Forums > Kitesurfing   Newbies / Tips & Tricks

Newbies Beware!

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Created by Gateman > 9 months ago, 1 Jan 2019
Gateman
QLD, 409 posts
1 Jan 2019 1:43PM
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I was chatting to a client of mine the other day and thought sharing his story might help others not make the same mistake.
A couple years ago he had one kitesurfing lesson and shortly after found a kite in a Cash Converters store for $150. He thought "Awesome! I can get some practice in with the kite before my next lesson"
Anyway, heading down to the beach on the next windy day, he set up the kite, tried to launch with his partner (who had never had a lesson) holding the kite for him and the results were exactly what one (one with experience that is) would expect: He was shot straight up into the air then torpedoed sideways into the dunes covered in vegetation at the height of the tree canopy. The aftermath: broken leg in 3 places and 4 surgeries to try fix it.
To this day he still has no idea what went wrong and doesn't even know if the kite was connected to the bar correctly.
Obvious mistakes: 1) buying a kite he had no idea how to use, how old it was or even if it had been seen by an experienced kiter in years. 2) going somewhere no other kiters were present 3) I have no doubt plenty will respond and add to this list LOL
My recommendation to all Newbies: 1) get lessons 2) listen to your instructors advice on kite purchase 3) if there are no other kiters there, there is probably a very good reason why not so you shouldn't be there either 4) if you are not 100% certain, ask another kiter to have a quick look at your setup before you launch, I'm certain most experienced kiters would do this for you, even if it is just to prevent an unnecessary accident shutting down our favourite spots.



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Forums > Kitesurfing   Newbies / Tips & Tricks


"Newbies Beware!" started by Gateman