Introduction for the Beginner

What's involved...

Ask anyone coming in off the water and they all say the same; kiteboarding is a fantastic sport. From crude, specialist beginnings the sport has grown in practicality, safety and scope over the passing seasons to become a watersport that is many things to many people. Whether you are ripping up the surf in lines of perfect swell, cruising effortlessly through the sea punctuated with the odd long floaty jump, or powering through some of the most athletic and technical of unhooked freestyle moves, kiteboarding has a lot to offer every standard and style of rider.
It's not just the talented or physical elite who prosper; kitesurfing is easy and thanks to modern kite designs, is safer than ever, meaning the sport can be learned at your own pace with the scope to push as far as you feel comfortable.


The Road Forward

There are many different ways to learn, top of the list must be a lesson, which although not essential will save you a lot of messing around, as well as keeping you safe.

If you are not able to get a lesson then you can teach yourself in stages with help. There is plenty of media available, books, web resources and dvd's to help you through every aspect. Starting off with a small trainer kite is a good idea, as they are more robust and can take the mistakes you make, crashing the kite into the ground.(click here for trainer kite)
Learning to kiteboard can be extremely easy; the starting point is getting the right kit. Kite choice is critical, so make sure you understand what you are buying. There is a lot on the market that is both unsuitable and potentially leathal for the beginner, where as some designs are easy, safe and offer performance you will never outgrow.


Learning can be Fast!


In the early days, the success of your session was totally dependant on the conditions. Kiteboarding was the sport to do when the conditions were right. These days it couldn’t be further from the truth. Advances in board and kite ranges has enabled us to make use of far more varied conditions, from 6 knots right up to 40+ with more practicality and safety than ever before. When you are learning you still need to make life as easy as possible, so stick to a steady 10 to 20kts of wind, cross to cross onshore winds and a big, obstruction free beach. Once you have the knack, you’ll find that kiteboarding is one of the most practical and versatile wind powered watersports yet.


Costing Alternatives

The costings of setting yourself out in the sport have remained the same for the most part over the last 8 years, although prices are now starting to rise. Advances in the windrange and control of modern equipment has increased massively, meaning that the competant kiteboarder needs only half the kit they used 4 years ago, so in effect it is now far cheaper than it used to be. Equipment varies in price and quality but there are some very good buys out there. You can get onto the water with a used kite and board from £500, but this is certainly equipment you will change very soon. The most you can pay is around £2000, but generally speaking a setup you can learn on, which is identical to the kit that a lot of the experts are using will cost around £1500. This is the kind of setup means that you won't need to change for a good year or two.


Giving you a rounded picture

In many ways the sport is a victim of it's own success. The industry is besieged by a huge number of companies making kites and boards all trying to take a piece of the pie for themselves. Such is the choice that marketing claims become more and more deluded and the vast majority of experienced riders buy only when they have tried a product. One of the luxuries Surfstore enjoys is access to all the dealerships available, so our staff try all the latest equipment, either here in the UK or overseas. Our job it to help find you the right equipment for your particular requirements, to give you a trusted point of contact that you can come to for impartial advice. Kites are expensive and there are plenty of pitfalls throughout the industry to make you kitesurfing career start badly, or at worst, dangerously.

Huge Changes

Kites have been going through huge development since the start of the sport. Within the last 3 years kites have changed dramatically, utilising a different geometry from the classic C shape of kite to a far more swept canopy profile. This geometry has allowed designers to build far more depower into the kite than ever before which in turn had a huge effect on the sport. In the good old days of the C kites power was hard to regulate; too much when you didn't want it, too little when you did. Even more important than this, when things go wrong with a traditional kite, it keeps pulling, whereas the new kites have up to 95% depower when you release the bar. There is no doubt that for the mainstream this new "bow" or "hybrid" style of kite is the way forward, in cost, practicality, performance and safety.


all instruction must be prebooked
please contact us for more details or contact Instructor directly click to Kev's website