Just like surfing you have to prepair yourself to wait for the right conditions. you will not allways be able to kite when you have free time not matter how many kites you have.

my suggestion is buy a second hand quiver of kites 10m then 17m then 6m. shop prudently and you will be able to pick up all three for the price of one new kite. then you will be able to fly 10-40 knots once you have built the skill.

Be prepaired to take 6-12 months of learning.

Gosh... some folks around got really spoiled lately ...

Ok, here my 2 centavos ...

You are new to the sport ?

1) get in contact with your local shop / dealer / school and get lessons . They will supply you with all needed equipment , no need to buy anything ( maybe a decent wetsuit ) but is a personal choice , this is the first and most important investment you need to do .

2) ask the locals / your teacher about weather conditions / season / recommendations about boards / kites etc Oh , and never kite alone please !!

3) the right combo is important : imho for your weight a 12 m modern kite with a big board( light wind board 140 x 43 +/- / surf board ) is better than a big kite with a small board ( type of 130 x 40 )

4) A golden rule : kite as far away as you are willing to swim back shore .... I kite 7 years and had to swim back 3-4 times , believe me ..... with a board and a deflated kite with the lines all tangled around is far more difficult than you think . Last time I spend 4 hours in open ocean and I hope I never have to repeat that experience again in a long , long time ...It was not funny at all .

Any " modern " kite ( 2008 and up ) will work , stay away from 2006 and older kites ( specially monster big ass kites )

Take lessons first !!! ( did I say it already ? )

Have fun

Saludos

Troll. Agree with Tautologies. Very clear. Not worth answering.

It is cheaper and safer by getting lessons first and then buy exactly what you need, than buying wrong gear, getting injured with a high medical bill, then getting lessons and then buy the right gear...

Listen to us!!!

my first post was the only post needed in this thread as hes quite clearly a troll. every question hes asked has been the total oppersite of proper kiter behaviour which says the guy is already a kiter.

3 pages already. really???


oh yea

he forgot to say he'll only be kiting in off shore winds

Definitely a

yes it is logical. Not sure why everyone thinks you are a troll. anyway listen to what plummet says, below 5mph you will not be able to ride even if your kite is 40 meters. right around 8mph is where the largest kites can start going like a dyno, zephyr, fat lady or flysurfer. from 12mph up is when you can start riding the big but not specifically lite wind kites, like your 16 to 20 meter kites. Then when it gets from 14mph and up everyone starts riding their favorite kites. From 25mph or so you start switching to the little kites, at 35mph and up you switch to your storm kites if you have them.

Some places have winds that are 20-25mph almost every day at the right time of the year then you just buy a little kite and have fun. Other places most of the time the wind is right around 10mph super marginal but if you want to kite you need the largest kite you can get.

18 meters is not too big, but having an 18 means that when everyone else is out there having fun busting out huge air and kite loops you will have to put your kite on the beach and wait for it to quiet down. The advantage of an 18 is that you'll be riding when everyone else is still at home.

But no matter how big your kite is you can't ride a 5mph breeze.

Hey Mikey your profile says about your favorite beach: I want to kitesurf off Antartica

Well check this out.....those aren't white sand dunes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8wg8xrP ... ure=relmfu

Gives me an ice cream headache watching..... ........

The reason everyone says not to go far off-shore is that kites are not reliable. Simple as that. If you want to go far off-shore, get a sailboat, or a windsurfer, or a kayak. Kite lines snap, kites rip, bladders burst, winds die, etc. etc. etc. It doesn't matter if you are meticulously careful about maintaining equipment, it doesn't matter if you have all the training in the world, at some point you aren't going to be able to kite back to shore. Don't go farther than you are willing to swim because you will have to swim eventually.

For your weight, 12m is probably a good first kite. If you can afford lessons, definitely get them, it will make the learning process faster, safer, more enjoyable, and it will let you trash someone else's equipment when learning (you WILL trash equipment when learning). A great number of people on this board will say that you * CAN NOT and MUST NOT* learn without lessons, but might be going a bit over-board. Lots of us learned without lessons because lessons weren't readily available when we were learning. I don't recommend learning without lessons, they really are a good investment, but if you are going to skip lessons, get a trainer kite (a 1 to 3 meter traction kite) and spend many hours on that before even looking at a bigger kite, and never ever kite close to (and especially upwind) of other people.

Unless your Laird Hamilton.

Blame Laird.