kitesurfing lessons in Vic

[tWp]

First post from a newbie...

Most of the advice seems to be that getting lessons is the way to go for someone interested in kiteboarding..

Who/Where are recommended for these? Google found a few for me - but I'd like to know peoples opinions.... good operators (especialy from experience), dodgy operators, amount of lessons required, etc.

I'm based in Melb - but could always go somewhere else in Vic (geelong, inverloch, etc if required)

Thanks.

[schultzie]

Kite Power...goshen and bruce do a really good job.

[nigel]

I am not a kite surfer, but don't have lessons unless they have IKO qualified instructors.

IKO is a worldwide standard of training, which should leave you in good hands for your experences on the water.

Two, off the top of my head:

Kitepower, Geelong.

SHQ, Sandringham.

Could try Yellow pages: look under "kites" page 1725

[SHEPPO3930]

SHQ

Kitepower

no drama's

[tWp]

SHQ is sounding good (being a little closer than Geelong) (and 2 out of 3 recommendations isn't bad!)

anyone know anything about these:

http://www.freekitesurfclinic.com.au/f_lessons.php

perhaps a good way to get my feet wet so to speak.

thanks for the replies!

[SHEPPO3930]

just get propper lessons from the start, as they will have the correct gear for the conditions & your weight and they are all IKO approved so they know their shiz.

the lads at SQH are tops, Ivan in particular, he's a nut 8) , in a good way! i will recomend them from experience, but that said, KP seems to be a top place, gets alot of good feedback and has a good rep.

so up to you i spose,

enjoy.

[tWp]

If you are not yet sure if Kitesurfing is in fact for you, than join us for:

Free Clinic and Come'n Try every Sunday, 1 pm. to 4:00 pm.

(Oct. to March every Season)

This was from that link I put up last post. Has anyone been/seen one of these. Worth doing? It'd be kinda nice to try KS without haveing to pay for 2 lessons or so...

I think I'll personally go with SHQ... - but if anyone else has any thoughts - post them on here. It's always good to have a thread like his at what I guess is just before the "start of the season"

[ellery]

I did that sunday clinic with Kitesurfdirect.

Was my first experience with traction kiting. It was good and it was free. So you can't go wrong. I spoke to SHQ about these guys and the one thing they told me was that these guys aren't around all the time. Whereas SHQ is a reputable business that has been around for years.

EVERY where i have found, charges by the hour. If you want lessons now, i would go with Goshen for sure. But, if you want to wait until the season starts, i would go with Alex Sanz from kitesports. He is the only company that doesn't charge by the hour, but rather by the skill level you get to. He takes it in a three step process and you don't have to pay any money untill you are ready to go to the next level. I reckon i had about 20 hours with these guys, for about $300. Not to mention just sitting on the beach asking him questions.

His teaching style is different to all the mainstream kitesurfing clinics, but from personal experience he is on the money. 2 main points i picked up from Alex were: -

"It's not all about getting on the water"

and

"inflatables suck!"

Some people dislike his style of teaching, but it's only 6 months down the track that i can see the benefits of what he taught me. If you do just want to "get on the water" then Alex isn't for you, but if you want to get into traction kiting as a sport, then Alex is your man.

Cheers

James

[tWp]

Have you got any contact details for Alex/kitesports??

phone/address/url/email etc?

I can't find anything in yellowpages or google.

Yeha - my impression from Kitesurfdirect was that they only ran the clinics from the start of Oct onwards... (i'm pretty busy over the next month or so - so I'll almost be running into that kind of time frame)

[Eve]

Alex Sanz is based just on St Kilda beach, He has a Big Van saying "Kite sports" on it...He's preety cool when it comes to kiting...The only problem is last time i saw him was in Summer-i havent seen him since...

Good luck anywayz...

I also recomand Kitepower too...Goshen teaches really good.

Cheers

Eve

[kaboom]

Yeah, if you want an IKO instructor, all the above mentioned are good (SHQ, Kitepower, and Alex Sans). Also to add, RPS are just as good as SHQ. My pick of the crop would most definatley 100% be Kitepower, Goshen is a great guy and a real master. I have also met Alex Sans a few times too, hes a good guy aswell.

[tWp]

If I were to go with Goshen at KP - would the two lessons be enough to get me from being a beginner to be able to ride my own (crappy 2nd hand) kite/board?

The two lessons at Kitepower:

Intro to Kiteboarding (2 Hours) - $140

- Flying power kites and foils - learning to fly a kite.

- Setting up inflatable kites, launching, landing, safety and self rescue techniques.

- Site selection and theory - things to avoid.

- On water instruction will only go ahead if conditions are suitable, and once the student demonstrates the capability to handle the kite independently.

and then

Kiteboarding Level One (2 Hours) - $140

- Review of Intro - Setup, launching and control of the kite.

- Learn how to launch, land and recover a kite independently.

- 'Body Drag' with and without a harness.

- Water relaunching

- Self rescue and self pack-up

Once you complete the above requirements, then you'll get a chance to try a board!

would that be enough to get me going (so I'm good enough to learn by doing it myself - perhaps a later lesson when i'm comfortable and wanted to do some tricks?)

[kaboom]

looks to me that is 3 2hr lessons not 2. And to answer your question, it's possible, SHQ would say quite probable. The best person to answer that is Goshen, and he would beter be able to tell you after you have done some lessons.

[tWp]

Thanks everyone for all of your advice.

This is the list of places offering lessons that i've found so far in Vic.. Of interest to anyone else interested in the sport.

Kitesports (Alex Sans)

SHQ

RPS - The Boardstore

KiteSurfDirect

Zephyr Watersports

KitePower

Aim Kites

Kitesurfdirect offer the following free intro to kiting:

Free Clinic and Come'n Try every Sunday, 1 pm. to 4:00 pm.

(Oct. to March every Season)

Please call 1300 304 809 to book your place.

If there's any others - let me know.

[tWp]

as for me - I'll personally end up going with KP or SHQ - not 100% sure yet - organising lessons for my fiancee and myself for her birthday... so I've got a month or so before I'll take them.

Does anyone know whats happened with Zephyr? Do they still exist? The website doesn;t? I might give them a call after lunch.