[ricki]

Instruction may not be that readily available where you currently are located. Once you come to Florida, that should change. That answer and many others should come to you during adequate quality Pro instruction.

A more important question might be, how much wind do you need to have fun? At the start just cruising should suffice, still how much do you need to get up and planning? It depends on various factors, your weight, board and kite size, wave height if any and the quality of the wind. Just because it puffs through at your wind minimum doesn't mean it has to stay at that level and when it drops, unless your board is big enough, so will you.

Ten to twelve knots have often been cited as wind minimums for fun. This fall, in a bout of sustained strong winds, my fun minimum elevated to about 20 kts.. Wind snobbery, it didn't last.