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Is kiteboarding difficult to learn? Is kiteboarding easier than windsurfing? Can I learn Kiteboarding from watching a video? Should I buy a trainer Kite before the lesson? Is flying a trainer kite a substitute for a lesson? I have windsurfed for 20 years, will that make me a better kitesurfer? How long will it take me to learn? Q. Is kiteboarding difficult to learn?A. Learning to kiteboard is easier than ever before. We have been teaching kiteboarding now for about eight years, and it just gets better and better. The sport has matured and is still growing and constantly evolving. New equipment and new training techniques make the learning process fun and rewarding . It still requires an investment of time and money to get into the sport. This combined with patience and motivation is what it takes to be a kiteboarder.
Q. Is kiteboarding easier than windsurfing?A. Learning to kiteboard is "faster" than learning to windsurf. We like to say that the kiteboarding learning curve is steeper than the windsurfing learning curve. This means that you will learn more in a shorter time. In windsurfing there are several stages of learning, the longboard stage, then the shortboard stage, that requires a waterstart lesson and advanced sail skills. You will begin to learn the harness and footstraps after about one or two months or so. In kiteboarding you will learn the kite flying, harness and footstraps and waterstart in the first few days. There is only one stage, and the basic skills to master. The basic kiteboarding skills can be learned in a week or two and most people will be upwind riding in 6 to 8 weeks.
A. You can kiteboard anywhere that you see windsurfers. Kites like medium to strong wind, 10-25 miles per hour, and shallow water a few feet deep (sandy bottom). Generally kiteboarders will like the same wind and weather as windsurfers. Kiteboards get good speed and can do jumps in much lighter wind than most windsurfers because the kite can be more powerful than the windsurfing sails. Kites are also going on the ice and snow, and on land buggies and dirt surfers.
? A. Kiteboard equipment cost less than windsurfing equipment. Kites with the bar and lines cost about 650.00 to 1250.00 depending on their size. Boards cost from 499.00 to 899.00, then you need a harness and jacket. for another 150.00. Totaling 1300.00 to 2500.00 new. However now there are many great deals on last years stuff, or packages that come complete for under $1000.00. There is also lots of used gear available, and a complete used setup may be less than $500.00.
Q. Do I need to take lessons?A. Absolutely, Kiteboarding is a technical sport with a steep learning curve. Like scuba diving, or flying a paraglider, you don't want to take unnecessary risks while learning. Many of the techniques are counterintuitive, and are best learned in a lesson. Because of the huge forces involved you do not want to make costly mistakes. Lessons shorten your learning time and keep you much safer in the process.
Q. Can I learn Kiteboarding from watching a video? A. Definitely not! (but they can help). There have been instructional videos available for as long as there have been kiteboards. And like the equipment the videos too get dated, old and superseded. Watching a few videos before your first lesson will help you to visualize the overall process. Only very few videos or DVD's will have up to date techniques that will stand up to the latest equipment. That is why a lesson with a live instructor is so important.
? A. Books and DVD's are great homework before and after your lesson. Watching a good instructional DVD before your lesson, and having a good instructional book to refer to after your lesson is great to reinforce what you have learned. Students who watch the DVD before the lesson, learn faster, and progress earlier. Students who read the instructional books after their lessons will have much better retention of the information. This is a real advantage in kiteboarding because people often have a long period after their training before they try their own equipment for the first time.
A.
Take a lesson Before, During and After you purchase your equipment. Take
a lesson to see if you like the sport. Doing a single day lesson will give
you a taste of what is to come. Most people will know right away if it is
right for them. The investment is minimal in a single lesson. Be sure to
tell the instructor that you are just trying the sport out. They usually
have a "discovery" type program that is light on the technical jargon, but
gives you an overview and hands on experience.
? A. Sure why not, kites are fun. A good trainer kite will cost between $100. and $200. They should be ram-air (soft) type, with a control bar. They should be used safely away from people and powerlines, and you should start in light winds. You will need a dedicated buddy to run around and relaunch your kite too. Flying any type of kite will help you to understand the wind and kite better. A tow-line delta kite with handles works too. I have even heard of instructors who make their students fly a single line kite before they progress onto the two-line. Trainer kites and kite flying in general is especially good preparation if the water is cold where you live and you are preparing for your lessons that you have booked while on vacation in Hawaii. Trainer kites are also good for young kiteboarders and kids of suitable age.Take care because even a trainer kite can kite your butt, and drag your knees along the grass (ouch!). Be safe and start out in light wind.
? A. Definitely Not!!! next question? Trainer kites are no substitute for the larger "traction Kites" that need more respect and control, also when you add the water into the equation it is much more complicated again.
Q. I have windsurfed for 20 years, will that make me a better kitesurfer?A. Kiteboarding is not windsurfing (snowboarding/ wakeboarding/ etc). These sports have similarities to kiteboarding that will carry over. And the same determination that was required to master these sports will also be required to learn kiteboarding too. Most people who ask this question don't like the idea of being a beginner and learning all over again. But the sooner they put their egos aside and hunker down to the learning process, the sooner they will be out there cruising. Of course a guy with 20 years windsurf experience will do well. It is the same water, the same wind and it is a sailing sport with lots of the same jargon an concepts, but the equipment is different and the techniques used to ride the equipment are different. That is why in a lesson the instructor will take into consideration the previous experiences of the student and focus on the things they don't know, "the Differences". If the student has an open mind they will learn very quickly. If they are resistant to new ideas or wont let go of their ego, they will be in for a rude awakening, or at best a very frustrating experience.
? A. It takes as long as it takes. Everybody is so different when it comes to kiteboarding, as I said a lot of skills carry over from other sports, So that if a guy is; a surfing/sailing/wakeboarding/paraglider instructor, he will pick up the sport much faster that someone who hasn't ever done a board sport in their life. But as a rough guide, the longer kiteboarding courses are the best place to start. They range from 5 days to two weeks. After the lesson phase is the self training phase, where the student practices what they learned in the lesson and gets water time, this is when they will go from a downwind rider to and upwind rider. This process often takes a month or 10-20 sessions. Don't be too fixated or worried about how long it takes, because you do not want to rush the learning phase. If you put too much pressure on yourself you wont enjoy the process as much as you should. Just be sure to give yourself as much time and patience as you need, and you will breeze through it.
? A. Ask any kiteboarder!!. Kiteboarding is heaps of fun and very addictive. Most people I know spent their whole week waiting for their weekend kiteboarding sessions. Most people secretly want to quit their day jobs so that they have more time to kiteboard, quite a few people actually do quit their day jobs and go kiteboarding every day. Then there are a growing number of full-time kiteboarders who do not have any other job. And of course there are the professional kiteboarders who fly around the world following the windy conditions in all the best destinations for at least 9 months of the year.
KITE HOMEWORK:
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Written by David Dorn first posted 2005, copyright 2007 all rights reserved. |
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