New to this, is it realistic to teach myself?

[apollo4000]

I'm new to kiting and i'm just jumping right into it. Is it realistic to just teach myself along with youtube and pointers from friendly kiters? I have an extensive background in sailing so i have a good understanding of the wing and the physics of it all. I've done my reading and watched as much youtube as one could, if i go out in something like 7-10knots and just try to fly (with a someone to catch etc.) it is it realistic/safe to just teach myself through trial and error?

There’s an irony here...nevertheless..
I think you’re talking small trainer kite on a beach....and of course....we all start that way...
...I presume you’re not heading straight into the sea with 2.5k of gear...it’s ‘pride before a fall’ territory
if you get lessons you’ll get even more insight....probably save yourself time and money too...
...the objective is to get through the learning curve as quick as possible and spend the rest of your life kite surfing...not to make the learning curve a totally painful experience and worse, frightening or off putting
oh and get 3rd party insurance....

[FLandOBX]

20 knts is not a decent wind speed to practice in please ignore that persons advice. 10 to 15knts max is perfect to actually try in the water and 8 knts is just fine to static fly a kite.

I think you’ll struggle to fly a kite in 7-10 knots, a bit like cycling or skiing, going really slowly doesn’t always help.

Around 20 knots is a decent wind speed..

Also big kites turn more slowly, so it might be worth considering a large (15m +) kite

Bearing in mind as a beginner you’ll crash the kite a lot, get an old one off eBay, don’t pay more than 100, if you damage it just get another one

In terms of learning safety and not endangering others, choose a beach with at least one of road, railway, power lines, rocks, pier close by.

If you follow all of the above, you’ll learn really, really quickly.

HTH

Agreed 100%, windrider1.

Warbs, are you seriously recommending that a total novice launch a 15 m kite in 20 knots without an instructor involved? That's irresponsible and dangerous. If you've really had any experience kiting, you know better.

RD195917, take lessons. It's great that you've crossed the Atlantic, but I suspect you had a fare amount of proper preparation before doing so. It's also great that you've watched a lot of kiting videos. That may help. But actually launching a large kite without having trained muscle memory or fully understanding your equipment, especially safety systems, could hurt you or a bystander badly. Just take lessons. You will be glad that you did, and you'll help safeguard our launch sites and the reputation of the kiting community.

[RickI]

Best advice, find the best pro lessons that you can for many excellent reasons. There is a lot more to it than just flying a kite on land.

Where do you live?

[JaZone]

I don’t know you personally , so I don’t know how realistic it would be for you to teach yourself.

Once you are out in the water , and have enough room around you , it would be pretty
Safe to try flying by yourself to get a feel for the kite.

Dangerous part for beginners to this , is in launch and landing. I’ve seen a lot of things go wrong very quickly.

If you’re going to attempt to learn without lessons, just make sure to choose your spot
Carefully.

A larger kite and large board in light wind will
Hurt less when you crash.
Trade off, is that relaunch in marginal wind is
Trickier.
Again , choose your spot wisely and have a bailout plan if you can’t relaunch.

At the very least , have someone watching so they can call for help if you get into trouble.

[JaZone]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2402759

Just , please don’t be this guy, or else we gonna talk
About you here.

[RD195917]

Best advice, find the best pro lessons that you can for many excellent reasons. There is a lot more to it than just flying a kite on land.

Where do you live?

Toronto, Canada

[RD195917]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2402759

Just , please don’t be this guy, or else we gonna talk
About you here.

I think the fact that I can see what he did wrong, correct me if im wrong: not hooked into chicken loop creating overpower from pulling bar, launched kite too far downwind?

[RD195917]

20 knts is not a decent wind speed to practice in please ignore that persons advice. 10 to 15knts max is perfect to actually try in the water and 8 knts is just fine to static fly a kite.

I think you’ll struggle to fly a kite in 7-10 knots, a bit like cycling or skiing, going really slowly doesn’t always help.

Around 20 knots is a decent wind speed..

Also big kites turn more slowly, so it might be worth considering a large (15m +) kite

Bearing in mind as a beginner you’ll crash the kite a lot, get an old one off eBay, don’t pay more than 100, if you damage it just get another one

In terms of learning safety and not endangering others, choose a beach with at least one of road, railway, power lines, rocks, pier close by.

If you follow all of the above, you’ll learn really, really quickly.

HTH

Agreed 100%, windrider1.

Warbs, are you seriously recommending that a total novice launch a 15 m kite in 20 knots without an instructor involved? That's irresponsible and dangerous. If you've really had any experience kiting, you know better.

RD195917, take lessons. It's great that you've crossed the Atlantic, but I suspect you had a fare amount of proper preparation before doing so. It's also great that you've watched a lot of kiting videos. That may help. But actually launching a large kite without having trained muscle memory or fully understanding your equipment, especially safety systems, could hurt you or a bystander badly. Just take lessons. You will be glad that you did, and you'll help safeguard our launch sites and the reputation of the kiting community.

Oh ya, im not out here trying to be a hero, all about managing the risk. Just wanted to gauge if its a realistic thing to just jump into it and, with smart preperation, teach yourself.
I've been sitting at home practicing the safety systems but i know all about safety plans in a real clusterfuck.

[Astropupp]

This is an interesting topic. I'm in somewhat of a similar situation. I've got extensive windsurfing, sailing and wakeboarding experience. So I went out and bought all new gear because I know I'll be successful at this as well with some practice. I did take a lesson to get the fundamentals down and will probably take one more, but at the end of the day the only thing that helps you get better is practice. Can you get hurt ? Sure if you do dumb stuff. But that's the case in a lot of sports. Using your head to be aware of the dangers, going out in the right conditions, etc... in my opinion is critical. I always wonder what all the pioneers of the sport did without a ton of lessons...oh, wait, they practiced and learned. I'm super excited to get into this sport and will be solid by the end of this season.

[plummet]

Yes you can teach yourself. It will be more dangerous and take longer. But it is possible. Most of the old hands on this forum taught themselves..... of course others also died trying to teach themselves.

If you must start of with a little trainer kite on the beach and fly that until you can do it with your eyes closed, then eyes closed with one hand.
Then get a bigger inflatable. Fly that in the shallows until until you can drag upwind. Then you are ready to try a board.

Make sure you search and practice self rescue before you go deep.

PS Lessons are recomended and a lot faster to get up and going. Also they are potentially cheaper than ruining you own kit. Get some leasons, hammer that kite into the ground/water repeated times. Learn to fly properly then get your own kit once you have better flying skills.