I'm glad I've found this thread. Plenty of little things to keep in the back of my mind when I have my lessons...
Actually on the whole lesson thing. I've got two excellent local kite stores who conduct lessons. Both stores have given me top notch service and are just all round good blokes. The lessons are roughly the same price, the only difference being how they are formatted. One store does two, three hour lessons and the other does two, two hour lessons and one, one hour lesson.
I like the idea of having the longer lessons with the first joint, but I also like the idea of having three lessons…
How was everyone else's lessons setup?
A few things I found really helpful when starting:
- Did a long long downwinder without the board. Helped learn kite control and was great fun. Also used that time to practice upwind body dragging to a boat mooring float.
- Had to learn not to choke the kite.
- Most helpful when waterstarting with board: point the board at the kite until planing. Then gradually bear off. Most useful tip anyone gave me.
- It was easier to learn when adequately powered than when underpowered.
- Flatter water helped to develop the initial the board control.
Good luck guys.
Merry Christmas to all at seabreeze. Thank you to all the experienced advice,... As well as others sharing their experience!!
Completely different feeling to the 10-15knots that I usually fly it in.
Completely different feeling to the 10-15knots that I usually fly it in.
Hi Everyone,
First post and I have already learned a lot just reading the posts. Just had my first lesson and the second one is just around the corner. Looking forward to getting on the board and have some fun !
Cheers
Good luck fcolmon. Let us know how you go. Feel free to post questions hereno question too small.
Happy ny by the way.
Thanks Salty, My second lesson with Toddy was postponed to thursday due to the lack of wind.
Hope to meet you guys out there. Happy new year to all
Cheers
Yeah, it can be frustrating, especially when you're learning. Rest assured, once you're up and running, you'll have the freedom to go when the wind is good and to a beach if your choosing... Wich means you'll have more options. At the moment, you're constrained by the hours of the school and the direction of their beach.
Good luck!
Today I've got my second lesson, it was pretty windy (>20 knots) and it was much harder than i thought it would be, didn't get to stand and ride only body dragging with and without the board. So the lesson learned today was, don't holding your expectations too high, be patient and walk a step at a time. Will be back tomorrow :)
Thanks guys, I think I got the basics of body dragging upwind sorted, I struggled with the board dragging, but I think it was mainly because I was really tired and the brain went in to a blank mode. Surf is my main sport, I have been doing it for over 35 yrs, for the past 5-7 years, mainly because of work, I have let it go and my level of fitness is quite low right now. Got to get back in to it and get fit again. I'm coming back tomorrow (friday) on a low tide ( that will give me more space ). Watch out :)
After nearly a week being too busy and when I had time, there wasn't wind, I finally went to KFC today (Friday). Nice 15 ish knots and I GOT UP !!!! well for just about 2-3 seconds but I have seen the light..... It should be more improvement tomorrow.
Thought i'd tack on to this thread instead of creating a new one.
Had my first 2 lessons, and a shameless plug, with Kite Rupublic on Saturday and abosolutely loved it. Firstly the instructor was excellent, she explained everything and the reasons why we do them. I found the kite contol easier than expected and was able to body drag up wind on my first session in the water. I did find though as the water was very crowded i couldnt get up much pace body dragging down wind, the last thing i wanted to do was crash the kite on someone.
I found the fluctation in wind strength really effected the kite at the edge of the wind window, some times it would just fall from the sky. I did manage to find a solution and probably part of the cause. If i didnt bother kicking my legs back against the water the kite would obviously have less apparent wind going across it so it would stall. My solution, kick against the water. This would put slightly more tension on the lines and assist the kite in holding the air and staying up.
My instructer has now recommended i get in the water as much as possible over the next week or so body dragging and practicing kite control before my 3rd session with the board.
And they're right, it is addictive, im not even standing up and loved it out there!
I got my body dragging done ok but i tended to park the kite lower to the water than i should have, Ive seen the 45 degree thing here somewhere and that's when the kite worked best.
One thing i did do when dragging was to roll over on my back slightly, this made me get pulled downwind rather than moving up wind as when you have your body positioned in the water like a keel giving resistance to the kite. It kinda bent me like a banana.
I realised that i had to keep the kite powered up a bit to be able to turn. That was a bit off putting at first because you see all those disaster movies where people power up the kite and get launched.
I did a downwind run moving the kite from 10 - 2 and again found that a sufficiently powered up kite made it a hell of a lot easier. If i whimped it the kite wouldn't turn , once powered again it turned like a dream.
Second lesson next week
Oh boy. Booked my lessons today, I start this Saturday. Nervous as hell but excited at the same time.
Hey superpoop,
well done mate, try to get as much trainer kite time as possible and good luck. Who is your teacher ?
Lessons are through Kitepower. I'm not sure who my instructor is yet.
With the trainer kite. I've pretty much got down, up turns, down turns, loops, flying one handed and flying the kite with my eyes closed. Is that all I really need to know on the trainer?
Trainer kite pays off in light wind kiting I think when you really have to try and move a big kite around to get some apparent wind going. Also handy in learning the different power gradients of various parts of the wind window. Probably a few sessions on it while the wind is light and you've got nothing better to do is worthwhile.
Though I don't subscribe to some peoples view that you should spend weeks on a trainer kite. Kiting is all about muscle memory and repetition so if you are repeating the wrong thing its probably not a great idea. Most people learn in the 20-25 knot range where you are doing much subtler movements than you would with a trainer kite. If your trained reaction is to reef the bar when something goes wrong you're probably going to exacerbate the issue.
awesome thread.
@Salty - keep posting mate .. I'm at about your experience and it's great to hear that the learning curve is as steep for most, but the sharing of experience is amazing.
@Phoney - was that friendly old guy's name in SYD "Ian".. I'm a kook/noob terrorising the crew at 1st Carpark and headed down to Dolls Point the other day for a look, Ian came over, said g'day and shared some awesome local knowledge learned from 12 years in the sport, a gentleman and ambassador for the sport in my books!
My lessons learned so far ...
1. Lessons, lessons, lessons - the safety aspect of this sport is so important, and a professional trainer will make sure you're drilled before you take a board out.
2. Introduce yourself, ask questions - unlike surfing, the guys and girls in this sport are so friendly and are happy to share their experience and 'kitemares' to learn from. This is awesome.
3. You're an ambassador for the sport - those of us who kite in Sydney share the beach with hundreds of families enjoying the awesome stretch of sand which is Botany Bay. The moment we take the Le'sands strip for granted, show disrespect to non-kiters on the beach, or each other accidents will happen and council will hear about it.
4. Practice the 'worst possible scenario' over and over again. My DPS triggered unexpectedly two days ago 20 metres from the 2nd carpark nets and groin ..... luckily my mate who got me into the sport had forced me to drill on DPS, line recovery and getting back to shore .. I got back into shore without issue, but ****e what a tangled mess of line. Took about an hour to unravel.
5. Like a previous poster ... know your limitations - coming from surfing this is kind of burnt into my brain, you never paddle out into a triple overhead beach break that you've no local knowledge of, if you're second guessing whether it's safe then it's probably not ....... 26knots on a 12 metre Switchblade :P
Great thread and a great sport guys - I'm addicted!
Hi all
First post 
Just bought an Ozone Ignition 2.5M Trainer kite from Kitepower and took it out for the first time today with my brother in law.
Wow, it's much easier than it looks trying to control a kite! I've never flown a kite before so it was all quiet new to me but am absolutely pumped to progress and really drill my trainer kite to get it under wraps before my first lesson.
One question though, how do I re launch the kite if it crashes to the ground without any assistance from anyone?
I've tried sort of 'whipping' the lines but has no effect. I feel as though if I don't have anyone with me next time I go out It will be much of a challenge trying to re launch the kite by itself again. Any tips?
Cheers guys
