I was having a very interesting conversation with some male kite buddies the other day about the differences between girls and guys learning to kite and it made me curious about the experiences of other girls out there.
When I was learning to kite I was the only girl on the beach - I still am one out of two or three. I see so many girls come to the beach once or twice, take a lesson and then disappear. I know that the rest of you are out there somewhere, thinking the same things.
So Ladies - I want to know what you went through learning to kite, traveling to go kiting for the first time, etc. and how we make it better for the other girls out there?

When I started kiting I was the only girl learning on my beach, and even now there are only 2 girls that kite regularly at my spot. I had a nightmare learning, I think men have no fear (or don't want to look like wusses in front of other men) and crack on with it, whereas I was pretty scared for a long time. I wonder if more men have skated/surfed/snowboarded before, and so it all seems to come more naturally to them? The big thing also is because there are so many blokes on the beach it can be intimidating for women to go and ask for help maybe - you know, those early sessions when you need someone to help you a bit with your board launching? Or maybe that's me just being rubbish at asking for help!

And finally, I have spoken to quite a few females about this on my travels - we give ourselves SUCH a hard time if we don't progress quick enough! And we then get frustrated and feel like quitting! Blokes don't seem to get like this. Women strive for perfection and really beat themselves up if they don't get it!

That's my thoughts...

Hi Ladies,
I am not a lady but for sure women learn differently than men. In Denmark we have a kite clinic once per year exclusively for women. Have a look at the website http://www.qcamp.dk/

It is a great concept and I do know that the course is highly appreciated by those who have taken it. I am sure that Sus, who organizes the event (Best team rider Dk) would have some suggestions if anyone wanted to set up such a camp in their country. You can pull her e-mail address of the site above.

We do have some very good Danish women kitesurfers here but I am unsure of the male to female ratio...

regards
Kirk

I can't say for sure, but my estimation is that kiting is yet another "girlfriend sport". I'm more familiar with how this goes in the climbing community. Guy learns how to climb or wants to learn how to climb, brings his g/f out with him, teaches her how to climb. They break up and she keeps climbing. Very seldom do I see a girl come in to learn how to climb on her own or with a group of just girls.

Girls tend to make good climbers, but they are not like guys. Since the m/f ratio is so low, women get a lot of attention, and it's often not what they want. Always the guys come to their rescue with advice the girl didn't ask for, the guys try to show them the moves in some asinine effort to somehow demonstrate their prowess, and then there's the obnoxious tendency for guys to put their hands on the girls to try and "help".

It's a little bit harder for guys to pull that kind of BS with kiting, I think, but nonetheless, I think the idea that a girl on the scene is somehow fresh meat is a deterrent. Also, guys tend to "bond" in their sports and women don't get to have that experience because there aren't enough girls around on the beach (or the snow, or wherever). Their only motivation is the pure love of the sport; it seems harder for them to participate in the communal dynamic around kiting and it takes a particular kind of person to come to something like kiting alone.

-J

Guys tend to be more into doing dangerous stuff, I think, and as sexist as it is, there has to be some reason why more young men die in accidents than women. Most of the girls I know who have tried kiting get a bit of a fright and lack the encouragement and fear of shame that men get to continue. I don't care if people think I'm lame, there's some conditions I won't go out in, but I think my apprehension is stronger than most men's. When I was learning, I gave up and threw all the gear down the beach a million times, in full marching tanty, but a huge amount of encouragement and no small amount of sneering from the cheap seats meant I continued. Basically, if I hadn't been hassled like a guy would be, I wouldn't have continued BECAUSE I HATED LEARNING SO MUCH. It sucked!

I'm a girl and was taught by a girl. Although I've dated other kiters, my current boyfriend does not kite (and may never learn). However, I did teach him to land and launch kites. I didn't hate the learning curve (k, maybe a little when I couldn't go upwind). I'm probably progressing slower than a lot of guys, but I'm also better than some guys who started at the same time!

maybe I'm an anomaly though

It IS frustrating that more women aren't out there kiting, I wish I had more female kiting companions (especially ones who kite without a boyfriend), it seems so many quit. It does suck going to the beach alone most of the time... but some guys are pretty cool, and don't treat me much differently than the guys.

oh yeah - btjsfca - I'm also an accomplished climber (and no, a boyfriend did not teach me).

Finally Kite Girl´s appear on this forum! Well done that woman for starting this thread...

I started kiting this year and I love it...I always travel alone and have visited some amazing locations and have met other women who are also roaming the planet looking for good wind and some fun.

I created my own blogspot which is dedicated to Kite Girls everywhere. It describes my learning curve, talks about the things women encounter kiting and there are some really cool pictures of women kiting and of the locations I visited. Its not about showing off (like so much of the guys stuff on the net), its about girls SHOWING UP at the beach and encouraging others to do the same...

http://kitegirladventures.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoy it and if you ever want to go on a Girl Kite adventure let me know!

Hi I have been kiting for 2 seasons and am just at the start of my third. I started at the same time as my b/f (though it was my idea not his!) and the difference in our progression is quite pronounced.

First season I can go down wind only, he is staying upwind and doing small jumps
Second season I am upwind and jumping he has accomplished back and forward rolls
Now I am leaning backrolls and he is throwing doubles easily and looking for new tricks.

What was the biggest difference? Firstly in the first season we bought 1 kite between us a 12m C shape and at 56kg I almost never went out and when I did I was too scared as the kite had too much power for me, so he got a lot more experience. Near the end of the season we bought new kites a 8m and 12m Co2 which go me out more.

However I now feel I am catching up or at least keeping pace, we bought crossbows when they came out and it made a huge difference to my confidence reduced my fear factor and increased my going out wind range. (Please don’t turn this into a bow vs C thing this is just my experience1)

There are not many girls on my beach either, I wish there were a few more but the guys are great

So is that it then...? are there only like 7 Kite Girls who use this forum?

We have like 3000 posts on the most sexy kite picture thread and only 7 responses to this post..whats happening?

come on there must be more Kite Girls out there!

I don't know about learning curves in women vs men....but I DO know that when a new chick shows up for a lesson, I rarely see her come back for another lesson.

I ALSO know that there are quite a few guys that show up for a lesson...and many of them don't show up again either...

I think because there are so few women to begin with...everyone on the beach notices and pays more attention.

As for me, I'm one of maybe 3 chicks on the beach but hang in a group with almost all guys. The only "different" treatment I get is the ocassional "you kite like a girl" shout of encouragement. But I think that's because I don't EXPECT to be treated differently.

Guess bottom line is...guy or girl......if you don't want it bad enough to"just do it" then it's probably just as well that you don't show up anymore