What I want - information on conditions, circumstances (Your experience / solo or group / equipment age etc) when you are prepared to kite in an off-shore wind.
There are numerous video clips of people doing this, articles on surfing etc.
I know beginners should not. I am aware of the safety considerations.
If this thread turns into a LEASH or no Kite LEASH style beat 
up do not bother to post.
So - discuss - I want some tips / food for though....
Thanks
AP
(even w/o wind on the W/E it is finals time - Yeeeaaahh)
Safety tips:
1. don't go out further than you can swim back
2. don't hesitate to ditch your kite if you can't get it back up again and its taking you further out. you can replace a kite if its not picked up by the coast guard. that said, there are times where you may be too far out to swim back and ditching your kite at this point is more dangerous because you lose your floatation and potential visibility to rescuers.
3. definitely not beginners
4. there are variations of offshore. we often kite offshore at brighton as an example, its slightly cross off, not direct offshore
5. offshore is almost always gusty (air travelling over land creates turbulence)
6. with offshore you need to be aware of what is downwind. I.e. if its open ocean, its more dangerous than a piece of land 1km away. worst case with the piece of land, you'll eventually hit it. with open ocean, worst case is they never find the body.
7. water temperature is an important consideration. if water and air temp is really cold, spending too much time floating or waiting for rescue could result in hyperthermia so its more dangerous to kite offshore in these conditions.
8. wind speed is important for offshore. light wind means more chance of the kite dropping out of the sky and not being able to relaunch. also less chance of staying upwind so if you think the wind is going to die, don't bother or don't stray too far from land
9. be aware that if everything else goes well, you could still have equipment failure and be in trouble. lines snap, bladders burst etc.
^^ +1
and to add - if you have to ditch any gear ring the water police or coast guard, whatever you have where you, are so they don't spend time searching for a "missing" kiter when somebody finds the kite or board
I'll kite in a slight cross off wind but thats it. however in offshore i can fire up the landboard and kite on the beach. in trueth i usually can't be arrsed as its too gusty.
ps if you have an estuary and a sand bar down wind then go bannana's. but that is not really a true offshore.
Add the following to it:
10. Learn to pack up your bar and lines in the water. If you don't know how to, learn it because its an essential skill (check youtube if in doubt, there used to be some tutorials on it)
Putting this into a Perth metro area context, IMO there's only thing to do when it's offshore - don't go kiting @ the beach (obviously river/estuarine locations are different).
Kiting in offshore conditions in/around Perth is blatantly stupid & whilst AquaPlow says "I know beginners should not..." all it takes is for one newbie to see a kite out in offshore conditions, get the idea in their head that it's ok to go kiting, and hello, if the various GWS's haven't had a nibble, the newbie has missed Rotto & it's look out Mauritius, here I come...ok, slight exaggeration but the message is there.
Kiting in offshore conditions is inherently unsafe & if we all go back to Kitesurfing 101 - rule number 1: don't go out when it's offshore. Why not stick to that advice?
In my opinion it's a simple case of how much risk you're prepared to accept. i.e if it all goes pear shaped would you be prepared to lose your kite to the ocean and paddle back in?
Some things I do when kiting off shore:
Only on a surfboard, bigger the better. That way you can paddle in.
Try to take mates or at the very least let someone know that you're going out. Don't go too far past or away from the breakers, these are handy if you lose your kite.
Get someone onshore to take photo's because if all goes well it'll be an epic session!
My favourite spot is off shore, with little waves, between an island and the mainland connected by a sand spit. It's waist deep out for 100m and down wind the long beach wraps around. So worst case is ending up on the beach and a 2 km walk back.
Too many good onshore, cross or cross off to put yourself in such situations. Forget it unless you have some geographical features that make it safe.
Faith restored - thanks for the good posts.
My interest is in the cross and may be ever soooo slightly offshore.
As a kid I was the test pilot for our home made Hang-gliders (250+ hours clocked on those!!) but at my current vintage I am way too risk adverse to consider more than a few points off cross shore and even that is a point too far at present.
I aim to have learnt 2 things this summer, 1) surfing (+ down winders) on a directional, 2) staying on my Sector 60 when tacking (gawd I am finding this hard) so I can have a larf at racing without cleaning too many others up!!
Cheers
AP
I am not a beginner, but fk up a lot. been kiting for almost 2 seasons
My thought procces is pretty simple, Am I prepared to let the kite go.
At the moment I have a couple of good ones so yeah any wind condition is good 
I love a couple of break at home where the wave are too fat to surf but the set up for kiteing are ammazzingg!!!
Just remember the longer you leave it to decide you cant get back to shore the longer you have to paddle with your harness
The question is really down to can you self-rescue or do you have a boat to rescue you?
Relying on the government rescue service as your backup IMO shouldn't be part of the plan.
We saw with the Polish guy in the Red Sea that things dont always swing into action faultlessly, and in this example, even the German rescue service somehow wasn't in a position to save her.
kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2344200&hilit=germany
Its down to risk assessment and taking everything into consideration. Every person and situation and day is different. You have to make the right call because you may not have a chance to correct it if you dont.
up do not bother to post.
when all the good water is close to shore between the waves Im missing somthing here im sure I will be enlightened, When surfing you have to paddle out the back, when kiting you dont! whats different about paddling in after letting your kite go, than just paddling in from a surf except for the cost and associated littering of the kite
I think the answer to this is to be able to dig yourself out of any **** u dig yourself into without help and part of that is maybe choosing not to go out at all. some cross off waves are on headlands with bays hooking around teh corner so you will still end up on land if u mess up which is good thing.
It can be super gusty. There are so few perfect kiting waves on planet earth any pimped ones can get quickly over crowed, I am sure the all time best waves/footage going down on planet earth is not being facebooked /youtube /pimped for that very reason. Kiting is way more fussy than surfing for perfect setups, it's always a pain in the ass, always issues to deal with at best spots in world with good setups.
when all the good water is close to shore between the waves Im missing somthing here im sure I will be enlightened, When surfing you have to paddle out the back, when kiting you dont! whats different about paddling in after letting your kite go, than just paddling in from a surf except for the cost and associated littering of the kite
when all the good water is close to shore between the waves Im missing somthing here im sure I will be enlightened, When surfing you have to paddle out the back, when kiting you dont! whats different about paddling in after letting your kite go, than just paddling in from a surf except for the cost and associated littering of the kite
When I was in the Philippines, on a kiteboarding safari, we kited around an island and the leeward side was offshore. Couple of beginners with us too, who ultimately ended up out at sea and had to be rescued with the IRB.
Dont do it unless you are 100% confident you can get back to the beach safely.
This is a good topic as it raises the risks concerning an offshore set up.
One of my favourite waves is an offshore spot wsw is best so next stop is NZ bro...
Things to consider;
Can u swim ??
Can u swim against a foot or two of steep chop ??
Can u swim against a foot or two of steep chop for an hour or two ??
Make a plan of what you are going to do so you can do it early
If u ride a twin tip you may have to dump all your gear
I usually kite there alone, but u if feel safer in numbers then practice towing each other upwind
