Hi everyone.
I've just joined, located in Sydney area, seeking advice on safety for a 12yr old novice.
I've not done any kite surfing, have played with a practice kite a bit. Over 35plus years I've surfed, freedived, windsurfed, sailed, sea kayaked, and white water kayaked, and done a lot of ocean swimming, so I'm no pussy when it comes to being in open water, and I understand the risks and rewards.
My ex's partner has given my boy a kitesurfing rig and they've booked him into lessons. That's all good.
The thing I'm concerned by is the potential for a novice to get into a sticky situation in open water.
My son is not what I consider to be a strong, confident swimmer, he swims ok, but not strong, and not a lot of stamina. He's also a little timid at taking on new sports and mild asthmatic. I've seen him get short of breath and panicat the beach a few times.
In all the open water sports I've done, I've come to realise, in open water, you are on your own. If you can't get yourself out of the water, you can't rely on someone else 1. Spotting you and 2. Being willing and able to help you.
I've told his mum that I want my boy to build his swimming fitness up so he can swim 1km in the pool non-stop, un-assisted before he goes out into open water. I think this will gives him the fitness to help himself out of a sticky situation
, plus knowing he's capable of a decent swim should help him stay calm if he does get into trouble.
So, from a young teen age point of view, what do people see as potential difficult situations?
What can be done to reduce the risks?
Do you see getting tangled in the rig as a problem?
Is it possible to fall and be dragged by the kite?
What can be done go improve the safety for a novice?
Thanks in advance, cheers
Select to expand quotemudgudgeon said..
My ex's partner has given my boy a kitesurfing rig and they've booked him into lessons. That's all good.
Interesting thread.
The torn Dad.
Tell me, is this ex-partner the boy's Mother ?
If it is, don't you have confidence in her ability to assess the risk for her son ?
When you say "That's all good", it sounds unconvincing.
lol.
Select to expand quotemudgudgeon said..
Hi everyone.
I've just joined, located in Sydney area, seeking advice on safety for a 12yr old novice.
I've not done any kite surfing, have played with a practice kite a bit. Over 35plus years I've surfed, freedived, windsurfed, sailed, sea kayaked, and white water kayaked, and done a lot of ocean swimming, so I'm no pussy when it comes to being in open water, and I understand the risks and rewards.
My ex's partner has given my boy a kitesurfing rig and they've booked him into lessons. That's all good.
The thing I'm concerned by is the potential for a novice to get into a sticky situation in open water.
My son is not what I consider to be a strong, confident swimmer, he swims ok, but not strong, and not a lot of stamina. He's also a little timid at taking on new sports and mild asthmatic. I've seen him get short of breath and panicat the beach a few times.
In all the open water sports I've done, I've come to realise, in open water, you are on your own. If you can't get yourself out of the water, you can't rely on someone else 1. Spotting you and 2. Being willing and able to help you.
I've told his mum that I want my boy to build his swimming fitness up so he can swim 1km in the pool non-stop, un-assisted before he goes out into open water. I think this will gives him the fitness to help himself out of a sticky situation
, plus knowing he's capable of a decent swim should help him stay calm if he does get into trouble.
So, from a young teen age point of view, what do people see as potential difficult situations?
What can be done to reduce the risks?
Do you see getting tangled in the rig as a problem?
Is it possible to fall and be dragged by the kite?
What can be done go improve the safety for a novice?
Thanks in advance, cheers
They have to be confident in the water. I agree with u he need to be able to swim in if the kite come down his wearing a harness holding a board and swimming in towing the kite. I had my boy have a whistle with him when he started age 10 in case he got in trouble as I might have more chance of hearing him but he was good swimmer done kids iron man course through life saving program. Maybe get him to do that first
I reckon experience with a kite may be just as important if not more then stamina. Idk where you are located but you can teach your son in shallow water where u don’t need to have strong swimming. When he gets up and riding tell him to go out as far as he can swim in.
Select to expand quotewaveslave said..mudgudgeon said..
My ex's partner has given my boy a kitesurfing rig and they've booked him into lessons. That's all good.
Interesting thread.
The torn Dad.
Tell me, is this ex-partner the boy's Mother ?
If it is, don't you have confidence in her ability to assess the risk for her son ?
When you say "That's all good", it sounds unconvincing.
lol.
Oh,
my mistake.
I thought you wrote 'ex-partner'.
So it's the boyfriend of your ex that's taken on the role of kite-guru.
lol.
Good luck with that.
Definitely get him to swim 1k without a break, I do a heck of a lot of swimming when the wind dies and its a good idea to be competent in the surf.
Your best bet is to teach him in waist deep water with a 6m 5 line wave or Free-ride style of kite with heaps of de-power!
Most people would say go 4 line but they pull to hard, I know because I learned when I was 9 yrs old on a 5m 4 line bow kite and it was hard.
I did not spend much time body dragging or flying trainer kites, just get him on a real kite in light winds for a couple of hours and then chuck a board at him.
Remember visual is much better then verbal! and don't push him.
cheers
Buy him a good buoyancy vest. Will make learning safer, keep him floating, and look like you're contributing to him learning an exciting new sport. wins all round.
Select to expand quotewaveslave said..waveslave said..mudgudgeon said..
My ex's partner has given my boy a kitesurfing rig and they've booked him into lessons. That's all good.
Interesting thread.
The torn Dad.
Tell me, is this ex-partner the boy's Mother ?
If it is, don't you have confidence in her ability to assess the risk for her son ?
When you say "That's all good", it sounds unconvincing.
lol.
Oh,
my mistake.
I thought you wrote 'ex-partner'.
So it's the boyfriend of your ex that's taken on the role of kite-guru.
lol.
Good luck with that.
yep, agree with your last line!
no torn dad here. Stoked that he gets opportunities to do this sort of stuff with others, even better when someone else coughs up the cash :D
his mum on the other hand?! frankly, no I don't trust her judgement to be rational or logical any time I oppose something she thinks is OK, nor do I trust her ability to assess the risks in a sport she has no clue about nor experience in any similar sport.
Her new partner has a son who is a very different character to my boy. I dont think what is OK for his boy is necessarily OK for mine.
Select to expand quotemudgudgeon said..
thanks guys. Just to clarify, it wont be me teaching him unfortunately.
You're doing the right thing by seeking lessons and although I don't have any kids I totally understand your concern.
As an experienced instructor in deep waters I have to say that the quality of training he ends up getting will mostly determine how competent and confident he ends up getting in deep waters, and obviously determine how confident you feel as a dad letting your kid kite by himself.
I've taught a few 12-15 year olds to be completely independent in deep waters without ever getting wet myself, while the parents are on the beach watching my every move.
Unfortunately the vast majority of schools fall short in teaching students to be completely independent in deep waters. If you can find a top quality school your boy should have absolutely no issues in coping with deep water environments and be completely independent in getting out of trouble by himself (Self-rescue, water relaunch, board recovery).
Self-rescue (the ability to get out of trouble by yourself using your kite as floatation/sail to get back to shore) is the most poorly taught skill in lessons, with half the schools simply skipping this completely and the other half just doing a demonstration of it (not having the student practice it in deep waters). As a result, most beginners are unable to get out of trouble competently and usually end up swimming long distances back to shore or end up getting helped (rescued) by others.
With the right tuition he should be able to easily handle any situation without ever needing to swim, including while getting out of trouble!
I've seen countless kiting dad's who think it's best to teach their own kids...unfortunately although they may think it's a good idea, they always have to look after them and go and help them out when something goes wrong. I recently seen a dad swim 400 meters to recover his little girl's kite and board after she got in trouble. A lot of effort and stress that can be avoided by seeking professional tuition and learning the right skill set.
A competent kite instructor is one that can teach their students to achieve any skill without the student constantly depending on the instructor...and that's hard to find.
Christian
Select to expand quotecbulota said..
.... kite instructor is one that can teach their students to achieve any skill without the student constantly depending on the instructor...and that's hard to find.
Christian
Which is why people that want to get into kite surfing have to learn to be totally confident and relaxed in open water.
I think, if possible, learning to surf waves, swim confidentally, have some muscle strength to swim out of situations, and have a respect and appreciation for the ocean generally helps a lot. No kite instructor will ever teach you that. It's best I feel, young people don't go jumping the learning curves. Sure teach kids to kite surf, great but teach them overall ocean appreciation, surfing and swimming skills as well.
