I've never surfed in my life outside a 30 minute intro tourist thing on Waikiki Beach years ago on a long board. Reason I don't surf is because I live in FNQ - no waves.

Now I've been kiting for 3.5 years I think and in the last 6+ months, I've moved to strapless surf boards from a twin-tip and now spending more sessions on that for a number of reasons. I can gybe and carve turns and generally ride at somewhere between beginner and intermediate level and have started trying strapless airs, though I fail every time leaving the board behind me.

What's the consensus if I went somewhere with waves...could I surf or does having a kite attached reduce the skill required?

my theory, although I was a surfer first so it is mostly an educated guess - kinda yes... but mostly no. The tricky bit of surfing is mainly the paddling for a wave, then the standing up at the right time in the right place on the board, which kiting doesn't help you with. Once you're up, the muscle memory you have learnt will help riding the wave, but you will find that your stance is a bit different to what it should be to accommodate for the pull of the kite, and your gybes and carves don't quite work the same as you don't have the kite supporting you (it doesn't feel like it, but it makes a difference).

In short, you still have to learn how to surf - but once you have the basics down (catching a wave and getting on your feet), your progression on the surfboard will be faster because you get a lot more time on a wave face from the kiting.

Longboards and SUPs make the initial bit (Takeoff and standing) a lot easier, so if you're looking for something to fill in a day or two without wind and you don't want a steep learning curve, then have a bash at that. More the point, you're still going to have more fun getting axed learning to surf than you will sitting on the beach with no wind...!

Strapless airs, start by ollying the board like you would load the twintip, without loading on the kite at all. as you release from the olly, bend your legs. the board will pop off the water and stay with your feet. once you've got that consistent, start popping off a few little ramps, then start adding in some pull with the kite. as before, bend your legs as you release, drop your back hand off the bar. then as you start to come down to the water, let the bar out and lower your legs as the board falls. the board staying behind is usually because you're loading the kite like a twin-tip,which you can't get away with until you have the release of the board from the water dialled in.

stay breezy!

Paddling is the hardest thing about surfing, you have got to be fit and have good wave knowledge and be able to duck-dive, time the sets and know where to sit to catch the wave. On top of that you got to have the right conditions, right sized swell, offshore wind ideally, and usually when its any good the local crew are all over it and you won't get any waves anyway. So you often drive home frustrated after 2 hours in the water only catching a couple of crap waves. Having said all that surfing is a lot more addicitive and fun than kiting imo, its the just the investment of time driving and paddling effort far outweigh the benefits.

But I think once you are up on a wave the practice you have had riding a strapless board with a kite helps enourmously with balance and knowledge of what part the wave to ride. At least I think it has helped me. You can learn where to draw power from the wave and improve your turns. And as you are kind of being pulled along anyway you can cover flat sections where most surfers would have to flick off, and fang towards the next section. This makes it all the more fun, and almost as fun as surfing.

As for jumps, try edging upwind towards a wave, jump when you hit the top, but keep the nose of your board as high as possible, point the bottom of the board into the wind, that way it will stay underfoot. I can only do 2-3ft high jumps doing this but only cause I'm scared of breaking the board. You'll find landing is trickier than the jump.

sure you can. I know of people who never surf and years later they are very good kite surfer on waves. Because you don't have to stand up or paddle 1/2 of the hard work is done. Find a safe and easy spot to practice.

Partly agree with the other guys above. I think the hardest thing about surfing is reading the waves and being in the right spot. Being in the right spot makes the take off much easier. Agreed though, the take off is not easy when you are learning but reading the swell and positioning is more critical and most places I have surfed, the wave is different every time and the take off shifts a lot from wave to wave.

This is is why surfing is difficult and there is no shortcut to success. "Gotta pay dues Johnny"

its totally worth investing the time though. So short answer is, no Kiting won't help that much until you are on your feet.
Learn breath hold, surf etiquette, and reading the swell. This takes time. Paddle out and observe.
Enjoy
DM ??

You could probably tow in, problem is when the waves get to a certain size there are other safety considerations that flat water strapless won't have taught you to deal with.
I reckon try kiting in the surf first or get a nice buoyant board and hit a friendly point for a week e.g. Agnes, Noosa, Byron, Scotts head, Crescent head etc...

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UnderMyUmbrella said..
I've never surfed in my life outside a 30 minute intro tourist thing on Waikiki Beach years ago on a long board. Reason I don't surf is because I live in FNQ - no waves.

Now I've been kiting for 3.5 years I think and in the last 6+ months, I've moved to strapless surf boards from a twin-tip and now spending more sessions on that for a number of reasons. I can gybe and carve turns and generally ride at somewhere between beginner and intermediate level and have started trying strapless airs, though I fail every time leaving the board behind me.

What's the consensus if I went somewhere with waves...could I surf or does having a kite attached reduce the skill required?

Ha ha seriously. NO

But you have a little leg up if you are prepared to put time into learning to paddle, read the waves and develop surfing skills like taking off.

totaly different. Put the time in and learn to paddle, read waves, duck dive and take punishment you easily get out of when kiting.

Differrnt feel, different Stoke, different water activity.

Short answer is no.
You have a small advantage over people who have no board sports experience.
Dont underestimate the skills required in paddling and reading the break. Taking off on a wave and standing up is something that no amount of kiting will prepare you for.
The other difference is with kiting you have the kite to give you speed and also stability to edge against it but with surfing it's all balance on your feet and you need to pump the board to make it across the face of the wave or trim the board on steep sections of the wave to get speed.

Kiting is easy to get decent at compared to surfing. There really is no shortcut except for a wavepool maybe.

Not trying to turn you off it, just trying to manage expectations ??

The only place I've ever enjoyed surfing is in Bali where they take you out in a boat past the breakers and the waves roll in and break for about half a kilometer in. So every time you fall off you only need to paddle for a few meters to get back up again.

Otherwise paddling blows. Here in NSW you get so buggered by the time you get to the back of the breakers that you need to rest for 10 mins before you can push yourself up again. Sure if you kept at it you would get stronger but IMO why bother? I'd rather just go kiting and be up the whole time.

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Phoney said..
The only place I've ever enjoyed surfing is in Bali where they take you out in a boat past the breakers and the waves roll in and break for about half a kilometer in. So every time you fall off you only need to paddle for a few meters to get back up again.

Otherwise paddling blows. Here in NSW you get so buggered by the time you get to the back of the breakers that you need to rest for 10 mins before you can push yourself up again. Sure if you kept at it you would get stronger but IMO why bother? I'd rather just go kiting and be up the whole time.

Hey Phoney,

Being paddle fit is just one of the prerequisites of surfing. Like any sport, you need to be fit to do it well. Surfing fitness comes on fairly quickly if you surf regularly. I find surfing much more rewarding than kiting and there's nothing like thew minimalism of rocking up at the beach in your wetsuit and just jumping in the water and paddling out without the need to rig and manage equipment.

I find the downtime in between the sets some of the most meditative times possible. Reading the swell and looking out to see is very relaxing. Moving slowly with the surge and ebb of the water is very peaceful, and of course, taking off on a howler and ripping it to bits is just the icing on the cake.

DM

Yeah I gave it a good bash and I can certainly see how it can become addictive, but for me personally I just couldn't be bothered with the sheer amount of time and effort required to get decent.
Same as I feel about windsurfing really.

Realistically you need to live near the beach and as you say, surf very regularly to get past the kook stage. I live a 15-20 min drive away and work 9-5 so for weekend warriors like myself it doesn't really work. I prefer to sleep (and shag the wife) in the morning when the sea is glassy and head out in the arvo when the wind picks up.

I reckon SUP is somewhere in between kite & surfing. (In small waves) easy to get out, catch heaps of waves...

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toppleover said..
I reckon SUP is somewhere in between kite & surfing. (In small waves) easy to get out, catch heaps of waves...

...plus you still get to piss off surfers, just like kiting

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Phoney said..
I prefer to sleep (and shag the wife) in the morning when the sea is glassy and head out in the arvo when the wind picks up.

No kids then

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jackforbes said..

toppleover said..
I reckon SUP is somewhere in between kite & surfing. (In small waves) easy to get out, catch heaps of waves...

...plus you still get to piss off surfers, just like kiting

I gave up the sup for that very reason & went back to surfing, still kiting & now the foiling addiction is kicking in
When its windy, imo surfers lose their right of way

I started surfing in 1971, surfed all over the world, and still if I don't surf for a few months I am not too different than any other newb out there. Surfing requires paddling strength and skill, and catching waves requires timing and reading the ocean. You need lots of time in the water to understand that. Saying that, I don't think it's ever too late to learn. Just get a board with good float and like others have said, find a mushy wave somewhere and get into it. Try and stay out of peoples way and be respectful and smile. Learning to kite is easy, learning to surf is hard because there are so many variables. Most important though, have fun in the process.

Of course you can, look at Johny Utah.

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hilly said..

No kids then

Not that I know of

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Gazuki said..
Of course you can, look at Johny Utah.

Caught my first tube today.... sir.

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toppleover said..

jackforbes said..

toppleover said..
I reckon SUP is somewhere in between kite & surfing. (In small waves) easy to get out, catch heaps of waves...

...plus you still get to piss off surfers, just like kiting

I gave up the sup for that very reason & went back to surfing, still kiting & now the foiling addiction is kicking in
When its windy, imo surfers lose their right of way

25-30 knots, big unorganised swell causing peaks to massively shift.

Windsurfers (really accomplished mob who were charging it) and few kiter's of course hitting it...able to adjust to the changing peak formations...
,
Low and behold, local surfing board-riders club decides to have a surfing Competition, with a jet ski support craft running around in the middle of all of this... just basically sitting there not catching anything, just getting in the way.

It beggars beyond belief and understanding.... No right of way, absolutely.