It depends on you. If you are used to the water, a lot of experienced waterman say you can't always surf, you can always wind surf, but you can always kite. The people saying high cost to entry must be comparing it to a surfboard, because $1500 for the rig and another $1500/$2000 for the kite, it is high. However, it is pretty cheap to go anywhere you want to, anytime, and not need a boat. If you wakesurf here it's $80k to get started.
Most of it is based on wind and body weight. As a beginner it's best to buy the biggest kite because it works with light wind and heavy weight. Learning the rigging for the take off is the toughest part. Not getting all caught up. They actually had some classes at Fountainbleu on the North Shore. It is definitely something you can do.

2 ...

Report Post

Posted by hogfly

Fayetteville, AR

Member since May 2014

4667 posts

Posted on 2/15/24 at 10:57 am to tiger94gop

quote:
The people saying high cost to entry must be comparing it to a surfboard, because $1500 for the rig and another $1500/$2000 for the kite

I wasn't necessarily saying the gear was high cost...said there was a high barrier to entry because the gear appears complicated (watching them inflate their kites, wrestle their kites, lay out their lines, etc...) It takes a pretty long time for them to get set up and ready. As said before, painful watching some guy spend 45 minutes getting set up to hit the water then never get past the shore break

I'm sure that it's like anything else though in that repetition breeds familiarity breeds comfort. Just have to get some assistance to get started.

I'll also second the person who said age isn't a barrier. At Palm Beach, most of the dudes are well over 40 with some of them appearing to be 50-60 (and most of them are gnarly-looking, tanned beach bums with yoga physiques).

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by Big Scrub TX

Member since Dec 2013

33744 posts

Posted on 2/15/24 at 2:06 pm to tiger94gop

quote:
It depends on you. If you are used to the water, a lot of experienced waterman say you can't always surf, you can always wind surf, but you can always kite. The people saying high cost to entry must be comparing it to a surfboard, because $1500 for the rig and another $1500/$2000 for the kite, it is high. However, it is pretty cheap to go anywhere you want to, anytime, and not need a boat. If you wakesurf here it's $80k to get started.
Most of it is based on wind and body weight. As a beginner it's best to buy the biggest kite because it works with light wind and heavy weight. Learning the rigging for the take off is the toughest part. Not getting all caught up. They actually had some classes at Fountainbleu on the North Shore. It is definitely something you can do.

Thanks! Do you do it?