pierrec45 said...
how would you know that kiting is easy to learn when you obviously have not yet learnt it.
Huh, simple: because all kiters and all windsurfers taking up kiting say so.
I think they invariably refer to the time taken to get started, and the lesser effort it takes to do it.
Not a problem with that, but just answering the question.
Pffft. I fart in the general direction of your gross generalisation.
On a Maui trip in the 90's, My wife had some sailboard lessons. We picked an instructor who claimed to have every student sailing around within a 2 hour lesson, guaranteed. Sure enough, She was sailing in and out within an hour.
Now the purists among you may squeal "Oh, that was a 14 ft board with a 2.7m sail, you can't call that windsurfing". My answer to that would be that this bloke was at the time a Neil Pryde PWA team sailor and if he reckons its windsurfing it is. He even gave me one of his surplus gear bags with the badge still on it.
In 2 hrs of kite lessons she didn't get anywhere near being ready for getting up on a board. Why, because jumping on a big wally board and uphauling a little sail is way easier than learning the skills required before dropping a kite into the power zone with your feet in the straps of a twin tip, no matter what size. A lot of people short cut the process, and don't master kite control and body dragging first, and that is why sh!t happens.
Besides that, You can't consider yourself a kiter unless you can rock up at your local, self launch and land, and enjoy a session with the confidence to deal with any situation alone if necessary. Bit like you can't consider yourself a driver unless you can drive a car around the block without wiping anything out.
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