South African Newb, Please help!!!

[Hackie]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking to purchase a complete kit to generally just jam around with in our December holidays. I will be on the South African coastline and they get low to moderate gusty winds with the occasional srtong winds building up during the day. The swells range from 1m to 5m depending on how many people fart in china! :p . Anyways i'm a pretty strong person but only weigh 60 - 65kg. Looking to be able to jump around, ride some waves and just generally have a blast. Would you please advise me on some equipment that i can just have fun with and advance with to perhaps a intermediate level and not having to change once i get there. I can purchase the Mach 1 - F-One 12 sqm kite second hand for a good price but im not sure if this will be right for me. Any advice will help. Thanks

[Nick09]

Hey. Where about along the coastline are you going? Cause if it is Cape Town then you'll need smaller kites or if it is Durban probably slightly larger ones. But for that weight don't even think about anything larger than a 9m or a 10m max. And also have you had any experience at all? If not u really should consider taking lessons? Don't know what others have to say but I would suggest Cabrinha SB or XB or else the Naish or Flexifoil kites are pretty good. Hope that helps a little.

[Hackie]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have any experience with kite boarding, however i have flown 2 string power kites before and i do both wake boarding and surfing. I'm off to the cape town side of the world.. 5 hours away to be exact at a place called plettenberg bay! Im relocating to Miami florida at the end of the year so i want a kite that can possibly handle both conditions? which one would you guys suggest also what board/accessories? you think that 12m kite would kill me? thanks for the help

[Nick09]

Before you even consider buying Go For A Lesson!!! Seriously it will get you up and running quickly and it will get you out so you can see what sizes of kites are actually being used. Rather spend the couple of hundred on a lesson than R12000 on a new wrong kite. I got my first kite 2nd hand, a 12m and although it is good for inland which is where I intended it for, as soon as I got out to the coast I was way overpowered (I weigh 70). Also when I was learning I decided that as I came from a watersports background (wakeboarding and waterskiing) I could pick it up quickly. It took me forever to get the waterstarts going and then I was completely out of control. So I went for a lesson and I was getting upwind in one afternoon. It does help to have that little bit of experience showing you how to do it. And its a lot safer. So, depending on where you currently are maybe try and squeeze in some lessons before you leave and as I don't know of any shops down in Plett. Here are some good places: Cape Town: try Cabrinha www.cabrinha.co.za/ or Constantly Kiting www.constantlykiting.com/; Joburg try: Inland Kitesurfing http://www.adsports.co.za/ or Durban: Ocean 2 Air www.ocean2air.co.za/. Otherwise just search around for a place but seriously consider lessons (You can ask your instructor more about the kit when you are having the lesson). Good luck

[greginkw]

I second going for a lesson, that is the most important thing a beginner can do, as far as kites go, you will proboably need around a 9 m for SA, but when you get to Miami, you will use the 9m, but you will need a 12 m as your main kite. Give me a call when you get to Miami, I am down in Key West. I am an ex Durban ( Bluff ) boy.

Shot bru.

Greg . http://www.keywestkiteboarding.com/

[gk76]

Hello everyone,
The swells range from 1m to 5m depending on how many people fart in china! :p .
....

Any advice will help. Thanks

Hey I like that - that is what is called the Butterfly effect, yes.


You need a kite that can relaunch quick and won't drop out of the sky during lulls, otherwise those great whites will bite you on the ass.