I sail on the GC but am over in Perth working and fudged a day of today. Went down to Pelican Bay 10 mins from Perth CBD for a quick sail and WOW the sport is strong over here. It remind's me of GC 10 years ago. OH and when the DR comes in hang on, i went from comfortable to over powered in one run, but what a blast. Here's a quick photo of the rigging area with the sailing in the background.

A lot of utube videos show guys kiting in off shore winds, like a stand-up surfer would expect and desire for cleaner waves. But with kite surfing I was told you should only kite in on shore winds, not off shore.

This little article I found says the same - ie practice in OFF shore winds. Why!?

http://www.abc-of-kitesurfing.com/info/water-starting.asp

I admit that when I first started 'thinking' of kiting, I thought off shore is best because it minimises the risk of being picked up onto the beach and obstacles. But being told to kite in on shore winds now makes sense in that you don't want to be dragged into deep water, especially a beginner. I guess once you've become really good at kiting (or kite surfing as many prefer), then it won't matter where the wind comes from. If that's so why aren't there any kite surfers out at Altona for example in off shore winds when it's flat on the water? I would have thought that's the ideal condition (tounge in cheek just seeking opinions for on vs off shore).