Hey all,

Me and a friend got the kite bug last weekend after a caravan trip to Clacton on Sea (of all places). we went with a few family memebers and my 6 year old nephew and during the weekend he pulled out a stunt kite from the back of the car that he wanted us to fly with him.

We thought "why not" and then spent the next 3 hours on an open field and a beach learning to fly a kite! It was only a cheap kite (£3.49 from £13 at SportsSoccer) and by the end of the day we had totally ruined it. But we did have great fun with it!

Both me and my friend plan to buy a stunt kite this weekend and see how our enthusiasm for the sport goes. If we do dedicate the time to it I reckon by Xmas we'll be ready to spend some money on landboarding. I've done some research and would like your opinions on the following Kite/Board package if that's ok?

For me, I'm 5'10 and weigh between 10 and 11 stone, so pretty skinny and tall. I personally was looking at the following for an introduction to landboarding.

HQ Beamer 3 2m power kite & Scrub Photon board. Main reason being the cost as I can get this as a package deal from a lot of places for about £160 (the only thing left would be a helmet). Would you recommend this for someone of my stature and as a beginner setup?

My friend is a bit taller and heavier than me and i'm not sure if he'd have to adjust his board/kite to reflect that? He's about 5'11 and 14-15 stone. Or would the Photon/Beamer 3 be a good choice for him as well?

Like I say this would be a purchase nearer Xmas. We're going to look at stunt kites for around £30 this weekend for the meantime to see how we go as an into to kites.

Thanks!

Links to equipment:
Board: http://skyhighkites.co.uk/show_detail.asp?id=441
Kite: http://skyhighkites.co.uk/HQ-Beamer-3-2 ... 1,409.html
Apologies if we're not mean't to post site URL's, not sure on the forum ettiqute.

2m is too small to be honest to get any real power you will have to fly in some serious winds like 30knts, not so good for a beginner a 3-5 is a sensible option as you will be having fun in some steady nice winds,if you would like to buy a really cheap flexifoil bullet 3.5 secondhand from me give me a p.m. i also have harnesses and other bits for sale...............

dude get some lessons first then take their advice for kites etc

Hi,

if it is landboarding you are particularly interested in have a look here

http://community.flexifoil.com/index.php

And ask these guys your questions. you could also have a look on the Uk forum
http://www.kiteboarder.co.uk/kitesurfing/index.php

you might find some people near to you who can give you a hand.

Lucie

Cool that you got the bug.
I know nothing about land- kiteboarding, but welcome to the club.
Since I kiteboard on water, I would think getting started on water would be the way to go. Just because of the pain factor!
But, obviously not all have the chance to do so all year round.

Get lessons, water or land. Pay the money. Your life depends on it.
Sounds harsh, but worst case scenario ,you know what I mean
.. better safe then sorry.

Congrats, good luck, and welcome to the world of addiction!

Cheers all. Have found a shop near me in Grays that does kite boarding and so long as we buy our kit from him he'll also spend a day with us showing us how to use it, result! Very helpful fella, and very well priced as well.

Thanks for the feedback!