[Closed] Windsurferists.

In Short - Yes.

You can surf on day 1 (by lying down, you should be able to catch a wave, glide and steer a bit), standing up is a whole lot trickier - you can stand up on day one, however it might be for a short time. It's great fun so give it a go - you only need chest deep water and IMHO not much knee strain (walking in chest deep water-against waves, current/push/backwash can be surprsingly strong though, plus need to jump on board)

Windsurfing === (is sort of equiv to) surfing standing up + being able to sail - as a beginner all the pull will be on your back as you'll be repeatedly pulling the bleeding sail out of the water - best learnt in light wind on a reservoir

you can't windsurf directly into wind (well you can till you loose all speed) but you can tack pretty close against it though so you zigzag upwind going across the wind

Yep, I'm a windsurfer too (kitesurfing too, similar sort of stuff) and in high winds & waves it's great - water is a tad softer than rocks & trees so think heading down the local downhill track absolutely full belt, if you see a ramp just go for it and if (when) it all goes wrong just get back up and carry on.

It takes quite some time to get good enough to be out in high winds, but it's an amazing rush.

Kitesurfing is similar, but much quicker to learn and better in lighter winds.

Aerodynamically windsurfing is just normal sailing theory, so you can head into wind by 30-45 degrees depending on the specific setup etc, but most of the time is spent heading across the wind.

Sorry being a numpty I mean kite surfers.

Ah, that's great for you then Kitesurfing is much quicker to learn and is better suited to the wind conditions that we have in the UK (plus the gear packs up much smaller - think car boot rather than roofrack).

It's still fundamentally sailing so normal sailing theory applies in terms of coming back against the wind etc - just look it up on google.

It is a bit tough on knees as they need to be bent all of the time and physically push against the board to react the pull from the kite.

The only downside really is that it's quite dangerous if it goes wrong (the kite is sized to pull you through the water when in control, so imagine not far off waterski town boat levels of pull) and when you lose control of the kite it can pull much harder than that, so you don't want to lose control whilst on the beach! The BKSA have loads of info and links to schools etc - give it a go...

zippykona, do you live in Australia?

Windsurfing is pretty hard to learn. A lot of basics to get before you can progress to anything like a high level. Brilliant sport.

Kitesurfing will come quicker but is more dangerous in many ways. You have to be confident of getting it back up if it goes down in the water otherwise your stuffed. You also need to be in complete control or have loads of space as people get dragged about and if your kite or lines hit something then again your stuffed. As above imagine being dragged like in waterskiing but over some rocks when you are completely out of control.

Surfed at Suanton but always been meaning to take the kites down there. Kiting is possibly one of the most fun sports known to man. Windsurfing on the other hand can be bloody frustrating and ut often takes years to get to the stage where you're good enough to have fun.

Book a couple of lessons with your local school and within a few sessions you could be up on the board. Or buy a small 2m trainer kite (Flexifoil or similar) and get to learn your kite control skills by yourself first. The principles are the same - just the bigger kites move slower but have lots more power. If you snowboard or wakeboard then both will help a little to get used to a kiteboard.

Kiting is a full body workout. After a few hours on the water then there probably won't be a muscle in your body that's not sore. Not as bad on the arms as you'd thing though as most of the kites pull will be transferred through your waist harness. I know quite a few kitesurfers with dodgy knees. One wears a knee brace and still manages to compete at world class level. Give it a go - it's very addictive - especially when you start to surf the waves and pop effortless floaty jumps off the wave crests 🙂

Forgot to add, if you do buy a small kite to practise on first, get some lessons when progressing to big kites. There's a lot of safety stuff to be aware of. Have fun 🙂

Can you learn to kite surf on a lake?
Regardless of the surfing bit I would love one of those kites.

zippy - I might be misunderstanding and I've not yet finished first coffee - anyway

as a 'simil;arish' alternative see kite buggy, I was told to learn to kite surf in a field (*free of trees, power lines, ****ting dogs/people etc etc etc) - as understanding wind, kite control etc is independent of the surfing and learning one skill at a time is easier than learning two - "if you can fly the kite lying on your back and pull yourself to your feet as and when you want and go back down as and when then you'll do fine"

edit - ps - have you tried surfing - if not thats criminal, Saunton is a great beginner beach

If you're considering kite surfing, then buy a trainer kite like [url= http://www.surf-sales.com/surfshop/shopexd.asp?id=853&bc=no ]this[/url], but don't try actual kitesurfing on the water without lessons, people die and quite frequently.

Windsurfing is something different, it takes a little longer, is more expensive and you need more equipment, but has greater opportunities and can be done on all sorts of water environments.

Kitesurfing can be quite quick to learn, but as I pointed out earlier can also be more dangerous, especially if the kite goes out of control with you still attached to it, which does happen, so knowing how to fly a kite, by practising as often as you can is a benefit. Take lessons from a professional instructor as you would if you were learning to fly or hang glide.

You can also do it on land as someone else pointed out, one of those trainer kites can power a mountain board (kind of an off road oversize skateboard) or kite buggy (a three wheeled trike you steer with your feet) all quite good fun especially somewhere like Saunton, isn't there a shop in the village that sells all this stuff?

Check out this kitesurf video - awesome

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