I have surfed most of my life and consider myself a surfer first. Having said that, kitesurfing is a blast especially in Perth's windy (but flatish) conditions. I am confused as to why you would bother with a kite in conditions like this:
Do other kitesurfers agree? Would you pump up your kite is such marginal conditions (wind wise)? Or is it only non-surfers who would kite in these conditions?
I'd be out there with my kite, but I'm not you, nore is anyone else. I guess I am a kiter 1st and a paddle surfer 2nd.
Col
looking at those sort of conditions, surf every time then kite- unless the sections are to fast to make
I surf 1st in morning when glass and hit that face as hard as possible when wind is at its peak Nice wave ??????
Well you surf the wave
and use the kite to be ready for the next
one and not miss because you have to paddle ..
regards
gmd
yep gota agree my paddle fitness has gone to ** since I started kiting. Theres also no way you can catch as many waves paddling.
Mmmm tough choice.....quantity vs quality.
I reckon the wind is probably a bit stronger than it looks, it is just a little bit offshore so the face is nice and clean.
There is nothing quite like paddling into a wave then just using the power of the wave but you can just get so many more waves with a kite.
If I was twenty years younger I might be surfing but now I would be kiting, but I would be using the smallest kite I could get away with so I could pretty much switch it off on the wave (unless I needed a little help to make a fast section).
I'm in the same camp as TH and TL, paddle fitness sucks since I started kiting. I would spend more time on the water and get more waves if I had a kite. I wouldn't be frustrated by the young grommet who keeps paddling past me in the rip and gets wave after wave while I wheeze my way back to the take off spot!
That photo looks soooooo good and so much fun, wish we had a bit of this right now!
For me its all about the fun/effort ratio.
With surfing theres alot of effort for little fun in time terms. So you bash through the surf wait in the line up and then if your lucky you get 20 seconds of fun. then you have to smash through the white wash again assume your possion for the next wave. 5,10, 15 mins later you may get another 20 seconds of glory.
How many wave do you catch per hour? maybe 6? thats 2mins of fun in a full our of acticity.
Stuff that. Theres not enough fun factor for this white man.
Even if you take rigging up your kite into account as soon as you hit the water its all fun... just different levels of fun. So even if you take 30 mins to rig yourve had 30 mins of fun in an hour.
But I have always been a part time surfer at best. I've never been able to get over that low fun factor ratio. The other sports i do landboarding, longboards skating and mountain biking all more fun in terms of time v fun.
PS i'm calling at least 20 knots of cross cross off on that photo. Theres decent spray coming off the face. that doesn't happen until at least 20 knots.
If theres guys doing real surfing, don't kite there, or your wind screen may get smashed and your board shoved up your ass.
Ill be the guy shoving the board up your ass.
All good if you find a place uninhabited with waves like this, if is a crowded spot, you are officially worse than a SUPper
[}:)] 
Glad u got my back! Thought for sure the red thumb brigade would F8ck my s*hit up for sure!
[}:)]
Stoked - I took that photo - after a morning surf - wish I was there now rather than here, flat and raining.
The wind is way stronger than it looks and it's cross on. I kited it on a 6 m.
The angle of the photo and the sunlight makes it look clean. Still surfable but windy and most got there fill in the morning.
I vote surf morning, kite arvo, then fall in blissful exhaustion (and good luck to those who get a root while there).
[}:)]
great shots, looks epic...I really like the last one and the heavy angle on the swell as it's marching down the beach....wish i was there for that.
Gnaraloo is sailed in marginal (or primo) conditions cause Gnaraloo is angle-perfect.
Wind direction is optimum for riding waves with a sail or a kite.
Surfers don't like wind.
Surfers like calmness.
Glass.
