windsurfing vs kitesurfing

Whats with the bikie references lotsofwind i thought everyone come to the conclusion on here that bikies are a rare bread of brother to brother conformist with little respect for law ;-)

Doggie what happened to the your husky display pic ;-( doggie is always a husky !!!



There is no pros or cons choose one. it will be enough to keep you going and master it for years. These two sports can never be mastered.
I think you have to choose a kitesurfing/windsurfing.Go down to your local beach sit there for an hour on the beach watch and find out what you want to learn sport ,Within each sport there is certain specialist attributes.Along with these attributes there a highly skilled people that execute.
So to make the choice.. go down to your local spot and watch for a few hours .. You will know.

New to Kiting;

Categorized as a "noob"
Ridiculed for trying to learn in the wrong locations,
Degraded for not getting lessons or enough lessons,
Abused for crashing your kite in the show pony lane,


New to windsurfing;

You will be welcomed to the sport,
Advice and help will be generously offered,
You wont be judged personally.
Windsurfing is not a fashion statement.

Kiting is similar to wanking.

It's fun, but you dont want to be caught doing it at the beach.
-------------

Windsurfing is like having a fat girlfriend, it'll get you off but you'll have to lug alot of ugly bags around with you.



I hope this helps with the decision.

Hers a bit more of a serious reply :)

Cost of equipment.
Windsurfing is probably more expensive if you are buying NEW gear.
That being said the 2nd hand market in windsurfing is very good and fairly low risk.

The 2nd hand market for kiting gear is abit more risky - you can get some good bargains but generally I wouldnt trust most of it - better of with new kitee or refurbished kites from shops.

Transport

Windsurfing takes more room to carry - you will need roof racks / van or a trailer to carry big begginer boards. once you get better and use smaller wave/ slalom gear they can fit in station wagons or SUVs.

Kiting on other hand packs up into about the size of a a backpackers bag and a small surf board which will fit on most cars and even public transport.

Learning stages

Windsurfing you can pretty much go to any beach and rig up and have a go. lessons will acclerate learning but it can easily be done by friends. Other windsurfers will be happy to help as well at most locals. Over all its not dangerous to learn but will take some time to master. Learning on a big board you can use a small sail in a fairly wide variety or winds.

Kiting - you MUST get proper lessons. Teaching yourself or getting mates to teach you is asking for trouble. Most kiting accidents are cused by learners. Kites have a really high power to wieght ratio so tend to be a lot less forgiving in gusty conditions. Thsi means oyu need the right kite for the conditions you are learning in. Learning curve tho is probably a bit easier than windsurfing

Advanced sailing 0 Flat water

Windsurfing is generally about speed and big gracful turns on flat water. Windsurfer tend to get on the plane a bit later than kites but have a much better top end. When its howling 30+ knots the windsurfers will be out there having a blast.

Kiting is generally short runs in and out with boost to get air time. Kites will get planing a bit earlier than windsurfer. generally where I sail most kites will disappear when the wind starts getting 25+ knots. this is when kiting becomes really dangerous unless you know what you are doing.

Both sports have their dangers when you are pushing your performance to the limit in strong conditions.

Wave riding

Dont do it so wont comment.

Foot print and hazard to others.

Kitesurfing in comparison to windsurfing has a huge foot print. With 30 meater lines when things go wrong a kite can create a huge swarth of destruction :) ive seen kite go into a death spiral dragging the kiter for 200 meter out of the water and into a carpark. When a kite goes down it can be a pretty serious danger to other beach users. Learner kites also take up a lot fo room and are pretty much hated by everyone. (both windsurfers _ advanced kiters)
Kites also tke a fiar bit of room to launch and land.


Windsurf on other hand has a very smnall foor print. crahses are small and if you are learning away from anyone else ther is almsot zero chance of endangering anyone else.

Windsurfers have been around for 30 odd years with no issues with local councils. Kiters have been gaining force for about 5 years and already have a lot of Bans from various beachs and locales. Kiting is also not allowed within 2km of any airport.
If things keep going the way thery are kiting could be banned from a lot more places in the future.

BTW both kiters and windsurfers all hate jet skis,

Hope that helps.

Doogie likes getting his/ her posting numbers up by posting dumb comments in the SUP Forum where no one else will read them

Surf these forums pretty well

sounds like a win win Bob

There is one more difference in visibility.
Since windsurfer has view blocked by his sail must take extra care to see all around for kites , boats and take care of them.
Since kiters see easy 360 , they possibly always stare at his kite or foot on the board because it is very rare for them to see windsurfer near by on collision course.

I think for all those right female kiters the short tennis skirts should be compulsory and nothing esle
then big jump

"or lack there of"???????WTF ,,,why are you looking?????Another dirty old dancer.

Lotsawind & Carantoc ..... Rumble in the 'Breeze Thriller in the Genny

Hitting seniors is not my style.
Well, in my car anyway.

i seriously doubt youd be able to sail 40knots if thats the only time you windsurf.
need some skills.

kiting has gone pretty much anyway.

Windsurfing is like riding a bike, easy once you know how.

The great thing about kiteing is getting out having fun in anything over 10knts where a windsurfer needs about 20knts plus. This means that if you kite you can get out probably 50% more than a windsurfer.

Demonstrably untrue.

Windsurfing can be done in as little as 5 knots, however most of us don't bother.