experience, but I kept meeting the guys who’d self taught on the old 2 strings and figured if they’d survived it was ok on the new de-power set-ups. Started with my son and a mate, but both bailed after some serious thumpings.
Bought a second hand bow kite and have slowly gotten it together. I’ve shredded a couple of kites, smashed my elbow and knee but survived ok.
Couple of tips if you consider self-starting- don’t start in the surf- still water is sooo much easier, keep well clear of innocent bystanders - they will wander up for a casual chat no matter how hard you’re struggling to control the kite, and I stayed well clear of other kites- no point in spreading the pain.
It’ll take a lot longer to get up and running without lessons, but you learn self launch, landing, rescue pretty quickly and solidly. I’m still see a few of the more experienced guys struggling with these things
i also self taught.... what a long drawn out process that was!!! if i had my time again i would shell out the 2/3/400 dollars for a lesson. would also wait and get the instructors advice on what gear to buy before purchasing anything.
its just a matter of getting out whenever you can and you will pick it up in no time!
Hi DeXtrous,
There is a lot of info on this forum and much of it is RABBLE which is great unless you want straight answers. It's a tough crowd here on seabreeze!
I wouldn't follow some peoples approach, there is no need to get hammered, beaten, smashed and thumped.
My advice is to buy a nice trainer kite of around 2.0-2.5 sqm (even a second hand one) and spend the remainder of winter flying it at the beach or a nice open park with less trees around to create wind turbulence. By the start of summer you'll understand a lot more about the wind and kite flying. Buy and watch The Beginner Progression Series DVD.
Next go to the beach and ask the kiters you see who the best local school or instructor is. Most people will point you in the right direction (make sure you ask a few). Take the lessons from the most reputable school and don't necessarily go to the cheapest, learn on the schools gear and once you are comfortable and the instructor says you are ready for your own gear, speak to the instructor and/or local shop and get recommendations on the gear you should start on.
Personally, I'd buy new gear. It will have warranty, be the safest and easiest to fly and relaunch, and despite what people will tell you, if you have followed this advice, you won't crash and shred your kite to pieces. Wrecking kites and gear is almost the sole domain of the self learner.
Once you have your gear, join AKSA or the local variant of it and frequent the local noob beach. Don't go to beaches where no kiters are to be out of the way, and don't necessarily go to to where all the kiters are. Your instructor/school and other kiters will let you know the most appropriate beach for learning.
Lastly, welcome to the sport, it isn't hard, but it can be dangerous to you and more importantly, others! So learn responsibly and have a great time.
Take most of what you read on these forums with a grain of salt.
Cheers,
Kitehard
Tip #1: Get lessons to learn about safety.
Tip #2: If you can afford it, buy a new kite or the newest kite you can afford. Any bow kite made after about 2006 should be great for you.
Tip #3: Get lessons to ask your instructor about what gear you should buy.
Tip# 4: Get lessons to ask about where you should practice.
Tip #5: Get lessons...
I reckon 3 lessons will be more than adequate. You might even feel comfortable going out after 1-2 lessons, but discuss with your instructor as they will have a feel for where you are at with your kite control.
Tip #6: Ignore the negative posters in this thread and don't give up.
Cheers for the replies folk... Much appreciation to all of you
Just one more confusion I have... Don't the lines get twisted when you surf? Like I see videos of guys doing rotations and stuff, wont their outside lines get tangled (unless they have some sort of gyro) and not be able to control the kite?
Cheers again!.. and oh I don't mind them 'flamers' hah 
........ its all good man, you can still fly the kite when your lines are twisted..... you just spin the bar and they come undone...
don't try to work all that **** out just yet, it will come together when you start flying the kite - trainers are really good, get one now and fly it a bit + watch some dvds like kiteboarding 101 or kiteboarding progression series and try to suss it out a bit..... then spring/summer hits get a lesson or two and you'll be on your way.
people on the beach are heaps nicer than people on this forum. They don't have the balls to **** with as much when there not in the comfort of there own living room
Welcome .. make sure you have thick skin if you're gonna hang around these forums. 
Handy links from news/articles/kitesurfing:
www.seabreeze.com.au/Articles/Kitesurfing/How-to-start-Kiteboarding_2274949.aspx
www.seabreeze.com.au/Articles/Kitesurfing/Kitesurfing-beginner-questions_903071.aspx
www.seabreeze.com.au/Articles/Kitesurfing/Kitesurfing-Terminology-Lingo_1185759.aspx
You aint form aroun ear arya boy?
Bullet proof vest with a flame suit over the top would be the minimum dress standard ay Loz?
Welcome on board Dexter now get a kn dog upya!
BTW your plan to do multiple lessons is a good one. I'd probably space the 3 lessons out over a week or two at most just to give your muscles a bit of recovery and to let the info sink in a bit.
Check the gear reviews for good beginers kites. Don't be fooled into thinking you will grow out of a beginners/intermediate kite overnight. You won't and you will have far more fun learning on sumpin moderate aspect ratio and stable. The key is to maximise your fun credits in the 1st season (when the going can be tuff at times) so you stick at it.
The 1st season is half learning the hard way and turning the corner in development. The 2nd season is where the kiting godess says "Come here and give my kitesurfing-godess-jublies a nice tickle." or sumpin like that anyhoo.
Hey noob....
Good to see you’re not straying from your path…
I was just throwing you an unfavourable minority view, that could have lead you to some serious adventures… time over, I’d do the same again
Good luck
yep thats it stick to my ol path there. Thanks for the people who pm'ed me ill keep your thoughts in mind.
I've been reading up about the wind window and stuff and basically getting the gyst of how **** works but then I came across this picture of a guy kiteing on a wave..
Is he going upwind or something?? Because the kite looks like its in the total wrong spot for the direction hes going..
Cheers again all
