am i to old to learn

Hi kiters,,,i am 46 years old & a few extra kilos heavier than i was when i use to windsurf....
i would like to know if any older guys have any problem learning to kite board as i want to get back into water sports & kite boarding looks like fun...
not sure if my old body can handle it.i am a 6' & 95kg & average fitness.
what size kite,& board, harness am i looking for....i will pick it up easy im sure.so i want something that will see me through this summer & maybe into the next.
some feed back from u older guys wouldbe great.

Hey oldcol you are no where near too old. I`m 43 and have been kiting a couple of years. A friends dad came over on holiday last summer, he`s 65, learned to kiteboard in two weeks and is hooked. It`s all about getting out there. If you like the water then you`ll love kiting. Only problem,,,,, IT`S ADDICTIVE! And will take over your life. Can you handle that? No serious it will.

Go for it Col...your a puppy...I turn 60 next year, and have been kiting for two years (sailboard and surfed for heaps) Manny is right, it will take over your life...I'm so hooked it's a joke...my wife said she'd leave me if I started kitesurfing and all I could say was...gee I'm gonna miss ya...the hardest thing for the old body is learning...it's a bit of a gruel...but when you get the hang of it, it becomes a lot easier on the body...a lot kinder than sailboarding. don't procrastinate do it now

Hey oldcol. I'm 55 and been kiting 6 years. Many of the Kurnell crew (KKK) are of a similar vintage. I spend most of my kiting in the surf these days.

Get a big board (146cm - 152cm) now, just in time for summer breezes, and a you'll be cruizing like the rest of us in no time. Be prepared to loose all your old friends and make a whole lot of new ones who kite.

awesome... so i have another 40 years of kiting to look forward to... it will definitely give me some comfort now when i miss out on a session for whatever reason, coz i'll have another 40 years of opportunity...

Cool name man! OK so you're not too old. Next, you've got 1 big advantage that we never had. Access to fantastically useable depowerable equipment. Don't blow it. Too many learners I see talk about the 5 super cheap kites they bought, so they've got every wind covered. Wrong! Get 1 GOOD kite, 2 if you can afford to have all conditions covered. I don't mean brand, I mean '08, '09, or 2010. You'll learn much faster & spend less time in hospital. ( only partly joking )
I'm sure your ageing body won't be a limiting factor, it's much gentler on the body than windsurfing, although the initial learning stage is more hazardous. Just think back when you struggled learning to use that harnesss & at least after you got slammed everything stopped. Not so with a kite & you'll be hooked in from day 1. Lessons are a must!
Cheers
turning 49Col

hey oldcol, these narcissistic basterds are setting you up to fail..!!

yes you are too old.

sorry to have to break it to you...

....just keeping it real

There’s a bloke up in Thailand who’s in his sixties, can hardly walk straight as one leg shorter than the other from an old motorbike accident, and he rips when he’s on the kiteboard, so I reckon you shouldn’t have any dramas.
I would recommend that you go with ‘newer’ kites that have a heap of depower, and safety systems such as the Cabrinha IDS (or similar), which should help minimize those challenging moments that tend to occur during the learning phase.

If you think you're too old then you probably are. [}:)]

I'm 52 and have been kiting for 10 years.

Kiteboarding is very easy to do but there is a bit of a learning curve. Lessons will help get you started but the only thing that gets you out and riding is a heap of practice.

It takes about 15-20 hours to get to the point where you can ride and stay upwind and generally relax and have fun. The faster you get that experience the sooner you will be riding. You need to commit to at least 3-4 2-hour sessions a week to get started fairly quickly.

The absolute number one key to success is learning to fly the kite automatically. You need to get your kite flying skills to a point where you can do it without thinking about it (and perhaps where you are patting yourself on the back about how good you are). If you can barely fly a kite then try to add in waves and a board it will end in tears.

A trainer kite is not a bad idea if you have any doubts about your ability to fly a kite.

At 95kg you want a 12m bow kite and a twintip of around 140x40cm. Up to 14m is ok if you want to go out in light winds. I am very partial to Cabrinha kites and the Switchblade is a good combination of performance and stability. You can get last years model quite cheaply, but the 2010 has a heap of nice improvements that are worth having.

Avoid very cheap kites from minor or obscure brands. The best way to choose a brand is to go to your local kite beach and see what most people are flying.

This is the list of most people here with the age they started, you can see that you are not that far away;

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=56624&SearchTerms=old

I did a 100km mountain bike race the other day, and a guy beat me by over a hour who was 63.

I did the mtn bike leg in the Anaconda adventure race in Augusta on the weekend, and there were an amazing number of 50+ year olds who not only did individual legs, but quite a few were racing the whole thing solo.

My Dad is 78 and still snow skis during winter, gets about 40 days a season in.

Age is simply a reason given by those who have given up and need an lame excuse.

Don't hold back oldcol!

Whoa holy red thumbs. I was just joking kids.... Age is just a number. There was a dude on a recent kite trip I took in his 60's and he'd taken kiting up three years before

the number of years you have under your belt doesnt really matter but the fact that you have to ask the question at 46 probley means that you are to old......check out the local bowls club

I was cycling with a mate of mine on Saturday who made many a reference to "old man power." As in, "I was doing 40 down Beach road and this old man on a mountain bike with a carrier and mudguards was able to stay with me all the way, he was running on old man power - he must have drunk a litre of diesel for breakfast"

He is 30 and is a high level cyclist, who can kik the bike to 50km/hr without breaking a sweat - and he is looking forward to the day he has "old man power"