Learning without lessons, did you? The stumbling blocks!!

[Gster]

Learn to fly the kite, body drag etc.

Make sure you can launch and land your kite, on and off land and sea.

Make sure you how how to release your kite (quick release) and gain your composure on land and on the water.

Make sure you know how to pack down in deep water and can self rescue.

If you can not achieve any or all of the above....YOU SHOULD NOT go anywhere near the water as you will be a danger to yourself and others.

If you can do all of the above, kite a board put it on your feet, send the kite from 12 o'clock and point your board towards the kite. 'Stand Up' with a straight front leg and tuck your rear leg under your bum as you leave the water......you will get going!

Watch the DVD and read books, but the way to learn (after knowing how to be safe to yourself and others) is to practice and get tired and achey in the water.

Be safe and don't be in too much of a hurry to learn....you will not crack it in a week!

[foam-n-fibre]

From the lat and long on the google image I found you! Falkland Islands, cool, I bet there must be some wind there. If the beach is empty and there aren't too many penguins around, set yourself up with a good anchor for self launching and landing with the kite parked at the edge of the window, but be prepared to dump the kite in the water and flag it out if things get real windy.

But of course if you have anyone tagging along make sure they know how to launch and land you. Finally, with the number of windy days I suspect you get in those parts, make sure you have a healthy fear of what a kite will do to you in winds that are too strong, and be prepared to skip a day that looks too windy.

Also watch for invading Argentinians!

Peter

[Marcio Hernandez]

Don´t put your life in risk just to save a few bucks..... Go to a Kiteschool and have at least the basic course. You don´t need to be a pro to go by yourself but you need at least understand the sport, safeties, wind, equipment and risk. Be a safe kiter, so you don´t put your life and the others in risk.

BONS VENTOS!!!

[FredBGG]

learn to release IMMEDIATELY !!!

everything else is secondary!!!

Therefore make sure your quick release is working perfectly.

Stay away from objects...distance is your friend

Watch the weather!!!

And the rest will come with time!

Toby is absolutly right!
Safety Release Reflex is you best friend.

Check out this thread I started a while ago...

viewtopic.php?f=82&t=2357453&start=30&hilit=srr

If you can a kite destination school is a good idea. That is take a trip to a kite school in a place with ideal conditions. Learning in ideal conditions makes a huge difference. You will learn so much in less time. However if you do do this remember to be very carefull when you go back home as your conditions will be different and it does take some time to build up that "safety wisdom"

Also always use a helmet and a lifevest.
For an inexpensive lifevest option you can get a kyaking life vest for about $35. For best mobility get one a size or two smaller and just set the ajustment straps to longer. This will sort of reduce the bulk of the vest and the floatation will be higher up at the shoulders where you want it.

Avoid kiting alone when you can. Bring a friend... If there are no other kiters around convince a friend to learn with you.

Also learn about the local weather. Even when you are not kiting... look at conditions, listen and rad the forcasts..... etc etc. Sudden changes of weather can be nasty when you are kiting.

[ronnie]

You seem to have chosen a good location, although the photos dont show it with the tide out.
Check it at low tide and find an area with a sandy bottom and no rocks to kite in.
Ideally get help with launching/landing, but if you have to do it by yourself, the anchor launch method is one of the safest, provided you understand what to do. You need to have a clear preferably sandy area downwind.
This is an example of an anchor launch, but you should have a bigger, clearer area downwind than what is shown in this series of photos.

http://www.dlightcanarias.net/crossbowl ... launch.htm

At high tide, it is also possible to use an anchor launch, using a submerged rock like this and a floating (polyester) rope. The advantage is that there is waist deep water downwind. In the water, its best to have 2 anchor points 25m apart across the wind. One to hold the kite while you run out the lines and check them, and one to anchor your board to and then your chickenloop, when you have checked everything and you are ready to set the kite up on its side on the water.

[Tom183]

First: nobody should learn without lessons. At best, you will waste a lot of quality water time struggling to get it together and progress much slower than with lessons.
At worst, you can die. That's not a scare tactic, it's a reality you need to be aware of.

It is possible to learn without lessons ONLY IF you can fly the kite blindfolded (literally). If you can't, then forget about trying to add a board, it won't happen. The kite will crash, you will get yarded, and the board will end up somewhere else.

And lessons or not, spend LOTS of time reading the manuals to understand how the safety system on your particular kite works. Try it out. Practice reaching for it until that is a reflex.

[morsan]

Currently I have spent about 8 hours in the water practicing loads of water re launches from both sides of the window, body dragging with and without the board, self rescue. Have tried twice to get on the board but did not stay up long plus is was a very light wind day which didn't help. Got the REAL first 3 dvds which I watch endlessly and also books.

I am just waiting for the right conditions. It's very gusty here so I'm waiting no matter what. Been about 2 weeks since last been in the water but I'm not risking it unless it's right!!

Awesome advice and so much appreciated. Please keep it coming. It really gives me something to think about. I'm usually by myself so I self launch and land a lot. The kite is great, I turn in towards the wind on land to launch and it just sits up at the side of the window like someone is holding it. Not like my Griffin which I need a helper. No one swims in the water here it's to cold so I have no obstacles apart from rocks on the shore which is ok.

[michaelt]

Bring a friend... If there are no other kiters around convince a friend to learn with you.

I agree with Fred - definitely, by all means, find a friend. Self-launching and self-landing is learned at a very advanced stage, when you are super confident with everything else. Launching and landing are more dangerous than anything, having a friend who can help is a must.

[icebird]

It's doable, but there are several small things that can be very dangerous when done incorrectly.

If you watch kitesurfers at a beach, they quitely follow a routine they have done hundreds or thousands of times, or more. Inflating the kite, checking the pressure, laying out lines, walking up the lines, connecting the lines, checking and rechecking the wind vs kite size, watching for dark clouds - nothing we think about much, we just do it.

Toby is right about quick release - but getting some of the preflight checks wrong won't give you the time nor routine to handle this situation if the kite suddenly starts to loop. Another thing that is even more important than quick releasing is to learn to let go of the bar - this is what you do just before engaging the quick release - but if something goes wrong most people has the reflex to hang on the bar for dear life, powering up the kite and making things worse.

Among preflight mistakes connecting lines incorrectly is probably the worst - the result can easily be an out of control looping kite immediately after launch - pulling you hundreds of feet very quickly over land potentially killing you at the nearest garbage bin, parked car, or tree.

There may be knots and tangles in the lines if not checked correctly which also can result in death loops. You may get these things right, but not understand kite dynamics well enough and stall the kite into the powerzone over land which is also dangerous. As mentioned, a trainer kite is your friend.

Beginners tend lack a sense of when a kite is owerpowered and may feel quite confident with a way to big kite, but then the margin for error or changes in wind is suddenly much smaller.

As a beginner on land you are very vulnerable, and alone you have no-one to detect and correct your mistakes.

I strongly suggest that you get a nice vacation in warm country with good wind and a kite school.

[Sheriff]

There is added thrill in learning to kite yourself or with a friend. But of course you must know much theory.

Me and my friend started on our own when there were only 2 line wipikas and C-quads.... so hardly any release and safety system and NO SCHOOLS whatsoever.

Good thing was I didn't manage to get my board for 6 months (there were not many produced) so I mastered kite flying and bodydraging and there were some attempts with a small windsurf board

Then I broke the ankle launching from rocks... so that is a NO NO

I was back in kiting this year and totally enjoy new equipement!!!

good luck