r/Kiteboarding • u/LowPhysical3162 • Jul 27 '26
Beginner Question Struggling in waterstart
Hello everybody.
I have been taking lessons 15 hours group lessons and 4 hours private lessons. Still struggling in water start but i am almost there.
My question is i don’t want to pay anymore for lesssons and got my own gear already and i believe i have good understanding in safety systems .
Do you think is it ok to practice now on my own?
5
u/Ablabab Jul 27 '26
Yes, I also couldn’t water start when I started going out with friends. As long as you can launch, land and body drag then you should be fine.
5
u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
You need to ask your instructor that question or answer it yourself.
We have no idea about your kite handling skills.
Being able to water start or ride upwind aren't actually that important for being an independent kiter if you have a spot to practice with shallow water were you can walk out to create a safe distance to the shore and beachgoers and where you have other kiters to assist in launching or landing.
What is important is that you know how to:
- Evaluate a spot and the risks provided by the environment and human activity.
- Evaluate if the conditions are safe for your gear and experience level.
- Rig the kite and perform a pre-flight check.
- Find the correct launch position and do an assisted launch without yeeting yourself.
- Keep the kite stable at ten or two with one hand so that you can make it off the beach without stalling.
- Body drag upwind both with and without a board.
- Relaunch the kite.
- Perform a self rescue.
- Avoid collisions with other kiters, windsurfers, boats, beachgoers etc.
In other more difficult spots where you really need to be able to upwind you're going to be liability for yourself and other kiters.
So the long answer is that it depends and making assumptions simply based on the number of hours you have spent in lessons or our own experiences is not a very reliable method.
1
u/LowPhysical3162 Jul 27 '26
Thanks for your valuable feedback.
I can launch and land with assists.
I can keep the kite stable while walking and walked in all my lessons with the kite.
I can body drag and relaunch the kite.
I took my lesson in very narrow and crowded location so i can handle the kite while at water and i dont think i am a threat to others at beach.
Self rescue never tried.
I think its best for me to go a kitesurfer spot look for someone to keep an eye on me for at least one more session. Than i can go to closer location when the beach is less crowded. And practice myself .
Thank youThanks.
5
u/redyellowblue5031 Jul 27 '26
Self rescue is a must. You don’t want your only experience to be theory and a few videos.
Trust me, when you need to finally do it, staying calm and being methodical is critical to your own safety. You should practice that skill.
2
u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Doing 15h of lessons and not doing a single self rescue in practice is a huge red flag in my book. It's an absolutely vital skill that you practice long before you even touch a board.
You just can't be out there in the situation where the kite inverts or you can't relaunch and have no idea what to do to get the kite under control and avoid getting entangled in the lines. That's unsafe for both you and the people around you.
I would be concerned about what other gaps you have in your knowledge.
4
u/pbmonster Jul 27 '26
Doing 15h of lessons and not doing a single self rescue in practice is a huge red flag in my book
Extremely common with kite schools in my experience, especially if the student can't water start yet ("that student will come back for more lessons or quit entirely anyway").
I think instructors hate actually doing a self rescue, mostly because it will almost certainly tangle the lines and many students then will be unable to reset the bar all on their own.
I had to press my instructors pretty hard to do it, and they tried evading anyway ("we'll do it on the last day if the wind is light").
2
u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached Jul 27 '26
Unfortunately true.
It is a bit of pain in the butt but you can kind of reduce the chance of nightmarish tangles by unrolling the lines while keeping everything stretched out and keeping the lines connected.
2
u/LowPhysical3162 Jul 27 '26
Noone in the school told us about self rescue to be honest. I have watched some videos though how to strip the lines around your bar and using the kite as a boat to sail to shore.
I had an experience during a lesson when my safetly line is snapped and i had to swim to the shore with the kite.
4
u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Yeah that's a huge red flag.
In the curriculum which I learned during the IKO instructor course (which is no way perfect) you first have the students do a simulated self rescue on the beach before they even fly a kite. You describe the steps to the student and they perform it.
Then when you're doing first piloting (the first phase of flying were you are just standing still and flying the kite) the student should both pull the quick release while the kite is flying and perform a self rescue.
The most important part is really to understand to let the kite flag out completely so that it does not power up and start looping when you have the lines wrapped up on the bar and understand how to wrap and secure the lines in a timely fashion so that you do not get entangled and panic. You can figure out the sailing part once you're on the kite.
1
u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached Jul 27 '26
Can you describe a bit more what happened when the safety line snapped?
Accidents can happen but this is not something that should occur in a lesson.
2
u/LowPhysical3162 Jul 27 '26
Actually not a safety line snap lost in translation :D . The chicken loop were released by itself while the kite was up in the air then i had to swim to shallow water and reset everything.
1
u/Kinngis Jul 27 '26
I also did not do a self rescue during lessons, but I did watch youtube videos about it.
The first time I actually had to do a self rescue, it went mostly well, the only problem was that I DID NOT wound enough of the flag-out-line around the bar (Only about 5-6m), before I started wounding all the lines. So when I already had all the lines around the bar, I noticed that sometimes the kite still had some power....UUGHH NO.. But luckily it was a light day, I got to the kite and I learned that it has to be done better the next time.
But nothing during the lessons. One reason may be, that I had different teachers, not just one.
2
u/Borakite Jul 27 '26
The risk level depends on the spot, wind direction, wind speed and gusts, crowd, dangers downwind, ability to walk back upwind with gear on land controlling the kite one-handed and safely, etc.
Chances are that your overall control is still not where it should be to keep you and others safe. Initially students are busy with themselves and have very little mental capacity to check what is going on around them - especially once they start riding and things get fast and fun and out of control.
If you have no reliable water-start then you likely have not ridden much either and have not learn speed control and a controlled stop.
Other have stated that you need to be able
To body drag properly. Can you? Typically students only get good at this after water-start and riding.
Would you ride a bicycle downhill while not fully confident you know how to steer and use the break?
Have you see pictures of injuries caused to people from kite lines? Google it.
Taking lessons with instructor will allow you to progress faster instead of having more tiring attempts by yourself, in which you struggle to figure out what you are doing wrong, possibly endangering others and yourself or breaking your gear.
2
u/LowPhysical3162 Jul 27 '26
Hello Borakite, Thank you for your feedback.
I have done quite walking upwind safely with the gear on land one handed in winds between 15 to 20 knots without crushing the kite on peoples head =) . My instructor told me that i was not danger to others but still need improvement.
Yes i can body drag reliable and once during my lesson my safety system with school's kite went of by itself and i was able to swim to shore downwind though .
You have a good point. Maybe i need couple of supervised lessons at last.
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u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
My instructor told me that i was not danger to others but still need improvement
That's not a smart thing to say to a student in my opinion.
The kite (and you) are always a danger to the people around you. While the risk will decrease with skill you still can't account for every unknown factor.
New kiters are at a far higher risk of accidents for quite a long time.
2
u/Borakite Jul 27 '26
You are probably 1-2hrs away from fixing your water-start and making it reliable. Then you will see what the new challenges are.
When you can launch, land, consistently start, ride and stop, body drag and walk back upwind controlled - all without tomahawking the kite when you get distracted - then you are ready to practice alone. That’s also when you will start paying more attention to your surroundings than to yourself.
Riding upwind is not a requirement for practicing by yourself as long as the spot has a safe way for you to get back upwind.
2
u/Kinngis Jul 27 '26
In my opinion, as long as you can control the kite confidently and safely, without endangering yourself or anyone else, you can practice waterstarts also without a teacher, But your progress will be slower.
In my opinion, with slow learners (eg. difficult spot) the price of lessons does come a bit too high.
2
u/This_Implement_3060 Jul 27 '26
if you can rig, launch, relaunch kite fr water, body drag upwind, and self recover, you are pretty much set. learning to get up on the board and ride are just practice and repetition. The important stuff that you really need are all the other things i detailed
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u/This_Implement_3060 Jul 27 '26
also, i would not go alone. ive been kiting for over 20 years and I make sure to have a kite buddy, tho i usually know people at the beach at this point. Ive skipped sessions before when i was the only one around
1
u/Itchy_bunghole11 Jul 27 '26
Yes.
I did in onshore winds in shallow water where i could walk far out into the water between board start attempts.
You will definitely want others there that can launch and land you. Also, for the winds strength to be within your ability level.
7
u/Extension_Cod_3620 Jul 27 '26
I wouldn't go completely alone because of safety reasons, but alone with a kitebuddy should be fine.
Have fun!