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  • Bought a couple of big kites,a board etc… will I die?
  • makecoldplayhistory
    Free Member

    At a price I couldn’t refuse (about the same as a 1 hour lesson), I bought a 12.5m and 14m kite. A mono-directional board. lines and a harness (or belt, or whatever it’s called). Basically, everything needed to kite-board / kite-surf.

    The kites aren’t inflatable ones insomuch as they don’t need a pump. They inflate though the wind and are then rolled/velcroed for rigidity and buoyancy. They have de-power, but apparently, they’re still quite “tuggy” with full de-power.

    So,to the crux of the issue, will I die?

    My wife seems to think ‘yes’, helped no doubt by my brothers sending daily videos and pictures (been going on for a week or more) of people being blown hundreds of metres across the sea by their kites.

    I think ‘no’.

    I was a very good sailor and still mess around in dinghy occasionally. I’m a reasonable wakeboarder. I can turn, 180 spins (on the water), ride in both directions and turn and do small (>1m) jumps without problems. I have a 5.5m 2-line power kite I use for messing around on the beach.

    I’ve got a healthy respect for the wind and water and a fair practical and theoretical understanding of how to use it for sails and kites.

    I image my 5-step process will work;

    – Fly it on land.
    – Fly it in the water.
    – Do some body dragging.
    – Fly it with my feet on the board.
    – Get sponsored to travel the world and be gnarly.

    I’m usually very much a Jeremy Clarkson, “how hard can it be?” type person, but thought I’d ask the masses. They dry season’s just beginning over here, so if the general consensus is “yes, you will die”, I’ll look for a lesson; don’t want to miss all the sun!

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    Doubt you’ll die, well you might but kiting these days is way more accessible and easy than just 5’years ago.

    If I have any advice, take a couple of lessons, to IKU 2 at least. You do want to know the basics of rescue/get you back to the beach moves when you’ve lost your board. IMO these are essential lessons. Then just rock up to a popular kite beach, make friends and learn and launch together.

    Popular beaches have a good mix of abilities, most looking for a bit of guidance and help launch/recovery and before long you’ll be in a small group having fun. Give it a year and you’ll be off on your own exploring new locations.

    I did IKU 3 a few years ago and kite infrequently these days, but the lessons provided the fundamentals, also provided confidence when turning up to a beach.

    Without going into details, I’m pretty good sailor and wave head windsurfer and still decided to take lessons for the basics.

    Enjoy, it’s a great sport.

    agent007
    Free Member

    If you’ve prior kite experience then you probably wont die, but taking lessons will get you up to speed much quicker, put you in touch with the local kite community, and more importantly teach you what to do to ave your life should you get into trouble out at sea.

    At the end of the day it’s going to be far cheaper to get a couple of lessons and be up and riding quickly than take many trips to the local beach to try and figure it out over a much longer period of time for yourself, particularly if you have to drive there and wind conditions are marginal.

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    jam-bo
    Full Member

    [video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ygirf70cGe4[/video]

    Cougar
    Full Member

    What model of kites?

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Would second lessons and you may want to buy more of a beginner kite and/or pick your conditions.

    Without being massively disrespectful (really not my intention) your wakeboarding doesn’t sound that advanced and your jumping is minimal in refernce to kite surfing. That being said you have a decent head-start and I imagine your balance is reasonable and as a sailor you’ll understand the wind.

    I watched someone set up and go kiting in South Africa 15 years ago, it was the first time I’d seen it love and it looked the fantastic

    As above just take care and start slowly 🙂

    innit_gareth
    Free Member

    The kit you’ve bought sounds very old. There’s a large range overlap between a 12.5 and 14m kite. If the lines are also really old there is a higher risk of them snapping. Without being inflatable the kites will be a sod to relaunch should the need arise.

    Being that cheap probably isn’t the best way to get into it. Better to go for lessons and if you really like it it then buy suitable equipment.

    TomB
    Full Member

    I know a guy who was killed at our local beach in the early days of kiting, dragged up the beach into a wall headfirst in an onshore wind. If it was me, I’d want to know at least the safety basics, relaunch, self rescue etc. You can get a long way from shore very quickly, where equipment or skill failure will be significant.

    agent007
    Free Member

    Reading your post again I’d say, much better to learn on a twin tip, mono-directional boards (i.e. surf type boards) are a whole new level of difficulty to ride and really suited for advanced riders only.

    Don’t forget that kitesurfing is probably 75% about kite control and only 25% to do with the board. Ideally you need to be able to control the kite one handed, without needing to look at it to know what its doing. This will take time. Regarding the de-power then if learning then not sure I’d be happy using a kite that didn’t fully de-power. That said, people did used to learn years ago on old kites without much de-power, and some of them are still alive I think 😉

    I’d book some lessons, get up and riding on their more modern (and far safer) kit. Then once you are feeling more confident, progress onto the kit you’ve bought once you know what you’re doing. You’ll also be trashing the schools kites during the learning process rather than your own. The cost of replacing or repairing kites damaged by students is one reason why lessons are not cheap.

    natrix
    Free Member

    Get some lessons!!

    A friend of mine who was a very good kite flyer, (including kite buggy racing)and a reasonable surfer, built his own kites, got a board and set off, thinking how hard can it be :mrgreen:

    He ended up being recued by a lifeboat 8)

    makecoldplayhistory
    Free Member

    Yes, they’re old kites. They’re Flysurfer ones. The guy had bought them 10 years ago but they were fogotten about. He tried to learn this year and finally gave up.

    I paid £60 for the lot. He had a twin tip board but that was £150 on its own. Probably a good price but as I bought a Ragley Bagger the day before, I didn’t even dare broach it with the fun controller!

    I know that the kit will make learning much more difficult, but the alternative is nothing.

    I’m stuck in the office 12 hours a day for the next 7 days. Next weekend will be recovering (and finally seeing my wife and boys). The weekend after, I’m going to the local kite school for a couple of lessons. This is the beach I’ll be learning on 🙂

    innit_gareth
    Free Member

    You’ll get too hot kiting there – its a physical sport you know. (not jealous at all).

    Nico
    Free Member

    Sounds like a bad idea to me. I know several people who have lost teeth and worse kitesurfing. It’s not being blown out to sea that is the problem, it’s being blown up the beach. So, at least one or two lessons essential.

    I’d buy more modern kit too. Ten years is an awfully long time in such a new sport and many sellers have very bad memories about how long ago they really bought their kit.

    Ro5ey
    Free Member

    You are going to die…. lots

    DO NOT fly them on the land….. too many things to get dragged into or if you are lofted you’ll land on the hard ground….. Thats why it’s done on water.

    But DO NOT go out on water if you don’t know how to … get up wind or re-launch or self rescue or be able to read the weather or or or a hundred different things.

    hardest thing I’ve ever learnt … mostly because you go out in less than idea conditions as you’re impatient to learn …. fannying around in a gnat’s breath of wind or getting your arse handed to you in strong gusty winds.

    You’ll have lots of Kitemares and spend half the time de-tangling your lines.

    Other than that it’s great 🙂 Wish I had time to spend all day on beach waiting for the wind to pick up and the tide to be right

    Have fun … you stay safe and make sure your not putting any others in danger

    johnx2
    Free Member

    I know several people who have lost teeth and worse kitesurfing.

    Bollocks. Sorry, bollocks?

    As a surfer I quite like to see an estate agent traveling at speed, face down across the beach, nose leaving a furrow…

    (To be fair, seeing some of those wiry little frenchos skipping across the peaks and sailing through the air on massive blown-out days can be pretty amazing. Though were I ever to try it I think I know which of the two tribes I’d personally emulate.)

    mimmiethecat
    Free Member

    Its pretty much impossible to learn on a directional board, much better than a tea tray once you have progressed but there will be far to much to think about to start with. Bit like learning to ride a bike for the first time on a downhill course.

    The kites sound huge for ram air, you can get a way with much smaller ram air kites than with inflatables.

    The newer bow kites have completely changed the sport and made it incredibly accessible, if you let go of the bar they fly themselves to the edge of the window and are far far safer than older kit. Hence the multitude of numtys now kitesurfing with very little knowledge or skill.

    Play with the kites on land in very light wind to start with, flying a kite with your eyes closed is the what you want before getting wet. Will save a lot of time. Getting in the water with a ram air and surf board will only end in a tangle and lots of swimming.

    I should add I’m not a expert, did’nt take long to realise that I still prefer windsurfing but know enough to say get some lessons and up to date equipment.

    headfirst
    Free Member

    I don’t want to be negative but… No, no,no, and no again.

    Get lessons which include rescue cover.
    Where is that by the way? It’s not North Sea or Irish Sea coast I know that, West Sussex maybe?

    whatgoesup
    Full Member

    I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?

    https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=kitesurfing%20deaths

    Lessons on appropriate beginner gear, learning to fly the kite (via a small one) instinctively etc, invaluable. By instinctively I mean keeping control whilst being dragged upside down underwater….

    whatgoesup
    Full Member

    Oh, another advantage of a lesson is they instructor will likely help out with advice re your kit, locations etc – and as he’ll get to meet you, see your kit and know where he should be able to give much better advice than us lot ( mountain bikers on the internet. )

    mrsfry
    Free Member

    Can I have your bike…. Just in case

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