Getting started in Kitesurfing

[FSUgreg]

Hey I have been interested in kitesurfing for a while now and I am wanting to get into the sport. I have moderate wake board experience (40-50 times), lots of water and snow skiing experience, and have pretty good balance. I am 21 years old 6'2 and 220lbs but don't have a beer belly. My question is how should I go about getting started, what type of equipment should I get, what size of kite, etc. I am going to mainly be kitesurfing in the bald point to PC area and some in st. augustine.
Thanks, Greg Bridge

[shogun1204]

Give the guys at Emerald Coast Kiteboarding a call. They can help you out with gear and lessons. They have a great instructor and getting lessons is the best thing to do when you are first getting into the sport. Kitesurfing is something that is very diffcult and very dangerous to learn on your own.

www.pcbkitesurf.com (http://www.pcbkitesurf.com)

[ricki]

Ditto that Greg. Invest in the best quality instruction you can find. You will advance must faster, with less frustration, risk of broken gear or breaking yourself. It may not seem like it but this is a fact. You will use his gear during the instruction following which you will have your own ideas on appropriate kites and boards. Getting stuck with poor gear at this point would be fairly easy. At 220 lbs. you will have more exacting gear demands than say a 145 lb. person particularly in lighter winds. In high winds, a rare thing in Florida, it is less difficult.

There is some good info on this at: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=2071

[Todd RT]

I'm the same size as you man.

I ride a 16M Cabrinha (various models) probably 80% of the time. So focus on getting a great 16m kite. Here in FL, especially in the summer, you need a good lightwind board. I ride a Jimmy Lewis FlightDeck.

Most of us that ride hard, and are over 200lbs do break gear, so get real familiar with whatever kite you wind up with. I can speak volumes about Cabrinha and Liquid Force Kites durability, but not much on other manufacturers.

I started with a 16M, then bought a 12M, then a 10M, and have only missed about 2-3 days a year because I DON'T Have an 8M.

I flip from my Flightdeck to a 128x36 Aggression kiteboard. Most will say that's too small, but it's my favorite board EVER!

Best of luck man!

[FSUgreg]

I appreciate the help and plan on getting some lessons as soon as i finish summer school which is 4 weeks away. I know that being my size I am going to break stuff I break skateboards and all kinds of stuff thats probably ment for a little smaller framed person, so yeah I plan on getting pretty good quality gear.

[mkelly08]

My wife, daughter and I took our lessons from XL Kites in Fort Walton Beach and they were great. You should also check with the FSU Kiteboarding Club. http://www.fsukiteboarding.com/home.html
Check out the link - its a great deal and you dont have to worry about buying your own gear right away- they have some quality stuff for you to try. I have met 6 of the guys and several of them go to NC and work as instructors during the summer.